Apple is working on a new feature in iOS that lets you unlock your car using your iPhone or Apple Watch

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In the near future, you might not even need to remember your car key in the morning. At least, not if you’re an Apple user. Spotted lurking in the code for the iOS 13.4 Beta by 9to5Mac, is a reference to a “CarKey” API that will let you use your iDevices as NFC keys for your car.

The future is (almost) now.

You might be able to unlock your car using your iPhone or Apple Watch in the future

If Apple has anything to do with it, your bulky car keys might soon be obsolete. See, they’re working on a feature in iOS that will let you clone your car key into your Wallet app. Then all you need to do is not leave your phone at home in your mad dash out the door each morning.

• “CarKey” API will let iOS devices be used as keys for vehicles equipped with NFC
• You won’t have to authenticate with Face ID, just holding your device near the reader will work
• The feature seems to have a sharing function to let you loan out your car to trusted people, via the Wallet app

With how expensive it is to replace a remote car key, isn’t saving the details to your iOS device just that bit neater? Now you only have to worry about misplacing your iPhone or Apple Watch, and with how often you check your social media, that’s going to be a breeze.

What do you think? Is this a feature you would like to see? Let us know down below in the comments or carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.

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Joe Rice-Jones

Maker, meme-r, and unabashed geek with nearly half a decade of blogging experience at KnowTechie, SlashGear and XDA Developers. If it runs on electricity (or even if it doesn't), Joe probably has one around his office somewhere, with particular focus in gadgetry and handheld gaming. Shoot him an email at joe@knowtechie.com.