It's a security thing. To prevent thefts when remote started it's easier just to have the car automatically kill itself when the doors opened, so it has to be restarted before it can be driven off.
Every Remote start car I've owned the doors are locked when you remote start and the car still requires the key in the car to go into gear or a press of the start button to confirm the key is in the car. So if someone walked up to it, they couldn't get inside.
Makes no sense for it to turn off because if they managed to convince the car to unlock it means they have someway to duplicate the key anyway.
With so many cars using electronic gear shifters now, couldn’t they just prevent the car from going into gear?
My EV6 for all intents and purposes behaves like an ICE car when it comes to turning it on and off (doesn’t turn on and off automatically like a Tesla, etc), but even it doesn’t make me turn it on again when using remote start from the fob.
Granted, I don’t know what would happen if someone managed to get into the car without having the fob in their pocket. Not going to slimjim my door open to find out. Knowing Kia’s anti-theft history, it would probably let you drive off without the key.
With so many cars using electronic gear shifters now, couldn’t they just prevent the car from going into gear?
You don't even need for it to be an electronic gear shifter for that to work. There is literally already a mechanism to stop you from shifting away from Park if your foot isn't on the brake pedal; you can just use that same locking mechanism to prevent the car from being put into gear if the key isn't in it.
I genuinely can't think of a single reason why the car should shut the engine off when you open the door.
Older remote start vehicles I’ve had shut off if you hit the brake and the key isn’t in the “on” position. Newer ones just don’t let you put it in gear unless the key is present/in the ignition.
I wouldn’t want a partially warmed up engine shutting off only to be restarted a few seconds later. That’s just stupid.
Also Canada here, my only car with remote start, a Pontiac G6 (which was one of the first ones to have it factory along with the Chevy Malibu AFAIK), certainly didn't turn off when I unlock and get in to the car back then. I actually have to lock the car first, remote start it, unlock and get in, insert and turn the key and drive off, otherwise you can't shift into drive.
This is actually the first I heard of cars turning off when you open the door. How does one clean their car off with snow with their snow brush inside the car after a remote start?
Just increases the risk of not starting again in colder weather and if the battery is already low.
The app gives you the option for how long you want it to run for up to 10 mins and if you don’t enter the car within that time then it turns off. But if you do enter then it stays turned on and ready to start driving.
at least for my 24 Bronco Sport, it'll put it in park but not off. May also put it in park if you turn the car off while it's not in park, I can't remember.
It takes like 10 minutes for it to auto turn off (might be controllable through settings or the app?)
Only the Japanese/Koreans do I think. American vehicles don't and German vehicles don't. My Stinger actually flashed the hazards the entire time it was remote started on top of shutting off when I got in the car.
Nope. The big 3 keeps the vehicle on. Same with Nissan and Honda. I believe BMW does, too but I've only ever driven 1 BMW with remote start. Hyundai, Genesis (I've only had experience with the G70, not sure about others), and older Toyotas turn the vehicle off the moment you hit Unlock. Newer Toyotas don't do it anymore but that's a relatively new thing (new as in the 4th gen Tacos, Corolla Cross, G. Highlander). Prior to that, any Toyotas with remote start turns off the engine when you unlock. My 2022 Tacoma is like this and it's annoyingly stupid. Combined with Toyota's painfully short range on the key fob, remote start is borderline useless. The only saving grace is the app that lets me remote start my truck from my apartment while it's parked halfway across the complex so I can let the heater warm up in the morning or the ac cool down the cabin in the summer. Can't do that with the key, nope. Oh and the remote start feature in the app is a subscription and all it does is remote start, lock, and unlock. I can't control the climate, lights, windows, or anything else. There's other subscriptions for other features like wifi but I only pay for the remote start because it's actually useful for me despite hating the $80/year I have to pay.
Credit where it's due, despite the domestic brands being awfully unreliable, they absolutely nail remote start (and they have far reaching fob ranges, unlike Toyotas).
My 20 escape doesn't. Remote start, get in (stays running), have to hit the ignition button to turn it "on". If you don't hit the ignition button the digital dash stays off, can't select drive, etc.
I mean, its not useless. If your cabin got to temp, a 2 second off/on isn't going to make the car cold, its just annoying. The remote start still worked while it was idling for 10minutes.
When I bought my Miata the salesman pushed for me to install and register it. Probably for some metric. When I logged in and saw how worthless it was he apologized. No remote start bc it was manual. Just mileage.
I’m with you. The app should be more efficient and useful. It doesn’t show or does anything special for them to ask for us to pay a monthly subscription. I don’t use it anymore and is a shame they’re trying to make money out of a car that doesn’t have remote start from the key fob
You paid for the hardware not the cell service required for your car to talk to your phone through the Internet. I'm not defending subscriptions but you in fact did not pay for that when you bought your car.
My Ford has both options - fob remote start for close range/line of sight, and remote start via app over cellular (no distance limitation). Both activate the climate controls and heated/cooled seats. No subscription cost for the app either. Best of both worths in my option.
I think this is closer to the case, as I never thought of it, personally. I think it’s pretty common though on both sides of the snow line. When I was looking for something with AWD or 4x4, the number of comments I got about just being good with snow tires was silly. I never drive in snow, they don’t even sell winter tires in shop down here lol. I needed it for muddy trails, gravelly hills, and other off road/soft road things.
Kia’s app is dog shit. I can enable the heated steering wheel remotely, but not the heated or ventilated seats. Makes zero sense. It’s also painfully slow, buggy, logs me out all the time, etc.
My free year is up in a couple weeks, I’m not paying for this shit.
