Late on Christmas Eve 1914 the British Expeditionary Forces hunkered down in a trench on the Western Front heard German soldiers across the field singing carols and saw small fir trees lining the opposing trench. The two sides began shouting friendly messages, and the following day something incredible happened.
On Christmas Day the German and English soldiers took a break from trying to kill each other, climbed over their walls and walked into no-man’s land to meet, exchange gifts and take photographs. The legend has it that they even played a game of soccer, although historians are divided over whether that bit really happened.
Now, 108 years later and with Christmas approaching again, BMW (or more specifically the Connected Car consortium of which BMW is a member) has brokered another kind of truce between two sides that ordinarily refuse to see eye to eye. BMW owners with Apple iPhones can now share a digital key with Android users.
Digital key technology, the ability to use your phone as a key to open and start your car, is nothing new to BMW. But previously the keys could only be shared using Apple’s iMessage. Now they can be shared easily from your wallet to another phone even if the two phones don’t run the same operating system. We posted about this tech a few weeks ago but this is the first time we’ve had any detail from an automaker on how it works in practice.
Related: BMW Shows Android Some Love, Brings Digital Key Technology To A Handful Of Devices
BMW says the process is as straightforward as sending any other link, and can be transferred via email, SMS or via other messaging services like WhatsApp. If the sender and receiver and close by, the key can be fired across using Apple AirDrop or Android Nearby Share.
The person receiving the link doesn’t need a BMW ID or specific app; they simply click on the link to add it to their phone’s wallet. Or, in the case of serious Apple lovers, their Apple Watch.
The feature is available on all new BMWs equipped with BMW Digital Key or BMW Digital Key Plus, and some older vehicles will also be able to join in the armistice once their software has been updated to status “22-11” or later, which can be carried out over the air.
But there are some limitations on which devices can make use of the tech. Support for Samsung phones will follow, but for now only Android users with a Google Pixel 7, Pixel 7 Pro, Pixel 6, Pixel 6 Pro (running Android 13 or later) get to play. Apple iPhones also need to be running iOS 16.1 or later.
