Game changer: Phone as key - finally!!!

[Zcd1]

Our GV60 is my wife’s car, and she’s not always the most tech-savvy person, so she has never wanted to use her phone as a GV60 key.

I come from 8 years of Tesla ownership, so “phone as key” has become my default expectation for new vehicles.

I would generally consider myself to relatively tech-savvy but had never been able to figure out pairing my phone as a key for the GV60, meaning I had to remember and carry around the !!&$*}#% key fob at all times. (horrors/first-world problem, I’m well aware…;-)

While the car was in for its recent recall/repair, a nice sales guy FINALLY showed me how to add the phone as key, and after a couple of false-starts, he got it to work.

Oh, JOY!!!

No more carrying around a key fob like a prehistory savage - yay!!!

(Oh and I appreciate the comic relief provided by the little message on the phone saying something like “door lock command sent to the car - really?? Couldn’t it just lock the car immediately and not bother with the message?!? )

 

[EdP]

(Oh and I appreciate the comic relief provided by the little message on the phone saying something like “door lock command sent to the car - really?? Couldn’t it just lock the car immediately and not bother with the message?!? )

Sure, they could. What is you were not tech savvy? Maybe your feel reassured that the door is locked.

 

[Ed_S]

Might also be useful for troubleshooting if there is a problem, the app sent the "lock" command to the car, but what if the door didn't lock? At least you know the app sent the "lock" command, vs. not knowing if the command was successfully sent.

 

[Zcd1]

Might also be useful for troubleshooting if there is a problem, the app sent the "lock" command to the car, but what if the door didn't lock? At least you know the app sent the "lock" command, vs. not knowing if the command was successfully sent.

The comic relief comes from the fact that the message is needed, and it’s needed due the truly pregnant pause that happens between the command being sent and the doors actually locking.

By way of comparison, my Tesla door lock/unlock happens almost instantaneously when sent from the app.

Genesis: 10-15 second delay (message to reassure the driver that it’s gonna happen - eventually)

Tesla: <1 second delay (no time or need for such a message)

 

[gvjim]

By way of comparison, my Tesla door lock/unlock happens almost instantaneously when sent from the app.

I think this is because Genesis always sends this message via the cellular network thru their server, even if you are right next to the car. Tesla will connect thru your wifi network if you're close. I agree, the Tesla method is far superior. When I got the GV60 I was surprised that there was no way to configure it to log into my WiFi network when in the garage. This would also make updates much faster. The GV60 has the necessary WiFi hardware, but they choose not to use it. Shocking, I know.

 

[Zcd1]

... I agree, the Tesla method is far superior….

Tesla connects via Bluetooth as well.

Does the GV60 phone key do that?

 

[Ed_S]

Genesis: 10-15 second delay (message to reassure the driver that it’s gonna happen - eventually)

In my case (GV70EV), if I send a command from the Genesis app to unlock the door it can take somewhere between 5-10 seconds, but if I send a command from the Digital Key app to unlock the door, it happens near instantaneously. My assumption (unverified) was that the Genesis app sends the command through the Genesis servers and suffers from that overhead, while the Digital Key app sends the command directly to the vehicle. I'm assuming (unverified) that the GV60 and the GV70EV are near identical when it comes to the Digital Key app, but maybe that's not true.

EDIT: Did a search on how the Genesis Digital Key works, looks like it uses NFC and Bluetooth, so the Digital Key is "talking" directly to the vehicle and not going through the Genesis servers.

 

[gvjim]

EDIT: Did a search on how the Genesis Digital Key works, looks like it uses NFC and Bluetooth, so the Digital Key is "talking" directly to the vehicle and not going through the Genesis servers.

Those of us that don't have the Performance trim are stuck with the Genesis app and going thru their servers.

 

[Zcd1]

Those of us that don't have the Performance trim are stuck with the Genesis app and going thru their servers.

Ours is a Performance, but the pause is definitely still there, regardless of the communication protocol in use.

I'm just happy that it works - I HATED carrying that key fob, plus I'm not a fan of the fob's functional design at all.

Hard to imagine how anyone thought 2 rows of identically-size buttons on the SIDES of such a fob made any ergonomic sense at all!

 

[ckon]

Hard to imagine how anyone thought 2 rows of identically-size buttons on the SIDES of such a fob made any ergonomic sense at all

You read my mind. There are a number of small differences in my 26 compared to my 21 that I have a hard time understanding. I love the car, but …

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[Zcd1]

You read my mind. There are a number of small differences in my 26 compared to my 21 that I have a hard time understanding. I love the car, but …

The key fob is absolutely the worst-designed fob I’ve ever seen or used.

Fob buttons should be easily visible and their shapes should be differentiated to minimize confusion.

The GV60’s fob design is an abject failure from an ergonomic standpoint. All apparently so that the large faceted faces can look “cool”. SMH.

 

[abh]

Our GV60 is my wife’s car, and she’s not always the most tech-savvy person, so she has never wanted to use her phone as a GV60 key.