Oh, and dumb thing is that I can remote start the car from my key fob for free to at least turn the climate on to the last setting which is great, but that doesn’t work if the car is plugged in. Remote start from the app? That works if the car is plugged in. I’m sure that is by design to get you to pay.
Shoutout to Mazda & toyota which also stop the remote-started car once you open the door
I keep getting downvoted whenever I say Tesla is still leagues ahead of everyone else in the software convenience department, they are, its just a fact.
Every traditional automaker can't fit a dash cam & charges $820 for remote start & every EV startup can't manage to make their key worth, the bar is still so unfathomably low sorry
Remote starting with an app, and only an app, is stupid.
I get snow every year. I love remote start. I bought primary American vehicles and they all have remote start via the keyfob.
Some manufacturers (Japanese, Korean) only offer remote start from an app. Not a keyfob. Being forced to use the phone when a fob is better is ridiculous.
Toyota and Mazda literally only offer remote start with an app that after 1-3 years you have to pay for to get the privilege of remote start but I can go buy a 25k Chevy and remote start it all day forever from my keyfob for free.
I will say, IRL I know literally nobody who uses a car app. That said my social group is 30% nerds who could give you a 2,000 word essay on privacy concerns, 80% people too poor/financially sensible to own a car new enough for one and 40% people too old to want to use an app. I'm sure they exist but not caring is accurate to my experience.
I just got a new truck which comes with 3 years of free app use. The maintenance tracker feature is pretty neat https://i.imgur.com/k80hgIS.png
I wouldn't pay for it with how crazy expensive it is but I do like the feature. No function of the vehicle is locked behind the app just extra shit like this
lol I just said this same thing word for word before I got to your comment. We old man! Other than remote starting, which my 14 year old car has, idek what you would use that for.
I'm pretty sure Tesla started the App for their cars back in 2014ish. The Tesla app can do a lot for the car including things like rolling up and down windows, starting the HVAC, starting and stopping charging, auto park, showing state of charge, odometer, sending navigation to the car etc.
A lot of other car companies tried to replicate it to varying degrees of success due to how much or how little software the company makes in house for their cars.
I knew it was a shit app as soon as I tried it, it doesn’t even sync up with my 4Runner anymore for whatever reason. I haven’t been able to use it for years.
I put the app on my phone to try it out. I still don’t know what it’s good for. It doesn’t seem to do anything useful. I pretty quickly used it to opt out of all the data acquisition/privacy stuff then uninstalled it.
I don’t care that my car doesn’t have an app. Complete non-issue.
I mainly used it in the winter since I could warm up my vehicle from anywhere, it was nice. My only option now is remote start on the keyfob, which isn't as good since I always have to be close to it.
I looked through the app and yeah the only thing really in it that I could find useful is remote start and also I guess the alerts with maintenance/recalls.
That's insane because the Toyota app is complete fucking garbage. And then they try and get you to pay for it. It was probably the first thing that turned me off on Toyota.
My 2022 Maverick doesn't either. No option for navigation. I recommend downloading maps beforehand...works fairly well for when I'm "off-road" and there's no signal.
ehh. The 3g sunset was officially official on February 22, 2022, but they only publicly announced it Jan 5, 2021. I'm not entirely sure it would be fair to blame a car built in 2015 to foresee 7 years into the future. Hell 5g wasn't even public until 2018.
idk about Lexus, but Subaru sources a very similar telematics module and was offering upgrades to a 4G module for subscribers for a whole year before ATT sunset 3g. There's also a warranty extension for customers who want to activate a subscription, though it's a bit of a process.
On the IS with the key fob it only works from like max 20 feet away, it takes like 8 seconds for it to start (so if youre walking towards your car while starting it, you reach your door before it even starts), and it shuts off as soon as you unlock the doors.
Its almost like they brainstormed "how can we implement remote start but make it so useless that it may as well not even be there"
I could forgive the requirement to use an app if it were actually useful. The fact that you can’t adjust the temperature, activate the heated seats or steering wheel, schedule departure times, or really much of anything besides get inundated with notifications is what bothers me. I just leased a new CX70 last week and I’m stunned at how shitty the Mazda app experience is. Someone at Mazda needs to go drive a Tesla for a week and see what a decent app looks like. Tesla gets a lot wrong, but their app is damned useful.
These manufactueres know, they just don't care. Mazda obviously isn't the manufacture to go to if you want tech. Apparently they want to change that with the CX-5, but maybe not
I'm surprised Ford isn't higher on the list just because it's subscription free. It's not a perfect app (I've ran into problems with it many times), but it has full capability for no additional cost.
I do know a lot of the other brands that do require a subscription give a few years free, but still. Ford & Honda I believe are the only ones that are completely free, Hyundai (& maybe Kia?) are free for the first owner. The rest have some form of subscription.
I've had no actual issues on iOS, other than battery drain since the Ford app seems to ping location constantly whenever bluetooth is connected to the truck. Which is anytime I'm home haha.
Otherwise the UX has some lag but, just like the car software, it all works. Set charging schedules, preheat/cool, pay for third party charging, use the phone as a key - it's done pretty well honestly. I'm not sure I really miss anything from the Tesla app.
I just checked the app because I haven't touched it in a year. Looks like they made it look nicer at least. Still seems like the only useful bits are the car manual and find my car. Crazy that there is no remote start or pre-heat/cool.
When I had my cx5 I used it to start the car up before leaving the gym. When it's 5 degrees outside in January it's hard to ever go back to not having remote start.
On the Ford app with my Maverick, I can remote start it, lock/unlock, check location, check mileage/oil life/tire PSI, and see the many recalls that are part of the Built Ford Rough lifestyle.
