Use of this app is free for me right now but in a few months they will be requiring a $20-30$ monthly fee, which is really crazy. This application is at best half baked and not worth paying money for. Remote Start requires you to have the doors locked before it will execute. So you have to remotely lock the doors and wait while the entire app is locked up for a few minutes so it knows the doors locked or not. Sometimes that doesn’t work. But when it does work you then can try to remote start it again which may or may not work. This should be a single command that locks your car and starts it. And it should do it in the background and not lock up the entire app. And it should support Siri and shortcuts so you don’t have to open their shoddy buggy app and spend 2 minutes just to remote start your car. I love the Telluride, but this app is a joke and to charge a fee for something this broken and unreliable is insane. Hopefully they extend the free trial for users who have suffered using this dumpster fire of an application if they ever fix it to be usable.
I’ve had a 2020 Optima SX for about 5 months and i’ve had the Kia Connect subscription the whole time. I overall like the app and it does work, however I have a few complaints/suggestions. First of all, the biggest complaint is that when you use the app to start the car your hazards will flash (brightly) and continue to flash until the car is no longer running or you get in it. I find this to be irritating and I highly doubt my neighbors like it much either… maybe just leaving the running lights on would be less irritating… Another feature missing is the fact that I cannot turn on my heated (or cooled) seats from the app. I can turn on my defroster and heated steering wheel but not the seats which in my opinion are the best part. This could be a technical limitation but I would really like to know why that would be. Another thing is that I would like to see is maybe a home screen widget for iPhone to start/stop and lock/unlock the car right from the home screen. And finally the time from when you send a request to the car for it to actually execute it takes forever sometimes 2+ minutes even with great cell/GPS coverage in the wide open, and sometimes you’ll get an error that it can’t at all. Overall the app does work and is much better than nothing, but has some pretty irritating quirks that I feel could be ironed out.
Awesome software but you have to pay after the trail
The frustration related to delay due to cellular or GPS connection many people expressed here is understandable. However, I agree that Kia should make Kia connect free for the first five years or lower the price forever….and maybe for those cars without immobilizer completely free forever and or update the security settings etc. I got a 2023 Sportage Hybrid in July 2022. After my purchase, I found out about the TikTok challenge of “how to steal a Kia or a Hyundai in one minute”. I went into panic and spent hours researching for added security and theft deterrence for my car, even though it is equipped with immobilizer. While being able to track the car’s location increases the recovery rate if the car is stolen, I think it’s still the manufacturer’s responsibility to have the state of the art security system. I have not looked into my insurance’s cost compared with, say, if I had purchased a RAV4 Hybrid, but I am sure the insurance company takes make/models that are frequently targeted into consideration. If the consumers had known this ahead of their new purchase, it would have really hurt Kia. So, I am shouting out to Kia to “give back and upgrade”. Another note to the Kia keyless entry owners, make sure you put BOTH of your key fob in a faraday bag every night. Google this and you will see what I mean.
I’ve had Optima since Dec. 8th. I like the remote feature however there’s a delay up to a minute to sync, 30 seconds would be best. I’ve found that the system shows the doors unlocked even though they are locked. That issue is that the system hasn’t updated to show locked. What needs to be done is the moment you log in the app should sync with the car immediately and I’m sure it will then show the doors are locked. One feature should be added is when the a/c is set on the windows should default down a 1/4 of an inch for a minute or two to exhaust the heat to cool the car down quicker when using the automatic remote. I would like to see a countdown feature once the remote has been used to to start the car showing you that you have 5-10 minutes or so and the vehicle will shut down. The one feature that doesn’t link is the finance feature. If you fiancé a car it doesn’t link to your Kia Acct. , feature not available. The only app that I have problems with is the UVO app. , can’t get it to work. The other issue that I see is in the locations app the car is facing always one direction and it’s white. How about allowing that color to be the color of you car? Contact me if you need to further discuss however I believe in a week all these issues can be fixed. I live the app and my car.
