Cash is being used less and less frequently, and people don’t even carry wallets anymore. Door locks at home are being replaced with password or fingerprint locks with keys being left behind. Neighborhood entry cards can now be stored in wearable devices or smartphones, eliminating the need to carry them around. Finally, if your car supports Bluetooth smartphone keys, all you need is your phone when leaving for the summer. The smartphone has become a treasure trove just like Doraemon’s.
As the only global car brand that mass-produces no-key Bluetooth smartphone keys, this feature has garnered a lot of attention from car owners. Currently, 90% of owners using an iPhone have activated the feature, whereas 34% of owners utilizing an Android have done so as well. The remaining 40% of Android owners have not been able to use this feature due to various reasons such as model incompatibility, Bluetooth protocol, or operating system. (Due to issues with phone models, Bluetooth protocols, and other factors, the experience of the Bluetooth key for IOS systems is better than that of Android systems.)
In order to cover as many car owners as possible with Bluetooth keys, the research and development team has added the 【all-models Bluetooth smartphone keys】 function to the V2.1 version of Over-the-Air (OTA) updates, allowing the remaining 40% of Android smartphone users to access this feature. Next, we’ll discuss some tips for using a Bluetooth smartphone key.
Detailed Explanation of Bluetooth Smartphone Key Features
- What can the Bluetooth smartphone key do?
When using the Ideal Car App to activate the smartphone key, your phone can replace the car’s remote control key for unlocking, locking, and starting the vehicle. The steps are easy to follow: simply enable the smartphone key and access the App in the range that Ideal One can sense, then the smartphone key will automatically switch to “connected” mode. At this point, pulling the door handle will automatically unlock the vehicle, pressing the brake pedal will automatically start the vehicle, and the vehicle will automatically lock when you leave, taking your smartphone out of Ideal One’s range.
Note that the Bluetooth key is not affected by smartphone signals, so you can easily use the Bluetooth smartphone key in signal-dead environments like underground garages. However, the Bluetooth smartphone key does have limitations, such as the inability to use the one-click tailgate opening function.
- How does the Bluetooth smartphone key work?
The first step is to establish a connection. The car end will broadcast Bluetooth signals in real-time, and the smartphone App will scan these signals and establish communication in a timely manner.
The second step is the security authentication process. This process involves hardware and algorithms for secure encryption and decryption that authenticate whether the smartphone is legitimate, ensuring the safety and effectiveness of the key.
The third step is to locate the key’s position. The principle of positioning is to monitor the real-time Bluetooth communication strength between the smartphone and the vehicle, determining the location through the strength of the signal and the location relationship, and the accuracy of positioning determines the success rate of keyless operation.
The fourth step is to implement the unlocked locking function. The core functions of the key are locking, unlocking, and starting. All of these functions are based on the smartphone’s location, with different distance ranges having different usage rights, such as locking range > unlocking range > starting range.
- How do I activate the Bluetooth smartphone key?After upgrading the vehicle system to version V2.1, and ensuring that the IdealCar App on your mobile phone has been updated to version V5.0.1 or higher, the entrance to the Bluetooth key can be found on the right side of the IdealCar App control page. Click the Bluetooth symbol button to set up. During use, if the Bluetooth key is not responsive, try to reduce the obstruction between the phone and the car body. If the Bluetooth key fails to work, restart the IdealCar App and connect again.
Tips for improving the Bluetooth key unlock rate
Tips for improving the Bluetooth key unlock rate is what most people are concerned about. These tips are mainly related to one’s own phone settings 【see the operation video in the later section】. They can be classified into the following three types based on the phone models:
- Apple phone
Officially marked models:
iPhone 5s, iPhone 6 series, iPhone 7 series, iPhone 8 series, iPhone X series, iPhone SE series, iPhone 11 series, iPhone 12 series.
Key points to improve the unlock rate:
- The Bluetooth function of the phone is always on.
- The Bluetooth function allows searching for new devices.
- Authorize the IdealCar App to always allow access to the phone location.
- The IdealCar App background refresh function is kept on.
- Officially marked Android phones
Officially marked models:
Huawei: Mate 40 Pro+, Mate 30 Rs, P40 Pro+, Mate 40, Mate 40 Pro, Mate 30E Pro, Mate XS, Mate 20X, Mate 9, Mate 30 Pro 5G, Mate 20 Pro, P30 Pro, Mate 30 5G, P40 Pro, Mate 20 Pro(UD), Mate 10 Pro, Mate 20, P30, P40.
Xiaomi: Mi 10, Mi 10 Pro, Mi 10Ultra, Mi 11, Mi 11Ultra.
OnePlus: OnePlus 9 Pro, OnePlus 9, OnePlus 9R.OPPO:
- OPPO FindX3
- OPPO FindX3pro
- OPPO Reno5 5g
- OPPO Reno5 5g customized edition for China Mobile
- OPPO Reno5 pro 5g
- OPPO Reno5 pro 5g customized edition for China Mobile
- OPPO FindX3 customized edition for China Mobile
- OPPO Reno5 pro+
- OPPO Reno5 K
Tips for increasing the unlock success rate:
- Keep Bluetooth on all the time on your phone
- Allow the ideal car APP to access your phone’s location
- Enable auto-start and background activity for the ideal car APP
- Lock the ideal car APP in the background to prevent complete exit
- Unofficially calibrated Android phones
For unofficially calibrated Android phones, please follow the page prompts to complete the self-calibration. (The Bluetooth key self-calibration function is not supported on the 21 models yet, and is expected to be available in the third quarter.)
When using the Bluetooth key self-calibration:
- Be sure to calibrate the device as recommended in terms of distance and height to ensure a relatively safe unlock distance and prevent unauthorized access.
- Do not leave your Bluetooth key in the car when nobody is in it to prevent unauthorized access.
Tips for increasing the unlock success rate:
- Keep Bluetooth on all the time on your phone
- Allow the ideal car APP to access your phone’s location
- Enable auto-start and background activity for the ideal car APP
- Lock the ideal car APP in the background to prevent complete exit
Permission opening guide for various mobile phone brands
Apple phone operation video
Huawei phone operation video
The above is a small tip for using Bluetooth keys. Currently, the main reason for poor experience on Android phones is system permission issues, followed by the diversity of Android models and the lack of uniform specifications for Bluetooth chips, which leads to differences in the range of seamless usage for different brands and batches of hardware. Based on these situations, ideal engineers will continue to optimize and continuously improve the user experience of Bluetooth key on mobile phones.
Thanks to @任海珊 @王嘉伟 @孙依群 @徐金伟 @张钟文 for their support of this article.
This article is a translation by ChatGPT of a Chinese report from 42HOW. If you have any questions about it, please email bd@42how.com.