Rivian app can turn on and off the AC/heat, unlock/lock, view the different cameras, vent the windows/roll them up, open/close the frunk, view tire pressure, mileage, view the vehicle location, update the software, schedule maintenance when it breaks.
Best thing is sending a Google Maps link to the app, getting into the car and it’s all there loaded up and ready to go.
I’m sure Teslas have more features on their mobile app, but this is what a well rounded app can do.
My BMWs app is super basic compared to the Rivian to the point where it’s basically worthless.
The fact that Rivian, Tesla, Lucid, and Polestar all have free app support but the other manufacturers charge for essentially remote start is insane to me
Telsa app:
- see the location of the car, speed traveling etc. Nice for when spouse is stuck in traffic or late. Shows their eta and navigation endpoint.
- lets you view interior and exterior cameras when parked. Very nice when you have your dog in there (it also tells the current. temp that you set by the AC etc). I’ve used it to see if someone parked next to me or arrived / left yet
open/close the garage door remotely, which is nice when I ride my bike and get home and didn’t want to bring keys, or if I think I forgot to close the garage (I can see that using the exterior cameras too)
lock/open doors and trunk for people
pre set climate before a drive
install software updates
turn on and off charging, set the schedule, and set the speed
honk the horn, or flash lights
check tire pressure
phone as a key. Haven’t used the key or card in 6 years. Never had an issue. I think some cars are much worse for this
friends can share all this access temporarily for borrowing a car or rental.
Many of these things seem unnecessary but they’re very nice to have once you get used to them. I would be really bummed if my next car didn’t have most of them.
Depends on the app. With my old Accord I could view mileage, set up appointments for maintenance and other things. The Kia App let's me do similar but also let's me control HVAC, Remote start the car and other things that imo isn't worth paying for (they gave me a free trial of the ultimate version when I got the car).
From the reviews on Google play, the App for your Challenger seems pretty poopoo as well lol.
People endure in car apps. Other than Tesla owners, I’ve literally never once met a real person who actually raved about their in car operating system. Most people don’t even understand that their car has one let alone actually like it.
As a previous Tesla owner, their tech and app are unmatched. However on the list I’m surprised to see GM’s app as low as it is. For commands like remote start it works great and it’s free. Jeep’s app on the other hand is absolute garbage.
That list really is ignoring the elephant in the room. Teslas phone app is worlds better than the rest. They really nailed it. I’ve never seen jeeps app. Fords app is okay. But my car has no remote start as thy don’t allow those with the manual transmission.
The Ford app lets me activate and pay for most chargers, something even the Tesla app doesn't do. It's quite handy.
Edit: Oh, the "in car apps" as in the infotainment software? Yeah, OK, that's a bit rough in terms of UX responsiveness and having HVAC controls in the screen, but it all works well enough and doesn't glitch out or make me angry at all. Could be better, could be FAR worse.
I have a bmw and a tesla and the bmw app is quite good. I also have a Mercedes and that one is quite bad in the sense that very little is free, but it looks nice and the free stuff works well.
Porsche (at least with ICE) is crap. It’s basically an app for advertisements and Porsche news. the picture of my car isn’t in the app isn’t even correct because I changed something after I bought it (before the lock in date) 😂
Who even uses an app for their car though (unless it's an EV like a Tesla or a Rivian and needs a phone for essential functions like unlocking the doors)? They're mostly just fancy gimmicks.
Yes. Schedule cabin pre-conditioning, checking if doors are locked, sending navigation directions, autonomous parking assistant for tight public garage spaces. There's a lot of utility and convenience you can get from an app.
I’m not suprised about either. The Mazda app is not easy to use and the Alfa app after guardian is expired is basically just a tire pressure, mileage checker lol.
I have the MINI app, it's pretty handy. Two things I wish it had was remote start and the ability to preheat the heated seats. But I can start the heat/AC to get the inside to a decent temp by the time I get in. Shows me how much gas and range I have, location, and I can send a location to the navigation system from my phone and pull it up in the car.
Not sure how bad those apps are, but I’m pretty mad about Audis app. They sent out an update that removed the ability to lock/unlock my car with the app, and now it says my car is unsupported. It worked for years before they updated it, but sure take away features to try to get me to upgrade my car. So scummy.
So Hyundai is way up top but like…the app sucks for EVs. Like I get needing a passcode for a gas car because you know, garages and stuff, but remote preheating an EV is an absolute chore.
My wife has a Kona EV, I have a Mach E - ford just added the ability to remote start the mach-e via the action button on the iPhone, all without opening the app. It is just hard enough to do (it is a hold + face unlock) that it can’t be done in your pocket or on accident but you can remote start the car in two seconds all without touching the screen of your phone, just pull it out, hold the button, face, done. In the brutal winters around here, it is a godsend.
I've been using it since November for remote start. Like another poster here, I leave by 5:00 AM and I'm in the northeast, so it's almost a necessity. But the last two times, it didn't work. I may just cancel if it turns out to be unreliable.
I have to pay $100 a year if I wanted to use my app and another $100 for it to do anything useful. I’d put that dead last unless those brands also charge.
Guess they haven’t tried the Land Rover app. I literally lost features like seat folding from the app and I’m paying $10 a month quite literally just for remote start.
And here I thought the Peugeot apps was crap, although Alfa is a Stellantis brand so probably the same crappy app with a different skin.
Have to say the Mercedes app works great 99,9% of the time and get new features regularly.
For non ev owners wondering why a car needs a app: it’s handy to see the state of charge on your car or how long till it’s charged enough.
