Volkswagen Owners Can Now Use Siri Shortcuts to Unlock Their Car

“Hey Siri, where’s my ride?”

Volkswagen

Volkswagen has introduced Siri integration on its Car-Net app, allowing owners to unlock and lock their cars with a voice command, reads a new report from The Verge. It works with Apple devices on iOS 12, and once you’re logged into the Car-Net app, you can simply say, “Hey Siri, unlock my car,” to do just that.

According to the German carmaker, the Car-Net connected app works with Siri in two ways. The first uses Siri more traditionally, allowing users to call up Siri to handle any number of tasks such as locking and unlocking their car, checking current fuel level, or even flashing the brights or honking the horn.

The second way involves Siri Shortcuts, allowing owners to create personalized phrases that will trigger different events, such as stopping or starting EV charging, turning on the defroster, setting the climate inside the vehicle, and finding a parked car by saying something like “Hey Siri, where’s my ride?”

“We are constantly looking at innovative ways to make VW Car-Net more convenient and relevant for our customers,” Abdallah Shanti, global CIO for Volkswagen, said in a statement. “With Siri Shortcuts, creating voice commands to use with our mobile app was a great opportunity to do just that. Integration with Siri helps our drivers keep eyes on the road and hands on the wheel.”

The Shortcuts function represents an attempt by Apple to match the likes of Amazon Alexa and Google Home, which are becoming increasingly intertwined with cars. Certain automakers offer cars that can interface with the Amazon or Google systems, allowing drivers to control car functions from their houses, or control smart home functions from their cars.

While VW models are getting the Apple treatment, Amazon has been working on integrating Alexa into cars; the company recently partnered with Ford to install the voice assistant directly into the infotainment system, whereas Echo Auto can bring Alexa into any vehicle whether or not it was designed to support the tech, though the latter has not hit the market yet.

To learn more about Volkswagen’s Siri integration, users must visit the “Account” screen in the Car-Net App. Siri support and Siri Shortcuts for the Car-Net iOS app are available on select Volkswagen models. Users will also need a paid Car-Net subscription to access Siri support.

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