I come from 8 years of Tesla ownership, so “phone as key” has become my default expectation for new vehicles.

I would generally consider myself to relatively tech-savvy but had never been able to figure out pairing my phone as a key for the GV60, meaning I had to remember and carry around the !!&$*}#% key fob at all times. (horrors/first-world problem, I’m well aware…;-)

While the car was in for its recent recall/repair, a nice sales guy FINALLY showed me how to add the phone as key, and after a couple of false-starts, he got it to work.

Oh, JOY!!!

No more carrying around a key fob like a prehistory savage - yay!!!

(Oh and I appreciate the comic relief provided by the little message on the phone saying something like “door lock command sent to the car - really?? Couldn’t it just lock the car immediately and not bother with the message?!? )

Great to hear you finally got it working. Would anyone be able to point me to instructions that work? I had it working and it stopped after the last update. There's a ton of different steps online but I can't seem to get any to work. Seems like a way more complex process than it needs to be. Thx in advance

 

[Zcd1]

Great to hear you finally got it working. Would anyone be able to point me to instructions that work? I had it working and it stopped after the last update. There's a ton of different steps online but I can't seem to get any to work. Seems like a way more complex process than it needs to be. Thx in advance

Ironically, the sales rep who helped me had to go through at least 3 attempts to get it to work, so it certainly did seem to be “way more complex” than one might expect.

I wish I’d fully understood the steps he took, but as with so many things on this car, the steps didn’t seem to follow what I would call a logical progression, so I can’t help today.

I will, though, promise to document the process when I pick up the car from the upcoming recall/Wireless CarPlay update…

 

[prawlin]

The key fob is absolutely the worst-designed fob I’ve ever seen or used.

Fob buttons should be easily visible and their shapes should be differentiated to minimize confusion.

The GV60’s fob design is an abject failure from an ergonomic standpoint. All apparently so that the large faceted faces can look “cool”. SMH.

100% agree! I’ve modified mine to cover the buttons on the side I never use with a soft TPU printed shield. Now I can happily press the opposing side buttons without getting double key press null actions. I also added a couple of neat blobs of hot melt to the Lock and Unlock keys for easy sensory feel.

I always do the 4 second press both and hold thing to disable the smart entry completely (to improve security against gameboy and relay theft style attacks). Was almost impossible without these little mods. Now it’s easy. Peter

 

[Zcd1]

I will, though, promise to document the process when I pick up the car from the upcoming recall/Wireless CarPlay update…

...which should have been simple enough (picking up the car today) but the tech broke the windshield while attempting to perform the upper windshield trim recall work....

So a new windshield is on order, and they're giving me a loaner until the car is finally done, hopefully by Monday the 24th...

But hey, the service writers have been super cheerful about the whole thing, at least...

Can't make this sh*t up, I swear....

 

[SoCalG90]

100% agree! I’ve modified mine to cover the buttons on the side I never use with a soft TPU printed shield. Now I can happily press the opposing side buttons without getting double key press null actions. I also added a couple of neat blobs of hot melt to the Lock and Unlock keys for easy sensory feel.

I always do the 4 second press both and hold thing to disable the smart entry completely (to improve security against gameboy and relay theft style attacks). Was almost impossible without these little mods. Now it’s easy. Peter

What is the press and hold thing you are talking about?

 

[prawlin]

What is the press and hold thing you are talking about?

On GV60 (and probably on other models?) if after locking, you press and hold both the lock and unlock buttons and hold them until the fob LED gives a brief flash it disables the keyless smart entry receiver in the car. You can still open the car by pressing the fob unlock button, but the handle button (with fob in your pocket) won’t work. This makes it harder for the crooks to steal the car using the relay theft or the gameboy theft devices. Peter.

 

[steveinarizona]

Sure, they could. What is you were not tech savvy? Maybe your feel reassured that the door is locked.

Yep. My former BMWs did the same thing.

 

[SoCalG90]

On GV60 (and probably on other models?) if after locking, you press and hold both the lock and unlock buttons and hold them until the fob LED gives a brief flash it disables the keyless smart entry receiver in the car. You can still open the car by pressing the fob unlock button, but the handle button (with fob in your pocket) won’t work. This makes it harder for the crooks to steal the car using the relay theft or the gameboy theft devices. Peter.

Thanks. Would love to turn mine off.

 

[NVQB10]

Those of us that don't have the Performance trim are stuck with the Genesis app and going thru their servers.

Interesting. I have a first edition (2021), Korean built Base GV80 and the digital key works. If you have to have "Prestige" on the GV60, that must be a conscious decision and artificial "marketing" distinction by Genesis to pad their profits. Not questioning your assertion as I have not delved that far into the GV60, but after a few unsuccessful tries, I had to get Connected Services agent to delete ALL the prior digital keys that were set up by prior owners, then I could synch my phone (you also must have 2 working key fobs in the synch process).