Also preconditioning the car is the GOAT, never buying a car without that feature
The Mazda App doesnt even have climate control presets.. its bizarre. I love my Mazda but I wish I had a Hyundai Bluelink type thing for the Mazda app.
I've owned my Lexus for nearly a year now and I still haven't had it connect to the app even one time. And I don't mean like "it doesn't connect the first try", I mean like I haven't even made it past the welcome page once without it error-ing out. I stopped trying 6 months ago.
The Mazda app is almost useless and they’re going to start charging customers for it. Not a great combo.
Right? The app is mostly good for looking up your mileage because Mazda are boneheads and don’t display the odometer when you open the door.
The remote start in the app is useless because it turns off the car again when you open the door. Who wants that?
I wouldn’t pay a single dollar for what the Mazda app provides.
Edit: oh yea and it doesn’t even tell you the one thing I might want to know: is the sunroof open?
Wait doesn’t every remote start turn the car off when you open the door?
Why would you want it to turn off? You'd just be starting it again.
It's a security thing. To prevent thefts when remote started it's easier just to have the car automatically kill itself when the doors opened, so it has to be restarted before it can be driven off.
Every Remote start car I've owned the doors are locked when you remote start and the car still requires the key in the car to go into gear or a press of the start button to confirm the key is in the car. So if someone walked up to it, they couldn't get inside.
Makes no sense for it to turn off because if they managed to convince the car to unlock it means they have someway to duplicate the key anyway.
someone's never locked their keys in the car and used a slimjim/coat hanger/whatever
That’s true, but it doesn’t really matter though since you’d need the key to put it in gear anyway
With so many cars using electronic gear shifters now, couldn’t they just prevent the car from going into gear?
My EV6 for all intents and purposes behaves like an ICE car when it comes to turning it on and off (doesn’t turn on and off automatically like a Tesla, etc), but even it doesn’t make me turn it on again when using remote start from the fob.
Granted, I don’t know what would happen if someone managed to get into the car without having the fob in their pocket. Not going to slimjim my door open to find out. Knowing Kia’s anti-theft history, it would probably let you drive off without the key.
You don't even need for it to be an electronic gear shifter for that to work. There is literally already a mechanism to stop you from shifting away from Park if your foot isn't on the brake pedal; you can just use that same locking mechanism to prevent the car from being put into gear if the key isn't in it.
I genuinely can't think of a single reason why the car should shut the engine off when you open the door.
Older remote start vehicles I’ve had shut off if you hit the brake and the key isn’t in the “on” position. Newer ones just don’t let you put it in gear unless the key is present/in the ignition.
I wouldn’t want a partially warmed up engine shutting off only to be restarted a few seconds later. That’s just stupid.
Yeah but the heat is warm even if it restarts.
Every car I've owned with remote start (in Canada) turns off because you always remote start to warm up but you don't want it to get stolen.
Also Canada here, my only car with remote start, a Pontiac G6 (which was one of the first ones to have it factory along with the Chevy Malibu AFAIK), certainly didn't turn off when I unlock and get in to the car back then. I actually have to lock the car first, remote start it, unlock and get in, insert and turn the key and drive off, otherwise you can't shift into drive.
Ford doesn’t
BMW and Ford don't. I didn't think Honda did either but I don't currently have one.
Cadillac and Genesis don't
My 2015 turd of a Chevy Sonic does not. 2015!
This is actually the first I heard of cars turning off when you open the door. How does one clean their car off with snow with their snow brush inside the car after a remote start?
Just increases the risk of not starting again in colder weather and if the battery is already low.
What's the point of turning the engine off?
They evidently do that since the system isn’t sophisticated enough to hand it off to the key fob, but spin it as a theft deterrence feature.
None of our old 2007 (key) or current 2012 (key) and 2017 (keyless) GM vehicles with factory remote start turn off when you open the door.
Subaru doesn't
Not Buick
My GMC Yukon did
Nissan doesn’t on recent models
Genesis doesn’t.
The app gives you the option for how long you want it to run for up to 10 mins and if you don’t enter the car within that time then it turns off. But if you do enter then it stays turned on and ready to start driving.
at least for my 24 Bronco Sport, it'll put it in park but not off. May also put it in park if you turn the car off while it's not in park, I can't remember.
It takes like 10 minutes for it to auto turn off (might be controllable through settings or the app?)
No.
Only the Japanese/Koreans do I think. American vehicles don't and German vehicles don't. My Stinger actually flashed the hazards the entire time it was remote started on top of shutting off when I got in the car.
Vw does not. You have to start the car within a minute of opening the door though.
Nope. The big 3 keeps the vehicle on. Same with Nissan and Honda. I believe BMW does, too but I've only ever driven 1 BMW with remote start. Hyundai, Genesis (I've only had experience with the G70, not sure about others), and older Toyotas turn the vehicle off the moment you hit Unlock. Newer Toyotas don't do it anymore but that's a relatively new thing (new as in the 4th gen Tacos, Corolla Cross, G. Highlander). Prior to that, any Toyotas with remote start turns off the engine when you unlock. My 2022 Tacoma is like this and it's annoyingly stupid. Combined with Toyota's painfully short range on the key fob, remote start is borderline useless. The only saving grace is the app that lets me remote start my truck from my apartment while it's parked halfway across the complex so I can let the heater warm up in the morning or the ac cool down the cabin in the summer. Can't do that with the key, nope. Oh and the remote start feature in the app is a subscription and all it does is remote start, lock, and unlock. I can't control the climate, lights, windows, or anything else. There's other subscriptions for other features like wifi but I only pay for the remote start because it's actually useful for me despite hating the $80/year I have to pay.
