[warkdarrior]

Sure the app is not required, though one loses on all of the remote-control functionality (remote start, remote climate control, etc.).

Maybe then app developers should be mandated to open fully their server-side protocols, so people can create apps for platforms that are not supported by default. No more undocumented APIs, anybody can get an API key, no API serving limits!

[microtonal]

Unfortunately, Volkswagen has an API, but made it much harder to use it since a few weeks ago:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48319509