Tesla is working on a new technological infrastructure that will fundamentally change how car owners control their vehicles using iPhones and Apple Watches. Concrete evidence of the phrase “Harmony Wallet Key Cards” has been found in the code of the latest update (version 4.52.0) for the company’s mobile application.
iPhone to become Tesla key
This discovery proves that Tesla will abandon its current Bluetooth-based “Phone Key” system and switch to a “native wallet” model that stores digital keys directly at the operating system level. While the current system requires the Tesla application to constantly run in the background, the new infrastructure will allow users to unlock or start their vehicles without needing to open the application.
The references discovered in the application code initially focus on Huawei’s HarmonyOS operating system and Huawei Wallet service. This suggests that Tesla will primarily test its next-generation digital key technology in the Chinese market, where Huawei devices are dominant.
However, experts emphasize that this infrastructure technically works on the exact same principle as the “Apple Car Key” feature within Apple Wallet. Apple’s Car Key technology, introduced in 2020, uses NFC, Bluetooth, and Ultra Wideband (UWB) to store car keys on a secure chip within iPhones and Apple Watches. Tesla’s new system-level integration will soon allow iPhone users to access their vehicles via Apple Wallet.
The transition to a native wallet key system offers critical advantages in terms of ease of use, security, and accessibility. With the new system, even if the phone’s battery is dead, it’s possible to unlock the vehicle for a certain period thanks to NFC technology. Furthermore, keys stored in the operating system’s secure hardware are unaffected by third-party software errors and eliminate connection issues.
The announcement of support for Apple and Google wallet systems by Porsche, Toyota, General Motors, and most recently Rivian, is accelerating Tesla’s move to align with industry standards. With this update, the company is preparing to take its biggest step yet in iPhone integration, following the independent app support it offered for Apple Watch.