Credit where it's due, despite the domestic brands being awfully unreliable, they absolutely nail remote start (and they have far reaching fob ranges, unlike Toyotas).
My Lexus and Highlander did that. My Honda remains on.
My 20 escape doesn't. Remote start, get in (stays running), have to hit the ignition button to turn it "on". If you don't hit the ignition button the digital dash stays off, can't select drive, etc.
I mean, its not useless. If your cabin got to temp, a 2 second off/on isn't going to make the car cold, its just annoying. The remote start still worked while it was idling for 10minutes.
When I bought my Miata the salesman pushed for me to install and register it. Probably for some metric. When I logged in and saw how worthless it was he apologized. No remote start bc it was manual. Just mileage.
Only semblance of use i've got from it is when it tells me my trunk was not fully closed. Other than that...garbage and slow
I’m with you. The app should be more efficient and useful. It doesn’t show or does anything special for them to ask for us to pay a monthly subscription. I don’t use it anymore and is a shame they’re trying to make money out of a car that doesn’t have remote start from the key fob
I pay for it so I remote start my car but didn’t factor it in when I chose my mazda 3
Haven’t owners also tied it to causing the new 90 and 70 to die?
People actually care about an app for their car? Man I'm out of touch
It was nice starting my 4runner from bed when I woke up at 4:30 am in the winter for work.
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On my truck you can remote start from anywhere from the app with a subscription, or from the key fob within a short range of the vehicle for free.
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You paid for the hardware not the cell service required for your car to talk to your phone through the Internet. I'm not defending subscriptions but you in fact did not pay for that when you bought your car.
At least most cars give you the subscription for a lengthy time for free. My Vw gave me the subscription for four years for free.
Lexus and Subaru do as well, although remote control is entirely free on Tesla's. Just the cars I know about.
Your keyfob is distance limited and can't turn on heated/cooled seats or get the defroster etc going
insert why not both meme here
My Ford has both options - fob remote start for close range/line of sight, and remote start via app over cellular (no distance limitation). Both activate the climate controls and heated/cooled seats. No subscription cost for the app either. Best of both worths in my option.
Your car is so hackable
Are you actually surprised or are you here to just yell at the youths?
Have none of the people on this thread ever felt cold and lazy in their entire life or what
like people here seriously cannot fathom the benefits of preheating
They're just determined to check all the boxes for the typical /r/cars member.
I don't think they deal with winter weather. Being able to warm up my vehicle from anywhere was a godsend for a Canadian like me, lol
I didn't get it when I lived in SC. Now I'm in WA with snow 3 months of the year lol
I think this is closer to the case, as I never thought of it, personally. I think it’s pretty common though on both sides of the snow line. When I was looking for something with AWD or 4x4, the number of comments I got about just being good with snow tires was silly. I never drive in snow, they don’t even sell winter tires in shop down here lol. I needed it for muddy trails, gravelly hills, and other off road/soft road things.
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You can't enable/disable heating specific seats, schedule, change the temp, defrost etc. from the app
Tesla is the gold standard here IMO & their implementation is free, on top of being able to summon your car, view dashcam clips, etc.
The mercedes one isn't quite as good but it does most of the same & is included for the period of the lease
Tesla spoiled me.
Kia’s app is dog shit. I can enable the heated steering wheel remotely, but not the heated or ventilated seats. Makes zero sense. It’s also painfully slow, buggy, logs me out all the time, etc.
My free year is up in a couple weeks, I’m not paying for this shit.
Oh, and dumb thing is that I can remote start the car from my key fob for free to at least turn the climate on to the last setting which is great, but that doesn’t work if the car is plugged in. Remote start from the app? That works if the car is plugged in. I’m sure that is by design to get you to pay.
Shoutout to Mazda & toyota which also stop the remote-started car once you open the door
I keep getting downvoted whenever I say Tesla is still leagues ahead of everyone else in the software convenience department, they are, its just a fact.
Every traditional automaker can't fit a dash cam & charges $820 for remote start & every EV startup can't manage to make their key worth, the bar is still so unfathomably low sorry
And the ironic thing is, Tesla has the only app that’s worth paying for, and yet it seems like they’re the only one that’s free.
Remote starting with an app, and only an app, is stupid.
I get snow every year. I love remote start. I bought primary American vehicles and they all have remote start via the keyfob.
Some manufacturers (Japanese, Korean) only offer remote start from an app. Not a keyfob. Being forced to use the phone when a fob is better is ridiculous.
Toyota and Mazda literally only offer remote start with an app that after 1-3 years you have to pay for to get the privilege of remote start but I can go buy a 25k Chevy and remote start it all day forever from my keyfob for free.
Thats the issue.
I live in Arizona. Being able to cool my car down from wherever I am with WiFi/cell service is underrated.
Give it a good 10-15 mins to pre cool when it’s 110° outside.
I will say, IRL I know literally nobody who uses a car app. That said my social group is 30% nerds who could give you a 2,000 word essay on privacy concerns, 80% people too poor/financially sensible to own a car new enough for one and 40% people too old to want to use an app. I'm sure they exist but not caring is accurate to my experience.
Mazda doesn’t give owners remote start on the key. If they did nobody would care about the app.
I mean, if it's good, it can be genuinely nice?
Being able to set programs for your car while you're at home. When to start pre heating etc
Being able to unlock it remotely also came it handy a few times.
Checking charge level on an EV etc
It's not a must have, but definitely nice to have when it's well implemented.
the ability to use an app just to make sure I locked the car is comforting.
I like the Mercedes app because even if I don’t pay for it it still shows if the car is locked
I have a 2011 GTI and didn’t even realize car apps were that big of a thing
That is how a lot of remote start systems work these days. We tried the Toyota app, found it totally useless for us, and deleted it.
