ApplePatent applicationCars & transportInterest 6/10

Apple patents car controls in phone accounts app

Apple has filed a patent for a software interface that lets users manage a digital car key from their device's accounts screen. When a user taps the car icon, the screen displays buttons to lock or unlock the doors, adjust the climate, and open the trunk.

Why it mattersThis filing suggests Apple is refining how drivers interact with their vehicles, potentially making it easier to control car features without carrying a physical key.

In the filing’s own words

The present disclosure generally relates to managing and using an electronic key. In some examples, an accounts user interface includes a user interface object corresponding to a secure credential of a vehicle. In response to selection of the user interface object, a computer system displays a plurality of control user interface objects.

What exactly they claim (claim 1)

1. A computer system configured to communicate with a display generation component and one or more input devices, comprising: one or more processors; and memory storing one or more programs configured to be executed by the one or more processors, the one or more programs including instructions for: while displaying, via the display generation component, an accounts user interface, wherein the accounts user interface includes a user interface object corresponding to a secure credential of a vehicle, detecting, via the one or more input devices, user input corresponding to selection of the user interface object; and in response to detecting the user input corresponding to selection of the user interface object, displaying, via the display generation component, a plurality of control user interface objects, including: a first control user interface object corresponding to a lock or unlock function of the vehicle; a second control user interface object corresponding to a climate function of the vehicle; and a third control user interface object corresponding to trunk function of the vehicle.

Facts

Company: Apple (Apple Inc.)
Official title: USER INTERFACES FOR AN ELECTRONIC KEY
Publication number: US20260274036A1
Application number: 19675094
Filed: May 12, 2026
Published: Sep 17, 2026
Inventors: 6
Claims: 14

Classified under

B60H 1/00657 Operations & transportB60H 1/00878 Operations & transportB60H 1/00985 Operations & transportB60R 25/245 Operations & transportG05D 1/222 Physics & computingG06F 3/0482 Physics & computing

Read the full filing (official PDF) ↗ Open in the Patent Tracker

More from Apple in Cars & transport

Apple patents system that auto-starts your media when you approach a vehicle Sep 29, 2026
Apple patents car-to-phone signal relay for vehicle networks Sep 1, 2026
Apple patents car-to-car sync method for when GPS signals drop Sep 8, 2026
Apple patents car dashboard that only shows controls when the vehicle is moving Sep 15, 2026
Apple patents system for transferring digital car keys between devices Oct 6, 2026

Summaries are simplified from the filing’s own abstract and first claim. A patent filing is not a product announcement.
Patent data and drawings: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Nebula is not affiliated with or endorsed by the USPTO.