STAY AWAY FROM KIA! Nothing but greedy. I mean they charge you $15/mo if you want to simply remote start your car on a cold morning. Keep in mind this is only $150 a year if you do it annually. It’s pathetic. And oh, you want to be warned that you 12V starter battery is low? Sorry that will be starting at $6/mo. Yes, that is right. Kia says “screw you, we would rather leave you stranded if you don’t cough up $6/mo.” What is in the next update? $15/mo if you want your side airbags to work? The brand is so unbelievably pathetic. But don’t worry! They will make sure you know when service is ready all for free, so you can go in and get ripped off at their dealerships. I have loved kia for so long through their rise to glory the past 2 decades. My Sorento was awesome, but after purchasing my wife’s new Kia Niro, they have officially lost my business. Stay away from companies like this, because once they realize they can gouge money from you, they are just going to keep doing it. Also I am highly skeptical of the 4.6 stars due to the poor quality of this app and the terrible lag time. Also the sheer lack of features for the price you pay each month. Seriously, it is $6-$20/month. I am the go to car guy in my vast community of friends and never will I recommend kia until they remove this monthly cost to access features that should already exist on a $30,000 purchase. The greed is unrivaled and I am severely disappointed.
This app works with my Kia Telluride in an urban city with good cell service coverage, can’t speak for rural areas. I understand current cell communication technology won’t allow instant response times between the app and car. That’s fine. But instead of having a status refreshing symbol for what feels like forever in this modern age (any time longer than 10 sec) I would suggest simply acknowledging that the remote start or lock signal has been sent to the Kia servers. Then when the car is started or locked, have a response ping the app/email alert on the phone, this is a message confirming the car has been started/locked. That way, after sending the signal, we can just change out or the app and do other things while we await a confirmation message. The waiting to see if the signal was even sent out is what is mainly annoying. My second suggestion for the app’s future updates is to have an interior cabin temperature reading updated on the app when checking the status of the car. This would really help owners know how long to keep the remote start running. Also, adjusting the time for the remote start duration would be great as well. Some of us want longer than only a 10 minute run time. Lastly, do push notifications even work on this app? It seems I am only receiving mainly email notifications.
I’ve had DroneMobile with CompuStar placed in my previous Honda and absolutely loved it. It was very responsive, easy access from my apple watch, and the great interface on the app. When I sold it to buy my Kia Sorento, which I absolutely love, I have become very displeased and frustrated with the remote app. It always logs me out, in which I have to input my email and password in manually (there isn’t even a save log in / password option) each time and same with the apple watch. I would love when I’m getting ready for work that I can use my watch to easily start the car with DroneMobile and it would start within 10 seconds. Not with Kia’s Access. I go into my watch and it always tells me to log in on my phone (again because it always logs me out). It becomes such a chore to remote start that I just give up. It’s faster to get into my car and start it than actually remote starting it… this is not efficient at all! It also used to be that the design of the app would have a large circle START button on the middle… hate the updated version where the start button is smaller and now up and to the left. Please make this app and connectivity to the car faster and bring back an improved user friendly interface on the app.
The application is a cool idea however I have found that it can turn into more of a hassle than a positive. First of all in a modern world we as the consumers are princesses and expect the doors to unlock the minute we press the button not a minute or two later. The major problem I have had besides the long delay waiting for the doors to lock or unlock it a problem with connection, I have locked my keys in the car a few times on purpose one being at an amusement park, when leaving for the day I tried to unlock my car and after a few minutes I got a notification that the car hasn’t been driven in a couple days and to start the car to connect. The 2nd time was river rafting, locked my keys in the car and when we got back hit the unlock button on my phone and nothing after waiting about 5 minutes I tried again this time I got a message that it could not connect to the server and two options, retry and cancel after clicking retry a hand ful of times I tried cancel which killed the app every time I clicked it. I tried calling the uvo number on the door window after a few minutes being on hold gave up and called for a family member to go to my house and bring my spare key. I have learned not to trust or rely on this application. Definitely not one that I would subscribe to after the first “free” year is done.