I don't necessarily want an app for my car but if they give me one they should at least make it good.
Volvo requires it to use remote start.
I just got a new truck which comes with 3 years of free app use. The maintenance tracker feature is pretty neat https://i.imgur.com/k80hgIS.png
I wouldn't pay for it with how crazy expensive it is but I do like the feature. No function of the vehicle is locked behind the app just extra shit like this
lol I just said this same thing word for word before I got to your comment. We old man! Other than remote starting, which my 14 year old car has, idek what you would use that for.
I'm pretty sure Tesla started the App for their cars back in 2014ish. The Tesla app can do a lot for the car including things like rolling up and down windows, starting the HVAC, starting and stopping charging, auto park, showing state of charge, odometer, sending navigation to the car etc.
A lot of other car companies tried to replicate it to varying degrees of success due to how much or how little software the company makes in house for their cars.
In the winter (or the summer if you are in a hot place) it's nice to be able to start the temperature control remotely.
It's pretty much all I care about.
Yes, use it for remote climate control, check if doors are locked, gas level/kms left, where I parked etc
Hell yeah. Start your car from your phone literally anywhere in the world. Also unlocking remotely anywhere in the world is convenient.
It's about as useful as AI for your appliances like fridge, washer, or stove.
Toyota should be at the bottom too.
I knew it was a shit app as soon as I tried it, it doesn’t even sync up with my 4Runner anymore for whatever reason. I haven’t been able to use it for years.
I put the app on my phone to try it out. I still don’t know what it’s good for. It doesn’t seem to do anything useful. I pretty quickly used it to opt out of all the data acquisition/privacy stuff then uninstalled it.
I don’t care that my car doesn’t have an app. Complete non-issue.
I mainly used it in the winter since I could warm up my vehicle from anywhere, it was nice. My only option now is remote start on the keyfob, which isn't as good since I always have to be close to it.
On yea, I guess if you have access to remote start that would be nice. I don’t have that.
I looked through the app and yeah the only thing really in it that I could find useful is remote start and also I guess the alerts with maintenance/recalls.
It's such a laggy pos even when working "properly". Insane they charge a subscription fee for remote start too.
I can’t even change the hvac fan speed on my GR86. It’s almost more worth it for me to just run out and start the car myself in cold weather
The only reason I downloaded the toyota app was to opt out of data collection.
Then I deleted it right after.
That's insane because the Toyota app is complete fucking garbage. And then they try and get you to pay for it. It was probably the first thing that turned me off on Toyota.
My dad and I got him a Corolla hybrid about a month ago, and I was shocked they only give you a year free. I think it's $15 a month plus tax. 😂
Ford has spoiled me.
My 2025 Camry doesn't even come with navigation. You have to pay for in car navigation through the app.
My phone didnt have signal in the middle of Florida and I literally couldn't enter a destination on it because GMaps or Apple Maps wont work.
My 2022 Maverick doesn't either. No option for navigation. I recommend downloading maps beforehand...works fairly well for when I'm "off-road" and there's no signal.
Lexus should be dead last. My car used an app for auto start tied with 3g for communication. They turned off 3g years ago so my car lost auto start.
What year is your Lexus?
2015 GS350 and the auto start stopped in like 2021
I think mine stopped working around that time too, never knew why.
That is ridiculous. What poor planning, it should have been obvious this was going to happen when they released the car.
Right. Same thing happened to Audi but Audi did an update for the customers.
ehh. The 3g sunset was officially official on February 22, 2022, but they only publicly announced it Jan 5, 2021. I'm not entirely sure it would be fair to blame a car built in 2015 to foresee 7 years into the future. Hell 5g wasn't even public until 2018.
idk about Lexus, but Subaru sources a very similar telematics module and was offering upgrades to a 4G module for subscribers for a whole year before ATT sunset 3g. There's also a warranty extension for customers who want to activate a subscription, though it's a bit of a process.
Lexus did not offer a solution.
Lexus remote-start is insane all-around.
On the IS with the key fob it only works from like max 20 feet away, it takes like 8 seconds for it to start (so if youre walking towards your car while starting it, you reach your door before it even starts), and it shuts off as soon as you unlock the doors.
Its almost like they brainstormed "how can we implement remote start but make it so useless that it may as well not even be there"
TIL there's an app for my Alfa.
It’s $20 a month and the only benefit is remote start
When I had the 1 year free trial was nice starting my car all the way from my office
i’ll be honest, i’m just learning there were apps for cars in general.
A lot of EVs let you use your phone as a key and all kinds of features that are admittedly buggy as hell.
yeah ev’s make sense. knew about that. but didn’t think regular cars had apps. i also just learned tooth brushes can have apps. wtf.
Yeah, honestly my reaction as an Alfa owner was "there's an app?"
Having to use the Mazda app to remote start the car is awful
I could forgive the requirement to use an app if it were actually useful. The fact that you can’t adjust the temperature, activate the heated seats or steering wheel, schedule departure times, or really much of anything besides get inundated with notifications is what bothers me. I just leased a new CX70 last week and I’m stunned at how shitty the Mazda app experience is. Someone at Mazda needs to go drive a Tesla for a week and see what a decent app looks like. Tesla gets a lot wrong, but their app is damned useful.
HEY YOU LEFT YOUR DOOR UNLOCKED (no you didn't)
OMG. Every single day with that one
These manufactueres know, they just don't care. Mazda obviously isn't the manufacture to go to if you want tech. Apparently they want to change that with the CX-5, but maybe not
Half of the time my password login doesn’t work. Then magically is working again.
