Start Car

For cars with a Pandora alarm

Start your car with one tap, and walk out to a warm car.

Start Car is an iPhone and Apple Watch app that starts, stops, locks and unlocks your car with one tap. In the Pandora app you hold a button down to start the car. With Start Car you tap once, Face ID checks that it's you, and your phone goes back in your pocket.

Try it free on the App Store

Free for 7 days, then $2.99 a month or $24.99 a year (US dollars). Cancel anytime in your iPhone Settings.

Start Car is made by ORXON LLC. It is not made by Pandora and is not affiliated with Pandora.

The Start Car home screen on a snowy morning. A frosty black car says it's freezing out here, the weather at the car shows minus 3 degrees and snow, and the inside of the car is 4 degrees.

Set it up once, then every start is one tap

Start Car talks to your alarm through your Pandora account, so there is nothing to install in the car. You set it up in three steps, and you only do it once.

  1. Sign in with Apple

    Start Car asks Apple for no name and no email address, so your account is only a random id that Apple gives the app.

  2. Connect your Pandora account

    Then enter the email or username and the password you use in the Pandora app. Start Car stores the password encrypted and uses it only to talk to Pandora for you.

  3. Tap to start

    A few seconds later your car shows up on the first screen. From then on, one tap starts the engine.

Everything about your car, on your phone

Once your car is connected, the first screen shows how it is right now: the engine, the doors, the battery, the fuel and the temperature inside the car and in the engine. It updates on its own, which means you know the doors are locked and how cold it is inside before you walk out of the door.

The Start Car history screen listing locks, unlocks, an alarm from the shock sensor and a schedule start that was skipped because it was 2 degrees outside.

A history of everything your car did

Every lock, unlock, start and alarm goes into the history, with the time and where it came from: the car itself, your iPhone, a schedule or an automatic start. So if the alarm went off at lunchtime, you can see when it happened and which sensor set it off.

  • Schedules that work like an alarm clock

    Pick a time and the days, for example 7:30 on weekdays, and the car is warm when you leave. On a mild morning, the schedule can skip the start because it is warm enough outside.

  • Automatic start when it's cold

    Set a rule and the car starts itself when it gets too cold or when the battery runs low. That way the engine and the battery are ready on the coldest mornings.

  • A run time you set

    Choose how many minutes the engine runs, up to your alarm's own timer. While it runs, the app counts down the minutes left, and you move the stop time in 5-minute steps. So it never idles longer than you wanted.

  • Car location

    See where your car is parked on a map, which helps in a big car park or a street you don't know.

  • Weather at the car

    The temperature and the weather come from where your car is parked. So you know it is snowing on the car before you put your coat on.

  • Lock and unlock from anywhere

    Lock the car from the sofa, or unlock it for a friend who is standing next to it, with one tap each time.

The Start Car character: a black hatchback with headlight eyes and a big smile on its bumper.

A car with a face

Your car in Start Car is a friendly animated character. Its face changes with the weather and with how the car is doing, so on a cold morning it shivers and tells you it's freezing out there. Then, once the engine is running, it grins.

Which means one look at your phone tells you how your car is, before you read a single number.

Start the car from your wrist

Start Car comes with an Apple Watch app, so you can warm up the car while your phone is still in your bag. And because the watch picks up your iPhone sign-in on its own, there is nothing to set up on it.

  • Start and stop the engine, with a countdown of the time left
  • Change when the engine stops, in 5-minute steps
  • Lock and unlock, sound the horn or flash the lights
  • See the temperature inside, the engine temperature, fuel and battery

Try it free for 7 days

You get the whole app free for the first 7 days, so you can try it on your own car on real mornings before you pay anything.

Monthly

$2.99 a month

After the 7-day free trial.

Yearly Save $10.89

$24.99 a year

After the 7-day free trial. That is about $2.08 a month.

Prices are in US dollars and can be different in your country, and the App Store shows you the price in your own currency before you pay. Apple bills the subscription, so you cancel it anytime in your iPhone Settings. If you cancel at least 24 hours before the trial ends, you pay nothing.

Start your free trial

Questions

Is Start Car made by Pandora?

No. Start Car is made by ORXON LLC and is not affiliated with Pandora. It works with the Pandora alarm that is already in your car and with your own Pandora account.

Will it work with my car?

Start Car connects to your car through your Pandora account. If you can control your car with the Pandora app, you sign in to Start Car with the same login. If your account has more than one car, you pick the one you want. The 7-day free trial lets you check it on your own car first.

Is my Pandora password safe?

Your Pandora password is stored encrypted on the Start Car server. It is sent only to Pandora, to read your car's status and send the commands you ask for. You can delete your account and the saved login in the app at any time. The privacy policy lists everything Start Car stores.

Can the car start without me?

Only when you tell it to. The engine starts when you tap, or at a time and on a rule that you set up yourself. Every start is in the history.

Can I try the app without a Pandora alarm?

Yes. Tap Try Demo Mode on the first screen. The whole app runs on your phone with a pretend car, and you need no account.

What happens if I stop paying?

When the trial or the subscription ends, Start Car shows only the subscription screen, and your schedules and rules stop. Your alarm keeps working as before, and so does the Pandora app. If the engine is running at that moment, your alarm's own timer still stops it.

How do I cancel?

Open Settings on your iPhone, tap your name, then Subscriptions, then Start Car. Deleting your Start Car account does not cancel the subscription for you.

How do I get help?

Write to startcar@orxon.co. The support page answers the most common questions.

Get Start Car before the next cold morning

Set it up tonight, pick a time for tomorrow, and the car will be warm when you walk out of the door.

Try it free on the App Store