You can now control a Mercedes-Benz with your Apple Watch

By Ronan Glon May 19, 2015

Following the path blazed by rival BMW, Mercedes-Benz has developed a car-control application for the brand new Apple Watch.

The MB Companion App was developed jointly by engineers in Silicon Valley and Germany as a last-mile navigation tool. Mercedes drivers can dial a navigation destination into their Apple Watch from the comfort of their own home, and the application will automatically transfer the address to the car’s COMAND Online infotainment system as soon as the ignition is turned on.

COMAND Online provides the driver with step-by-step driving directions. When the car is turned off, the address is again transferred to the Apple Watch which takes over and provides walking directions to the final destination, creating a complete door-to-door experience. On the way back, MB Companion can help the driver find his or her car, which promises to completely change the lives of those who routinely forget where they parked.

The MB Companion App will be compatible with all late-model C- and S-Class models equipped with COMAND Online starting next fall, and it will work with several additional models shortly after. However, Mercedes has not published a full list of compatible models and has not provided a more precise time frame.

The Stuttgart-based automaker admits it is still fine-tuning the app, and it predicts that by the end of the year drivers will be able to use their Apple Watch to remotely keep an eye on their car’s fuel level, available driving range and odometer reading as well as to obtain maintenance codes.

Mercedes is not the first automaker to introduce a car-control application for the Apple Watch. In the past few weeks, Porsche has launched the Car Connect application, BMW’s i sub-brand announced an app called i Remote for Apple Watch and Volkswagen designed an app appropriately dubbed Car-Net for Apple Watch.

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Ronan Glon is an American automotive and tech journalist based in southern France. As a long-time contributor to Digital…

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