Mazda app feels like my cx70. Junk.
Didn’t realize so many manufacturers have issues with their apps. Ford’s app has been working great for me and is free.
I'm surprised Ford isn't higher on the list just because it's subscription free. It's not a perfect app (I've ran into problems with it many times), but it has full capability for no additional cost.
I do know a lot of the other brands that do require a subscription give a few years free, but still. Ford & Honda I believe are the only ones that are completely free, Hyundai (& maybe Kia?) are free for the first owner. The rest have some form of subscription.
I've had no actual issues on iOS, other than battery drain since the Ford app seems to ping location constantly whenever bluetooth is connected to the truck. Which is anytime I'm home haha.
Otherwise the UX has some lag but, just like the car software, it all works. Set charging schedules, preheat/cool, pay for third party charging, use the phone as a key - it's done pretty well honestly. I'm not sure I really miss anything from the Tesla app.
I'm still salty they took away zone lighting out of the app when they did the update two years ago. I hold out hope it returns when the app updates.
Can’t be any worse than Audi
It is useless lol.
Wait till your warranty expires and you won’t even be able to unlock the car with it 🙄
I can't even use it now because I didn't consent to them using my data - IDK why I even still have the app.
I just checked the app because I haven't touched it in a year. Looks like they made it look nicer at least. Still seems like the only useful bits are the car manual and find my car. Crazy that there is no remote start or pre-heat/cool.
Ah yes, find my car also bricks after 3 years lol
Mazda app has never bothered me. I don't really get the hate.
What do you use it for?
When I had my cx5 I used it to start the car up before leaving the gym. When it's 5 degrees outside in January it's hard to ever go back to not having remote start.
Mostly remote start, occasionally locking or unlocking doors. Car is paid off and it's worth it to me
i use it for remote start and lock/unlock doors mostly. also nice to see the tire pressure in the winter.
Shouldn't need it at all. Features paid for but hidden behind an app are terrible.
Too poor to have an app for my car. What is the point of these? What do they do?
On the Ford app with my Maverick, I can remote start it, lock/unlock, check location, check mileage/oil life/tire PSI, and see the many recalls that are part of the Built Ford Rough lifestyle.
Hey! Mazda cx70/90 is very much a part of the build rough lifestyle.
Mazda corporate are clowns and when you buy their product you join their circus.
Rivian app can turn on and off the AC/heat, unlock/lock, view the different cameras, vent the windows/roll them up, open/close the frunk, view tire pressure, mileage, view the vehicle location, update the software, schedule maintenance when it breaks.
Best thing is sending a Google Maps link to the app, getting into the car and it’s all there loaded up and ready to go.
I’m sure Teslas have more features on their mobile app, but this is what a well rounded app can do.
My BMWs app is super basic compared to the Rivian to the point where it’s basically worthless.
Also, zero subscription for Rivian’s app!
The fact that Rivian, Tesla, Lucid, and Polestar all have free app support but the other manufacturers charge for essentially remote start is insane to me
How old is your BMW? Modern BMWs include the majority of those options in the app.
A 2019 M2 Comp. It does the basics but nowhere near what my Rivian does. No remote start, but I’m assuming it’s because it’s not an automatic?
F Chassis cars didn't get remote start. It started with the Gs. The newer the model, the more features the app has.
Telsa app: - see the location of the car, speed traveling etc. Nice for when spouse is stuck in traffic or late. Shows their eta and navigation endpoint. - lets you view interior and exterior cameras when parked. Very nice when you have your dog in there (it also tells the current. temp that you set by the AC etc). I’ve used it to see if someone parked next to me or arrived / left yet
open/close the garage door remotely, which is nice when I ride my bike and get home and didn’t want to bring keys, or if I think I forgot to close the garage (I can see that using the exterior cameras too)
lock/open doors and trunk for people
pre set climate before a drive
install software updates
turn on and off charging, set the schedule, and set the speed
honk the horn, or flash lights
check tire pressure
phone as a key. Haven’t used the key or card in 6 years. Never had an issue. I think some cars are much worse for this
friends can share all this access temporarily for borrowing a car or rental.
Many of these things seem unnecessary but they’re very nice to have once you get used to them. I would be really bummed if my next car didn’t have most of them.
Depends on the app. With my old Accord I could view mileage, set up appointments for maintenance and other things. The Kia App let's me do similar but also let's me control HVAC, Remote start the car and other things that imo isn't worth paying for (they gave me a free trial of the ultimate version when I got the car).
From the reviews on Google play, the App for your Challenger seems pretty poopoo as well lol.
My old '20 BMW could start/stop, close windows, could get video of the cameras, see some basic info about car. gas tank, last tire pressure, etc.
'22 Miata, nothing.
'24 Porsche, similar to the bmw.
Numbers in the article check out IMO. The BMW app honestly is great. I had a WRX before this and the Subaru app was alright. Not great but not bad.
People endure in car apps. Other than Tesla owners, I’ve literally never once met a real person who actually raved about their in car operating system. Most people don’t even understand that their car has one let alone actually like it.
As a previous Tesla owner, their tech and app are unmatched. However on the list I’m surprised to see GM’s app as low as it is. For commands like remote start it works great and it’s free. Jeep’s app on the other hand is absolute garbage.
That list really is ignoring the elephant in the room. Teslas phone app is worlds better than the rest. They really nailed it. I’ve never seen jeeps app. Fords app is okay. But my car has no remote start as thy don’t allow those with the manual transmission.
The Ford app lets me activate and pay for most chargers, something even the Tesla app doesn't do. It's quite handy.