Latest review: the app has become pointless as its use now requires payment. Paying for an app that barely functions is absurd. I’m not exactly sure how Kia can get away with charging for a poor service like this and take away the ability to use so many features. Updated review: after update 6.1, there are still all the same issues as before and then some. The remote start feature works worse now and sometimes doesn’t even start it. Scheduling still doesn’t work at all. The temperature is still changed to Celsius any time the remote start works. What a shame that Kia forces this kind of poor service on to us, as it’s the only source of some of these features. Original review: This app is absolutely horrible at everything it does. Here’s a list of stuff that doesn’t work: - The remote start scheduling doesn’t work. - The remote start (not scheduled) changes the degrees to Celsius even though my preference is set to Fahrenheit. - Sometimes while hitting the remote start button, it thinks you are hitting the lock button. - You cannot perform functions while another task is in progress. - It logs me out every time. - It’s incredibly slow flipping between different tabs in the app. I cannot believe they make you pay for these functions. Make the app work before making people pay.
This app has been more frustrating than helpful. It barely works to start my car maybe 3 out of 10 times will it actually start it. My battery needed replaced on my brand new Telluride and in the diagnostic section it didn’t even tell me anything was wrong when my SUV wouldn’t start for two days in a row. Not sure what the point of the diagnostic is if it doesn’t work. When the car is locked it will tell me that it isn’t or that I need to lock it before I can start it ( when it’s locked) the. Still won’t start it. This is during our free trial and I’m also livid to find out that you have to pay for it to start your vehicle. I don’t think we’ll be paying for the app but getting an actual remote start put in via a different company unless by a miracle they figure out the problem. One of my musts is a remote start and it was a selling point- never thought the app could be such a disappointment.
Would be a great feature if it worked consistently
The app is awesome when it works, has a bunch of great features like Find My Car which I’ve had to use multiple times when I go to the city. Or the remote start or door locks, having all your vehicles information in the palm of your hand is also great. The problem is that the app doesn’t always work. Many times the app won’t even load, or will shut down due to a “problem with our servers” I live in Michigan and the winters here can be quite the ordeal, the app is nice to get my car started so it will warm up and defrost before I head out to leave, but again that’s only when the app works which during the morning hours seems to be about a 50/50 shot. Throughout the day the app does seem to work better, I don’t know if Kias servers just tend to get overloaded in the mornings or what but it is super frustrating when trying to get ready for work and wanting your car to be ready by the time you get out there. (I know, first world problems) but still, I do pay for this product and would be happier if I could use what I pay for on a more consistent basis.
This app was barely tolerable during the free trial period. The constant lags and failures to connect and just general issues with the functionality of this app have been terrible since we bought our new Carnival. I lived with it while it was free, but now they want to charge a monthly fee just for the joy of waiting minutes to *hopefully* execute a remote unlock or start command?! I have owned other brands with similar apps that function much better and never charged for the service. It’s ridiculous that Kia wants up to $20 a month for halfway working app just to access basic features on a car I already paid $40,000+ for. This terrible app and subscription scheme is rapidly turning me off of a brand that I used to love. Kia executives, please hear me—you make great vehicles! Over the last couple decades I have been continuously impressed by the strides your company has made in terms of quality and reliability. Please do not destroy your credibility with nickel-and-diming your consumers to death. It might increase revenue in the short term, but I know I’m not the only customer who is disappointed enough with this experience to steer well clear of you in the future if this doesn’t change.
The app was working fine for the initial free year. Literally as soon as I paid for the first month subscription, I haven’t been able to use ANY of the remote features. I mainly get the message ‘Remote request error! Your remote request failed to complete’ even though all conditions are met. I called customer service a few days ago and they were able to get it to work remotely. Next day I tried and it’s back to not working again. Today’s error message was ‘please start or move your vehicle. It may be in a low coverage area or may not have been started in a few days’. I just got home from work 10 min ago and parked in the my driveway, where I’ve parked the entire time I’ve owned the car. We’re going on week 3 of not being able to warm up my car in the dead of winter using a service that worked absolutely fine for an entire year parking in the same spot outside my house for no apparent reason. Please fix this immediately or reprogram the vehicles to maintain whatever climate control you have it set to when you turn it off when starting using the remote start via the key fob. 72 is not a useful temp for extreme cold or heat!
