App Lets Users Control Car Functions From Cell Phone

The app can remotely start and lock/unlock your vehicle, and it could also come in handy for heating up your car in the winter or cooling it down in the summer, or to make sure your car is locked. 

The app can also activate the vehicle’s alarm system and help you find your vehicle in a crowded parking lot. One of the app’s greatest benefits is that you can control these functions from any distance; normal key fobs have these controls but work only a few hundred feet away from the car. 

You can also check your vehicle’s oil life, tire pressure and lifetime mpg. The program will also store the phone presets for your dealer’s service department, roadside assistance and OnStar adviser. 

When you set up the app, you create a user account and PIN that you will need to control the vital access-point controls, such as remotely starting your car. You also get a prompt asking you to verify that your car is in a safe place — if you’re unlocking your car but aren’t within viewing distance of it, for instance. 

The mobile app acts as an extension to OnStar’s Safe and Sound and Directions and Connections services, which means you will need to have one of those plans to use the app. A basic OnStar plan costs $18.95 a month or $199 a year. 

The app will be available on most 2011 Buick, Chevrolet, Cadillac and GMC vehicles.