Edit: Oh, the "in car apps" as in the infotainment software? Yeah, OK, that's a bit rough in terms of UX responsiveness and having HVAC controls in the screen, but it all works well enough and doesn't glitch out or make me angry at all. Could be better, could be FAR worse.
I have a bmw and a tesla and the bmw app is quite good. I also have a Mercedes and that one is quite bad in the sense that very little is free, but it looks nice and the free stuff works well.
You should add GM to the list. I can do a lot with the app but $50 a month is fucking crazy
I pay $15 CAD and can do everything in the app.
That's the highest tier subscription. But yeah the prices are wild.
I think remote access is included for like ten years now. Too bad they didn't do that retroactively
How do I get the 10 year remote access? I only got offered 3 months
What year? I think its MY25 forward
Porsche (at least with ICE) is crap. It’s basically an app for advertisements and Porsche news. the picture of my car isn’t in the app isn’t even correct because I changed something after I bought it (before the lock in date) 😂
Who even uses an app for their car though (unless it's an EV like a Tesla or a Rivian and needs a phone for essential functions like unlocking the doors)? They're mostly just fancy gimmicks.
You don't "need" an app for the Tesla, but the app is extremely quick and well made and had an enormous amount of features while being free.
If scheduled pre-heating is a gimmick, I sure like gimmicks.
I do. It's nice to have. I wouldn't select a vehicle on the app experience, but it adds value to my ownership experience.
Wait wait, people want to use an app for the car? wtf?
New Mazda’s remote start feature is app based only.
oh jesus. wasn't something like this (I never had a car with this feature - remote start) on the key fob?
Used to be. Now they’re forcing people to use an app so that they can make it a paid subscription service
soon enough they'll put the car starter in the app. fucking ghouls.
Yes. Schedule cabin pre-conditioning, checking if doors are locked, sending navigation directions, autonomous parking assistant for tight public garage spaces. There's a lot of utility and convenience you can get from an app.
Car app? LMAO
I’m not suprised about either. The Mazda app is not easy to use and the Alfa app after guardian is expired is basically just a tire pressure, mileage checker lol.
Have both
I have the MINI app, it's pretty handy. Two things I wish it had was remote start and the ability to preheat the heated seats. But I can start the heat/AC to get the inside to a decent temp by the time I get in. Shows me how much gas and range I have, location, and I can send a location to the navigation system from my phone and pull it up in the car.
I can't fathom not living without the app for my mercedes!
Pre-heat in the morning and pre-cool in the afternoon leaving the office
I could give a flying fuck about a car's app. As long as the car properly drives.
Not sure how bad those apps are, but I’m pretty mad about Audis app. They sent out an update that removed the ability to lock/unlock my car with the app, and now it says my car is unsupported. It worked for years before they updated it, but sure take away features to try to get me to upgrade my car. So scummy.
So Hyundai is way up top but like…the app sucks for EVs. Like I get needing a passcode for a gas car because you know, garages and stuff, but remote preheating an EV is an absolute chore.
My wife has a Kona EV, I have a Mach E - ford just added the ability to remote start the mach-e via the action button on the iPhone, all without opening the app. It is just hard enough to do (it is a hold + face unlock) that it can’t be done in your pocket or on accident but you can remote start the car in two seconds all without touching the screen of your phone, just pull it out, hold the button, face, done. In the brutal winters around here, it is a godsend.
I've been using it since November for remote start. Like another poster here, I leave by 5:00 AM and I'm in the northeast, so it's almost a necessity. But the last two times, it didn't work. I may just cancel if it turns out to be unreliable.
No Tesla app?
My BMW app is decent, but my Tesla app was so much better that there’s no comparison. Car was garbage but tech was great.
... Why do we even need apps for cars now.
Because Mazda in this case wants to sell it as a service. Its greed.
I have to pay $100 a year if I wanted to use my app and another $100 for it to do anything useful. I’d put that dead last unless those brands also charge.
Do you expect free cell service just because you bought an iphone?
No, but that isn’t common for cell phones. My other car it is free, and it is on most of my family’s cars.
Guess they haven’t tried the Land Rover app. I literally lost features like seat folding from the app and I’m paying $10 a month quite literally just for remote start.
And here I thought the Peugeot apps was crap, although Alfa is a Stellantis brand so probably the same crappy app with a different skin. Have to say the Mercedes app works great 99,9% of the time and get new features regularly. For non ev owners wondering why a car needs a app: it’s handy to see the state of charge on your car or how long till it’s charged enough. Also preconditioning the car is the GOAT, never buying a car without that feature
I forget my car even has an app
The Honda app is way worse than Mazdas.
Wife wanted a Mazda. Compared to Honda, it’s absolutely dog water.
Infotainment wise.
I'm surprised the Toyota one isn't down there, too. It's absolutely useless garbage.
Mazda has an app?
My Audi app is trash too
The Mazda App doesnt even have climate control presets.. its bizarre. I love my Mazda but I wish I had a Hyundai Bluelink type thing for the Mazda app.
No new apps!
The Mini app to locate where i parked has saved my bacon many times
Is the Mini app just the same as the BMW app? I can attest the latter is pretty good.
I love the Ford app and its free
I've been trying to use the Mazda Home Assistant integration, it's kinda buggy but fine. There's one on Github still.
Car app satiafaction is NO CAR APP!
I've owned my Lexus for nearly a year now and I still haven't had it connect to the app even one time. And I don't mean like "it doesn't connect the first try", I mean like I haven't even made it past the welcome page once without it error-ing out. I stopped trying 6 months ago.
Toyota and Stellantis pretty awful too. Their systems are soooooo slow to respond. Toyota graphics and resolution looks a decade old too.