This feature worked great for all of three weeks when I purchased my new Optima. I was really enjoying the schedule feature as it made the daily process automatic. For the past two weeks it’s just a waste of space on my phone. As others have stated, the remote start was heavily touted during my sales experience and it wasn’t until afterwards I learned it only worked through the app and only last week did I hear about a monthly subscription to use it when my warranty expires. What a waste of time and money for Kia Motors to put such useless equipment on cars that can’t be accessed by the consumer without the hassle and added expense of a monthly subscription. But that’s a mute point because the App doesn’t work!! It constantly reads that my car is unlocked which it isn’t (every attempt to lock it from the app so it reads properly is returned with an error, failure to communicate)...I keep getting the start your car error but I drive my car daily...it will not remote start unless I’m standing 3-5 feet away from the car (a wall can’t be in between)...I even took it back to the dealership last week and they’re clueless as to how to make it function properly!! Again, what a waste, fool me once...first and last Kia that I’ll ever purchase!!
I have now had my 2020 Telluride for close to a year and just got an email letting me know that my trial UVO is coming to an end. I was shocked when I looked at the pricing to continue!!! 25 DOLLARS A MONTH FOR A SYSTEM THAT IS ABSOLUTELY HORRIBLE! I thought it was a joke! The remote lock and start function is just plain pathetic. Kia should be embarrassed to put out such a poor product. When you use it to try to lock or start your car the amount of time it takes to execute the function is an excruciating 2 minutes plus! Often times it doesn’t even work! I’ve tried it in many locations! It you forget to lock the doors and also want to start it, it takes nearly 4 minutes to accomplish both! If you don’t think that’s a long, time out 4 minutes and see. By that point I could easily go out, start my car, and come back in! My brother has a Subaru and his system is nearly instantaneous. I really believe Kia is crazy for asking customers to pay 25 dollars a month after the trial to get such a poor system. (You can’t even start the heat or ac in my car) It’s also very wrong to use it as a selling point to sell cars. The system should be free until they can make it better. Even then, 25 dollars a month is ridiculous.
My biggest complaint with remote start climate control is that only the front defroster activates! You have to remember to get inside to turn on the rear defrost which, in some cases, includes the outside mirrors. How often is it that only the windshield has ice and snow? Selecting defrost in the app should activate front and back or, at least, the option to choose both. I realize that only allowing up to ten minutes is, likely, best for vehicle components, fuel, and the environment; however and without the back defrost, 10 minutes often is not enough time to warm the car to help with clearing front, back, or side windows. This is especially true since the defroster is not heat and is air conditioning. Are these people defrosting as they back out of the garage because I have never found cool air to be very effective (nor is it fun on my face!) in below-freezing temperatures. On a higher note, I really appreciated the update of having to briefly hold down start, stop, lock, and unlock rather than an accidental touch on any of them!
The idea of this app is awesome IF it will execute the command. Oh wait, it’s not a command when it only works 1/2 the time, more of a “request”, isn’t it? 5/10 the app tells me they are “experiencing server/ communication issues”. My remote start/ climate schedule setting only works 1/2 time. I have it set to start and heat up at 8 am to get kids off to school. Often I will check my notifications to see if it has started and by 8:05 am it still has not started so I have to do it myself anyway. If the app is not working, I cannot heat up the car- only start it. I can’t remote start, enter vehicle to adjust heat settings bc then the car will not let me lock the door without smart key IN the vehicle. So if the app isn’t working, there is no good way for me to heat up the vehicle. This definitely would have impacted my purchase of this vehicle if I had known these things. Very disappointing! If they do charge for this app and service in time, I am definitely NOT purchasing! That’s really funny to me they are trying to get already customers to buy MORE.
Purchase my Kia soul Feb 2023 with like 9 miles it’s been sadness my car turn off turn on idle didn’t work took in to dealer and they said they fix it in March 2023 it still does the same sometimes it works sometimes it doesn’t. The heater I complain about it they say it works but it doesn’t it takes 20 minutes before heat starts coming out. The small shelf about the compartment where you hook your phone to heats up like fire something wrong. Now my seatbelt in the passenger doesn’t work which means can’t have no one sit in front with me. I’m 62 yrs old I brought this car so I can have peace of mind no all I have is heart ache. Also weird I was in my driveway started my car and the warning light came on the one with a triangle and a exclamation inside the triangle what the heak scared me it’s the California proposition 65 one mind you I was in the driveway. Also today my red lights started flashing on my dash warning I was going like 5 miles an hour in a mobile home park. I love Kia but I hate this one why can’t I get help. It’s only a couple months old. I brought a new car so I wouldn’t have to deal with break downs. Something is wrong and dealers at Kia want nothing to do with me they are mean.
