Volkswagen’s Apple Watch App Can Monitor When Other Drivers Speed

We recently reported about the Apple Watch apps that have been developed by Porsche and BMW, and now Volkswagen is the latest automaker to announce its foray into software for the wearable device. The company launched its Internet-enabled “Car-Net” service last year, and is now announcing its app for the Apple Watch.

The German car manufacturer’s new Apple Watch app will bring most of the company’s existing Car-Net mobile app features to a user’s wrist. The new app will allow drivers to lock and unlock their vehicle’s doors on 2016 and later models, open and close the windows and sunroof, display a map of the car’s current parked location, and can also be used to set off an alarm if it proves too difficult to locate the vehicle via the map.

Volkswagen’s Apple Watch app will also provide other standard “smart” functionality, including remote control of climate settings and monitoring of fuel and battery levels.

The feature of VW’s app that is likely to get the most attention is the ability to track speed and set boundary notifications. Although young drivers who are using their parent’s car may not be thrilled with this addition, many vehicle owners will likely find this functionality to be greatly beneficial. Users can set up alerts for when a specific driver exceeds a set speed cap, or when they leave a certain location boundary, and can receive notifications directly on their Apple Watch.

“These high-tech features, available through the Car-Net app for Apple Watch, are paving the way to Volkswagen’s future of connected vehicles,” said Abdallah Shanti, Executive Vice President and Group Chief Information Officer for Region Americas. “As part of Volkswagen’s Digital Vehicle Management Platform, this was a truly collaborative effort between our Technical Development and Group IT teams.”

Although Volkswagen’s announcement states the Apple Watch app will “be available,” the company has not yet provided the actual date when it will be ready to be downloaded.

We expect to see more automakers launching Apple Watch apps in the near future. To date, the various apps provide largely similar functionality to each other, and it will be particularly interesting to see if any manufacturers are able to develop creative features that stand further apart from the rest.