Comment by ta1243 17 hours ago
I have a physical key which I physically put in a hole in the steering column. This means I know exactly where it is when I come to parking the car, and you need to physically have it in contact to drive the car away.
I don't get the appeal of keyless ignition.
My family have both a Chrysler and a Subaru that try to do this, but they can't always keep up. (Sometimes I walk too fast and pull on the handle before it unlocks the door.)
Trying to dig your keys out of your pockets when it's extremely cold and having mittens on is not fun. Double the fun if it's night time, because the sun sets at 4:30 on those kinds of days.
Also it not being possible to lock yourself out of your car is neat.
It's not a must have but it's really nice.
Source: Canada
People with bulky keychains often just throw them in their bag or purse and it can be annoying to fish them out.
I personally put a very high value on having a minimal keychain and wallet since I rarely carry a bag with me. The goal is to someday live in a state with Apple Wallet drivers’ license support, in a house with NFC smart locks, driving a car with Apple Car Key, at which point I could finally completely jettison my keys and my MagSafe wallet. I don’t want to carry physical keys when I’m already constantly carrying a device with a Secure Enclave and biometrics.
A beautiful aspiration, until you lose or break your phone...
People lose wallets. People lose car keys.
My PaaK car has a backup passphrase to start it. I can be used in a pinch if my phone isn't working. I can't say the same if I lose my car key.
If I go on a long trip I'm likely to bring multiple car keys and multiple payment methods. This is still true if I'm doing PaaK.
They do, and obviously it's a huge headache. But now we can imagine a bright future where you can lose both, and your normal way to try and get help, all at once!
> But now we can imagine a bright future where you can lose both, and your normal way to try and get help, all at once!
Still a possibility with cut keys, paper currency, and dumb cell phones. Ever have all of those things in a bag and have that bag stolen?
At least with the PaaK car I have, there's a backup passphrase as well.
As I mentioned elsewhere, I'll trade the slightly worse day maybe once a decade+ (or quite possibly never!) for the convenience every single other day. If I'm smashing my phone every few days I'll probably rethink that strategy. But I'll probably want to change whatever is causing me to smash my phone every few days.
Or if you don't tend to bring your phone with you to do a bunch of errands. If all my locks were tied to my phone, I'd have to fish it out of the drawer whenever I go anywhere. OP said he "constantly" carries his phone with him, so maybe not a problem for him. Am I the only person in the world who leaves the phone at home if I'm not planning to use it?
> Am I the only person in the world who leaves the phone at home if I'm not planning to use it?
But I would use it, even on a trip to get groceries. I'd use it as the source of the media I listen to in the car, so my audiobook starts playing wirelessly when I get in. My phone has the shopping list on it shared between my wife and I, so we always have it if either one of us decide to make a quick stop.
Not sure why you're being downvoted, I'm exactly the same. House locks are already electronic/automated, haven't carried a physical house key in year. Cars use fobs, for newer vehicles there is no option for physical keys anyway. When I leave the house I take my phone, plus the solo fob for whatever vehicle I am driving. I have no desire to have a ring of multiple physical keys and fobs with me.
Because it's a wild rube goldberg solution to a minor inconvenience.
I’m honestly very surprised that you don’t see the appeal. Are there other things people view as conveniences that you don’t see the appeal of? E.g., keyless entry or remote lock?
Do they really, though? I don't know anyone who raves about how much more convenient button start is, they either dislike/distrust it or don't really care either way.
I love the entry on my '14 Jeep.
Walk up, put your hand in the handle, and it unlocks. Get in, press the button, and it starts. This is a fabulous "happy path" that is seamless.
Nothing happens without an actual action, but the actions are natural and organic to the task. The sensor is inside the door handle, combined with the key fob, and it just opens when you slide your hand into. It's a, truly, marvelous experience.
My keys stay in my pocket. Since I open the door for my wife anyway, it just works. (She can open the door, I just have to be close.)
Similarly, when we open the rear lift gate, it just opens. This also unlocks the rest of the vehicle (in contrast to if I push the gate open button on the fob, only the rear gate is open, not the rest -- which I find odd).
When leaving, I press a lock button on the handle to lock the car.
It's a great compromise, and works really well.
I absolutely rave about it. Every time I get a rental car that needs a cut key in an ignition cylinder it's a massive pain. I wouldn't buy a car that doesn't have push button ignition and would prefer for all cars I buy going forward to have phone as a key as an option.
For my personal cars I either use phone as a key or I'll keep the key fob in my bag. So I just walk up to the car, the car either auto unlocks or I press the button on the door, I get in, I press the button, and I go. When I'm done I just grab my bag and walk away and the car will auto-lock or I just press the door button. So smooth, I never need to really handle the key at all. It just stays in its specific pocket in my bag or it's just my phone in my pocket.
With a cut key, I walk up to the car. I need to fish around in my bag to grab the key. I then need to stick the key in the door and turn it, using care to not scratch the paint. I get in the car, need to insert the key, turn it and hold it long enough for it to start. When I'm done driving, I take the key out, grab my bag, and get out of the car. I then need to once again insert my key into the door once again being careful to not scratch anything, turn it to lock. Then I need to put the key away again.
And then phone as a key is incredibly nice, definitely my preferred way. I can easily leave the house for most errands with nothing but my phone on me. It's my car key, my payment method, my transit pass, my paperback novel, my portable music player, my camera, my maps, my communicator, all in one tiny package. Incredibly freeing compared to having to carry a bunch of junk in my pockets just to get groceries or whatever.
>With a cut key, I walk up to the car. I need to fish around in my bag to grab the key. I then need to stick the key in the door and turn it, using care to not scratch the paint. I get in the car, need to insert the key, turn it and hold it long enough for it to start. When I'm done driving, I take the key out, grab my bag, and get out of the car. I then need to once again insert my key into the door once again being careful to not scratch anything, turn it to lock. Then I need to put the key away again.
I'll be honest, this reads like a drastic overcomplication of a very simple transaction. Why can't you just put them in your pocket? Are you walking around like a frontier town sheriff with cylinder lock keys on an antique keyring?
I do not get the appeal either. You have to put something in your pocket and take it out occasionally.
> And then phone as a key is incredibly nice, definitely my preferred way.
Your phone becomes a point of failure for one more thing.
> Incredibly freeing compared to having to carry a bunch of junk in my pockets just to get groceries or whatever.
All I put in my pocket to buy groceries are keys and a wallet.
I like it quite a bit. It wouldn't be a dealbreaker for me, but I would prefer having it than not.
I had a car that unlocked as soon as you walked near with the fob. I hated this feature, because you were never sure if the car (with your expensive laptop in the boot/trunk) was actually locked. I ended up giving the key to a family member and getting them to walk a distance away, so I could try the door handle and check it was actually locked.