I own a 2022 Kia Prestige with all the bells and whistles. I am beyond grateful for my car, it drives beautifully and every passenger enjoys the perks the mpv provides. However, the software updates are ridiculous. The fact that no information is given at the time of purchase that you will need to pay $170 to update software is crazy, especially since it happens often. When the software requires updating your entire gps system and app go down. It typically takes more than a week for service and then hours for the service. Shuttle service is provided, a nice offer, however at the time of purchase I bought all the extra warranties and service to have a loaner for convenience. That happened once while my carnival needed a week long service due to the engine not starting and diagnostics needed done. I am grateful for the customer service at Kia who works hard to please me and all customers. My suggestion would be at the time of sale OR in the manual there be a qr for download the updates BEFORE it is outdated and locks the consumer from accessing the conveniences we have paid much money for, especially since the app is an additional monthly fee.
I have a 2022 Kia Sorrento. The features of the app were working fine up until about 3-4 months ago. I’ve been in touch back and forth with the Kia Connect team for over a month now and they can’t figure out what’s wrong with the app. Specifically starting the car and heating up the seats. This is a feature that is supposed to be available with the Ultimate Package (the most expensive one for this vehicle) yet it doesn’t work. The only way to get it to work is by going online and the settings are not even saved, so you have to go to the website (not app), log in and then select the feature each time one by one and then start the car. Inconvenient, over priced…not worth it. What’s worst is that this was a feature that influenced us to buy the car. We were highly sold on the “convenience” of this app and features.
When I purchased my vehicle. I was told that I can start my car, lock or unlock my car and control the temperature settings in my car. This app doesn’t do any of it! Either the app doesn’t work or I was straight up lied to by the Salesman at Dean McCrary Kia in Mobile Al. It’s awful funny that my brother bought a car from the same dealer a couple of weeks later and his seems to work. This is the second time I’ve been screwed over by this dealership in my lifetime. I will not go back to them. I was also told that my first oil change would be free if I completed the survey that was sent to me. After completing it,I was told that because I didn’t give them a perfect survey, I don’t get the free oil change. Also was supposed to fix my door where the detail person scratched it with a razor blade… they attempted to fix it but it was a horrible job, they told me who to call to set up an appointment to get it fixed and I’ve called several times with no return calls. When I call the dealership or the salesman and leave a message… they will not respond to my calls either. You should not have this much hassle when you buy a brand new car!
My favorite features of this app are: 1) the remote start and schedules 2) the map of my car location and being able to remotely enter POI’s 3) getting notified that I forgot to lock my doors. I am a working mom and constantly on the move. Between kids and work I just go go go all day and being able to preplan my days is important to me. I also have the memory of a goldfish so being reminded to lock my car is super nice. Improvements I feel can be made: 1) can we get more schedules? I feel like two is nice but I don’t have just two standard schedules. 2) can we have a setting to auto lock the car after two minutes of the car being off and the doors open then close? An optional feature that can be set by the user... 3) $25 plus tax is a lot of money to pay just for the remote start function of a vehicle, I understand that developers need to be paid and there is an associated cost for development itself but $25 is outrageous when you remember that I just purchased a $30k+ vehicle. 4) I know in iOS 14 there will be widgets available, are you planning to make one? It would be nice to have functions like lock and start on my home screen. 5) the interface could use a little more color, it’s a personal preference I know but this always seems so clinical and sterile when I open it. Buying a car should be fun and the experience after should be fun too. Over all I love my Soul and the functions the app provides. 😊
We have used the app for two months on a Niro EV and it works. The primary functions we use are to check and set the charge times (once in a while), remote start/preheat (a lot!), and lock the doors (rarely). We looked at other functions such as the valet alert, scheduling charging time, location, and manuals but haven’t needed them. Our biggest complaint: connection speed. When we looked at the location finder the car appeared on a map within seconds. The functions we use most frequently, however, require about 30 seconds to a minute to initiate and confirm. Not a deal breaker and when you think about what has to happen to connect wirelessly to the car via cellular it isn’t unreasonable. What do we like most? Preheating the car! We live in the Chicago area. It’s 17 degrees Fahrenheit today. We are fortunate to also have a garage (detached) and preheating the car with the garage door closed is wonderful! In the end, if this is the only function that ever works the app is really useful for us.
