Apple has gotten the rights for using Facial recognition software to unlock vehicles without using a physical key.

According to American media website Futurism, Apple filed for the patent was filed before recent layoffs at Apple’s self-driving car division. This is during early 2017 and it was only recently published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on 7^th of February under the title “System and Method for Vehicle Authorization.”

The article went on to say that the a user could have two ways to use the facial recognition feature to unlock their vehicle. The first one would require the vehicle to be already equipped with the necessary software and hardware to allow the user to simply stand in front of the sensors and have their face scanned before opening the door.

The other way would be allowing the user to use their own phones' Face ID unlock feature to unlock their vehicle.

Other than the unlocking of their vehicle, the software can also allow the car to remember specific vehicle settings like climate and seat preferences for different users.