Although the BMW remote app has dismal reviews the GM OnStar app on Google Play has four stars much higher than the BMW app rating. Even GM’s iPhone app is rated higher than the BMW apps worldwide. The OnStar app was released in 2010 it was the first smartphone app to offer a remote connection and control of certain functions. This week, OnStar RemoteLink passed one million active users making it in our opinion the most popular remote start vehicle app, ever. It has been downloaded 2.5 million times.
OnStar RemoteLink lets users see tire pressure and oil level, remotely lock/unlock the doors and car. It has been so popular that GM is working on a smartwatch version. During the polar vortex, remote start was very popular with around 20,000 GM car owners were using the OnStar RemoteLink app start feature, every hour.
Remote start is the most popular feature with 38 % of overall app requests. Vehicle Info is the next popular with 35% of requests. Another popular feature is sending locations for navigation.
RemoteLink, now available for all four major smartphone platforms (iOS, Android, Blackberry and Windows), is most commonly used on iOS devices, making up almost two thirds of the app’s downloads. Males are the most common users of the app, accounting for nearly 64 percent of the app’s population.
The latest update to the RemoteLink app includes a new service called Vehicle Locate, which allows drivers to view where their car is located on a map. This feature is available for Directions & Connections subscribers in the U.S.
New with the latest version, owners of a new 2015 GM model cars with 4G LTE can setup Wi-Fi hotspots from the mobile app.
Features included in the OnStar Basic Plan, the app’s Remote Key Fob services – remote start, lock, unlock and activate horn and lights is free for five years on all new, properly equipped GM vehicles.
The app is so popular GM is working on a smartwatch OnStar RemoteLink app.
The OnStar RemoteLink Windows Phone version is rated 3.75 stars, the Android version is rated 4 stars(8,228 reveiws), the BlackBerry version is rated 2 Star and the iPhone version is rated 2.5 which still beats the dismal 2 stars for BMW Connected (Europe/Android) and improved 3.5 for My BMW (Android) while My BMW iPhone is about the same and the 2.5 rating for BMW Connected.
One review stated “Oh Dear… it sometimes works…”
One Windows phone user wrote about OnStar RemoteLink “Another good company gets that Windows Phone is not as tiny a market as most think. GOOD JOB GM.”
BMW’s web/mobile portal went down all over Europe in July.