I am not impressed with this at all and I’m certainly not gonna pay for it when the subscription runs out. You can’t start your car from far. It takes over a minute or more for the app connect to the car. I can take my actual remote and start my car faster. The only downfall is that I would have to go outside and start the heat myself. Where as in my 2011 Kia, my automatic start that I’ve had installed turned on the heat with the start as long as the heat was left on from previously being in the car. I also had to turn off every single email notification that I got from Kia ‘s app. There’s nothing like going into your email and seeing that you have 30 emails. The car was started, the car was turned off. Your doors are unlocked. There’s an update. There’s this there’s that. I simply wanted to buy a car and drive it.. I don’t want to receive email notifications galore. I will say that Kia upped at one with the 2024 Kia Sportage. I’ve only had it for a couple weeks. I will say, it doesn’t feel like the engine is capable of handling the size of the Kia Sportage. They definitely made it bigger.
Well I just left a positive review recently and now have to change it. Apparently there has been ANOTHER update and now my car won’t start. It also says it’s just my heated steering wheel that will turn on and not my seat? And why is the rear defrost not a separate option? I rarely need th defrost period. This needs to be fixed It’s definitely working much better now than it did the first few months. I’ve had my Telluride for 8 months now and it was a royal pain at first. It is still frustrating how long it can take to actually start the vehicle, but as I said, it is definitely better. Apparently I’ll have to start paying for this once my year is up but no one has ever been able to tell me a cost. I say another post that said $20-$30 a month. That would be insane to have to pay! Don’t force people to pay for an app and not give them the option of a keyfob for remote start! Come on, Kia! I paid a pretty penny for this vehicle and shouldn’t have to be sucked dry to remote start my car.
The app is okay. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. I have perfect WiFi connection where I mostly use the features of the app, but sometimes app will say “cannot process your request, make sure doors are shut….” blah blah blah. I can usually get it to work the 2nd or 3rd time. However, I have to say the newest update is just, in layman’s terms… Ugly and not very user friendly the way the previous layouts were. Going to the dashboard, you used to be able to clearly see if your doors were locked or if your engine was on or not. now, it’s not easy to tell anymore. I’m sure there was a reason for the update and the layout change, I just think the developers maybe forgot that the app needs to be functional and clear for the everyday joe. It is what it is. I’ll probably continue paying for the service, even tho it doesn’t work half the time. When it does work it is very convenient. However, the new update and everything for me is just lackluster and frankly, disappointing…
This app is usable. However given this day and age, it is missing a lot of basic features. This is regards to the EV9. 1) you can’t see how long it will take to charge the car while it is charging. Prior to charge it will give an estimate. While charging the only place to see this is on the dash (for a few brief moments) 2) you can’t see the temperature inside the car, I would like to be able to see the temperature to decide if I want to turn on the climate control or not. 3) you can remotely open the frunk from the app, but not the tailgate 4) the key allows you to unlock all doors, not the app 5) the key allows you to open all windows, not the app 6) the climate control has no fine controls, just temperature and on and off. I can’t turn on seat/steering wheel controls. Or just defrost the car 7) no detailed information. If doors or windows are open, which ones. This information is available in the car but not the app. 8) No walk away lock in the US, this is a feature that exists somewhere because there is a Howto video from KIA in this, but menu settings don’t exist in the US version. 9) no way to get camera recording. I had some one back into my new car, but I can’t get any video of it, even though the car has dozens of cameras. KIA has to realize the app is now part of the car experience. They want to sell a high end car, they need to up their App game. Yes, I will post this on the KIA feedback site.
I’ve officially owned my Kia for over a year now. When I first bought it, I was made aware of this app, but my first thoughts were that I’d rarely ever use it. I was completely wrong. I use this app every single day - mostly to start my car and adjust the internal settings. There have been a few times where I forgot to lock my car after getting out, but I was reminded via the app and could lock my car remotely. I’ve also used this app to schedule maintenance appointments, as well as getting notified about a recall. When my 1 free year subscription ended, I paid for another year without hesitation. Yes, it’s quite expensive for an app (I paid for the $150/year), but it’s completely worth it in my experience.
