Key Card, Key Fob, Phone key

[CT BigRich]

I get all the chatter and I have joined the Forum to keep up with it.

The key fob currently is provided by Volvo free of charge because the automatic car unlock/lock by the certified phone's bluetooth connection/disconnection is not yet supported.

Got the 2 cards with the car delivered 6 weeks late (must have been the recall), can only connect one card to one profile, pros/cons there.

Thanks Volvo for the 'buttonless' key fob, intermittently works as VOLVO would expect their loyal customers to expect.

Am I being to direct or grumpy old man...(owned SAAB and VOLVO all my 35 years of driving, loved them all)

THE Question, does anyone know the truth. When will the phone key access be available (IoS version is my weapon of choice.)

Thanks in advance for anyone's advice on this.

[JoeS]

Hello, welcome to the forum.

Last I heard phone key is expected by end of year, but who knows..

The intermittent key fob is caused by it being too close to the car, so it stays connected and so to save power on the fob the car puts its Bluetooth connection to sleep. You can just give the handle a pull and it'll unlock within a second or two. To stop this from happening put the fob at a good distance from the car or in a metal tin.

[CT BigRich]

Thanks, think I'll hold out on the metal tin, having to carry the Fob is a pain enough...

Bluetooth going to sleep explains the phone connectivity for calls and favorites potentially (that won't load...)

Love the glitches, software updates ahoy...

[andrewollason]

Welcome!

Don’t worry about being grumpy. You are in good company here.

[kildare]

The "digital key plus" will be using the UWB (ultra wide band) wireless mode to connect to the EX30, and this key will provide the same functionality of the key tag (hopefully better...).

AFAIK the "digital key" conversely will use NFC to communicate with the EX30 and its use will be the same as the key card, so the phone will have still to be laid flat against the driver door pillar.

Unfortunately at this time only some iPhones, Google Pixels and Samsung phones include a UWB chip...

[gloucester]

Welcome to this forum CT BigRich

kildare has summed up the situation succinctly leaving me nothing further to add.

[Geoff]

I thought I had a reasonable idea on how to open the doors, I have a key ‘fob’ and a couple of cards, I’ve never used the cards but the fob usually unlocks the car as I approach, although sometimes I have to give the handle a pull or two. I can’t say I’m bothered about being able to unlock the car with a ‘phone as I often don’t bother to take it with me but apparently, I’m one of a dying breed that uses a ‘phone as a ‘phone.

I’m bit lost with "digital key" and "digital key plus", UWB and NFC but if this provides the same functionality, of the key fob I probably don’t need to worry too much. Interesting reading the comments from the more technical savvy amongst us nevertheless.

[andrewollason]

I wonder if Volvo will enable uwb from smart watches. That would be super convenient.

[kildare]

The upcoming Google Pixel Watch 3 will likely have UWB.
Recent Apple Watches have UWB and can be used as a digital key

Explore UWB-based car keys

Discover how to create digital car keys that support Ultra Wideband (UWB), allowing people to unlock and start their car while leaving iPhone in their bag or pocket or Apple Watch on their wrist. We'll show you how to integrate UWB, add proximity actions and distance unlock features, and help people personalize their vehicle settings by identifying which key someone uses on the driver-side door. To get the most out of this session, we recommend watching the session “Introducing Car Keys” from WWDC20, which details the basics of pairing, key management, and server actions.

https://devstreaming-cdn.apple.com/vide ... d.mp4?dl=1

[Tivver500]

Looking at which phones actually have UWB I realise that I'll have to buy new trousers as the available phones are so large they certainly won't fit in my current pockets.....
Think the key fob (and cards) will be 'in use' for some time to come!!