07:32 29-12-2025

Tesla may be testing OS-level digital keys via Harmony Wallet

A teardown of Tesla app v4.52.0 for HarmonyOS hints at OS-level car keys with Harmony Wallet, mirroring Apple Car Key and reducing reliance on app processes.

Tesla’s approach to digital keys is back in the spotlight after a blogger tore down the fresh Tesla app v4.52.0 for HarmonyOS and spotted several code fragments referencing Harmony Wallet and Key Cards. He believes the breadcrumbs point to testing of a system-level digital key that lives at the operating-system layer rather than the familiar phone-as-key tied to the app and its background services. Read that way, the direction shifts dependence away from app processes and toward native handling.

The strings he found don’t directly mention Apple Wallet or Google Wallet, yet the underlying logic mirrors Apple’s Car Key playbook. Back in 2020, Apple added Car Key to Wallet: unlocking, locking, and starting a vehicle can run over NFC, Bluetooth, or UWB; key credentials are stored in the Secure Enclave; an express mode works without biometrics; and the key can function even when the device is down to a very low charge.

If that interpretation holds, Tesla is potentially moving from a “key inside the app” model to native OS-level integration. Against that backdrop, interest in the topic is only growing as more carmakers plug into system key ecosystems. For Tesla, such a pivot would look less like a novelty and more like a measured next step that aligns with where the industry is already leaning.