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      08-23-2019, 04:51 AM   #1
TSMC55
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Digital Key - Changing Phones

So I had the digital key working (and loved it) but decided to upgrade my phone. I followed the app instructions which said to remove the existing key from the car and then use the app to re add it.

Surprise surprise, it did not work. Now I have no digital key. I am hoping the service centre can reactivate it Monday but I am willing to bet this turns into a 2 month saga....

Someone please tell me they have already done this and it works out easy and simply!
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      08-23-2019, 08:41 AM   #2
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It's been a few months now but I had a Galaxy S9+ and replaced it with the S10+, as I recall I first removed/deleted the key on the old phone and then there was a notification that the key would remain "active" for a number of days. The notification suggested the key would also need to be removed from within the car too and doing so eliminated the extra days of the key remaining active. Once both the phone and car had the key removed, I uninstalled the app on my old phone and I installed the app in my new phone; upon login the app prompted me to download and activate a digital key. It actually was easy..I was surprised. I had to set up the new key within the car but it all worked pretty easily. At the time I was on the March release of IDrive 03/2019.35 not sure if that will make a difference but it might.

Given all the trouble I has setting up my key on my first phone I really was thought it might not work, but I happy to share it's been working great, kinda wish it had the "comfort access" auto lock/unlock but taping the phone on the door handle and putting it in the tray to start is not all that bad. Good luck hope you can retrace the steps to get it working.
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      08-23-2019, 11:01 AM   #3
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Hmm, I did not know it has capability of having digital key on your phone? Can someone enlighten me with more details and how to set it up? I do have card-key activated.
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      08-23-2019, 11:45 AM   #4
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Quote:
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Hmm, I did not know it has capability of having digital key on your phone? Can someone enlighten me with more details and how to set it up? I do have card-key activated.
It is currently only available with a Samsung Galaxy phone and you get a one year subscription for one key with purchase, at least in the US.

The instructions for activating are in the manual.
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      08-23-2019, 11:07 PM   #5
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I owe BMW an apology. It turns out this was very easy. The fault was mine in that I did not remove the key from the original phone app. Instead I followed the app instructions and removed it from the vehicle. Apparently that is not good enough.

So to help others: Before installing the app on the new phone, remove the key from your original app (look for the 3 dot menu on right side near middle of screen) and then go to your settings in car and remove from there also. Install app on new phone and you should be prompted to install the digital key (if not look for the same 3 dot menu and select add key).

If you forget to remove it from your original phone first, then aftwr having copied everything you need to keep from your phone, do a factory reset of the original phone. This should then let you install the key through the app on the new phone, as it wipes the original phone completely. At least it did for me. (Or maybe I just used the right combination of swear words).
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      08-23-2019, 11:55 PM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TSMC55 View Post
I owe BMW an apology. It turns out this was very easy. The fault was mine in that I did not remove the key from the original phone app. Instead I followed the app instructions and removed it from the vehicle. Apparently that is not good enough.

So to help others: Before installing the app on the new phone, remove the key from your original app (look for the 3 dot menu on right side near middle of screen) and then go to your settings in car and remove from there also. Install app on new phone and you should be prompted to install the digital key (if not look for the same 3 dot menu and select add key).

If you forget to remove it from your original phone first, then aftwr having copied everything you need to keep from your phone, do a factory reset of the original phone. This should then let you install the key through the app on the new phone, as it wipes the original phone completely. At least it did for me. (Or maybe I just used the right combination of swear words).
If you need to do something on the original phone to make it work, you don't owe BMW an apology but rather the reverse, to all customers. Original phones are lost, destroyed, and malfunction all the time making it impossible to "clear it from original phone". Requiring something be done on original phone to allow transfer is just a plain stupid design in the real world where we actually live.
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      08-24-2019, 01:27 AM   #7
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Actually I understand their position. They are ensuring you can have only one active digital key at a time unless you buy their key for 5 option. I would expect if a phone is lost etc that BMW can issue a new install certificate. I am guessing it would be like Microsoft which requires you to remove software from a precious computer before installing on an upgraded one, however if the old machine is crashed you can call up for a special code which allows the install. I dont think it is anything new in this sort of industry.
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      08-24-2019, 06:44 AM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TSMC55 View Post
Actually I understand their position. They are ensuring you can have only one active digital key at a time unless you buy their key for 5 option. I would expect if a phone is lost etc that BMW can issue a new install certificate. I am guessing it would be like Microsoft which requires you to remove software from a precious computer before installing on an upgraded one, however if the old machine is crashed you can call up for a special code which allows the install. I dont think it is anything new in this sort of industry.
Ok, fair enough. I over-reacted partially based in the fact that calling BMW for tech support is generally useless as well, so the user would still have a major hassle on their hands.

And is a normal human now expected to be fully versed in cryptographic authentication best-practices and reason out the whole clearly obvious design before purchasing a BMW? I don't subscribe to the principles of "if it was hard to design, it should be hard to use" we see all around us.
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      08-24-2019, 07:57 AM   #9
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Some things are just plain hard to fix without some outside help. If you lose the key to your house, should there be some effortless way to open the door without it? A lost or broken phone is no different than a lost key. So I don't see any need for users to understand crypto any more than they need to understand the tumbler mechanism in a lock to open a door, but they will need outside help when they lose their key.

I'm sure BMW, and the car companies, will get better at providing help for the portable computers with wheels they are selling now. The support provided by the app looks like it was a little lacking in this case; that looks like the root of the problem.

Cars and lost keys are not as bad as they could be. If you lose the key to your crypt-wallet, you've lost your cryptocurrency and you will never get it back.
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      08-24-2019, 10:29 AM   #10
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Does anyone know if Digital Key will support iPhone and iOS anytime soon?
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      08-24-2019, 10:55 AM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by LexxM3 View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by TSMC55 View Post
Actually I understand their position. They are ensuring you can have only one active digital key at a time unless you buy their key for 5 option. I would expect if a phone is lost etc that BMW can issue a new install certificate. I am guessing it would be like Microsoft which requires you to remove software from a precious computer before installing on an upgraded one, however if the old machine is crashed you can call up for a special code which allows the install. I dont think it is anything new in this sort of industry.
Ok, fair enough. I over-reacted partially based in the fact that calling BMW for tech support is generally useless as well, so the user would still have a major hassle on their hands.

And is a normal human now expected to be fully versed in cryptographic authentication best-practices and reason out the whole clearly obvious design before purchasing a BMW? I don't subscribe to the principles of "if it was hard to design, it should be hard to use" we see all around us.
In my opinion, if the procedure is properly documented either in the manual or through the iDrive I/F then as customer I'd accept it as my fault. If the customer had to "discover" or debug to get the problem fixed (and lost some valuable time) I think there's an area for BMW to improve. If 100 people encounter the issue I'd bet at least 50% would be detractors and it'd be against the seller's NPS. I wonder if BMW calculates their NPS score...
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      08-24-2019, 11:22 AM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by AEC View Post
Does anyone know if Digital Key will support iPhone and iOS anytime soon?
Supposedly iOS13 will provide capability, so BMW should have it worked out a few short years later.
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      08-24-2019, 11:27 AM   #13
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Quote:
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Quote:
Originally Posted by AEC View Post
Does anyone know if Digital Key will support iPhone and iOS anytime soon?
Supposedly iOS13 will provide capability, so BMW should have it worked out a few short years later.
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