So I’ll start by stating I love my Kia. It’s a great car. My complaints with the app are first and foremost it’s a subscription after a year. My Ford I had for 7 years and I had the ford access app. I could remote start, lock/unlock my doors, and check the location without a yearly membership. I totally understand it takes money to keep those services running, but the cost of cars these days is way overblown. The cost of the app should be implied it’s included. You cannot do remote unlock or remote start unless you pay $15/m of $150/yr. Second, I cannot even get the app to connect to my driver profile in my car. I’m expected to pay for an app that doesn’t do its most basic function? My car shows in the app. I show “connected” on my car but for my driver profile it always says “log I to the app to connect” I am logged into the app AND Kia connect is connected in my car. Yet….im supposed to trust paying $15/m for basic features? I just can’t get behind that. The car itself, absolutely drives like a dream though.
The app consistently says my estimated combined range is 0 miles and for some reason it often reverts to an older reading of my battery charge level. The dashboard on the actual car gives the correct readings. Surprising that these kinds of issues persist on version 5 of the app, especially if you have to pay for a monthly subscription to use it. UPDATE: The app now shows my estimate combined range. It seems like I had to drive a certain number of miles with gas for this to happen, even though the range estimate always appeared on the dashboard in the car. What continues to be an issue is incorrect readings (battery charge, gas tank level, and range) that seem to reflect older values. This happens when the app cannot connect with the car because it is in area with poor Verizon coverage. For some reason the app doesn’t display the most recent reading when it last connected with the car but reverts to one before that. Finally the display of the gas tank level alternates between green and white/red. Weird.
Like others said, wish Kia Finance was working. I’m a tech geek and wish there was more breakdown, like how many miles were electric only, how much battery you’ve recovered while driving. Also, how come all the features of the webpage aren’t in the app? I like tech info, not tech savvy, lol. Probably the worst feature is the Find My Car feature. The delay for the rest of the app is fine, usually less than a minute. But Find My Car takes hours sometimes. My wife makes regular trips to visit the grandkids and we use this device that plugs into the OBD that is a WiFi device and location tracker. That has a short delay, but this app seems to struggle with it. Not worth $30 a month IMO. Crappy to see Kia went the way of Tesla, put it all in the car they buy then charge to actually use it. $10 a month to $30 depending on how much app u want unlocked. That aspect is a scam. For $30 a month it should include some WiFi use
So I’ve used the UVO app before and I loved it. However my issue with this app is it doesn’t sync properly. My odometer is not synced and it doesn’t show me the status of my car or the battery (I have a 2022 niro) nor does it give me ANY of the options to remote start or unlock. I have to physically go onto the website to do all of that. I’m not completely sure why the app doesn’t update and do this. It’s really weird. I’m hoping that the review will trigger someone to help me problem solved so I can update the review honestly. That would be amazing. (: other wise I’ve always loved these apps they’ve been amazing I love the remote start feature and the remote lock/unlock. Being able to remotely adjust the climate of ny car is amazing as well. I love all of that. I just want to be able to do it directly from the app and be able to see the battery of my car without having to log onto the website. I’d love to be able to do it from the app itself.
Great app! But the geofence notifications are a pain
Recently got a new KIA as my old one clocked out. Put the geofence alerts on just in case due to all the recent theft although my new vehicle is equipped with the immobilizer. Drove to work the next day and EVERY 5 MINUTES I received an alert that my vehicle was out of the geo fence. And there is NO WAY to change the frequency on this. If possible, I need this to changed to only once OR give the users options on how often they want to be notified - my previous car had LoJack and I was only notified once when I left the geo fenced area - not every few minutes. It keeps interrupting my music and changes the screen from apple car play which is frustrating when I am driving with the GPS. I turned it off but will turn it on again once this is fixed. Hopefully that will be soon. Will change this rating once it is fixed.
Overall, the app is pretty good for being free, but no way I’d pay the monthly fee for it after the free trial. At least not until the kinks are worked out. I deducted 2 stars due to 2 features not working. We’ve had our 2022 Sorento PHEV for 4 weeks now. The Est Combined Range is always at 0. Not that big of a deal, as I don’t think I’ll be using the app to see how far we can go, but if the feature is on the app, it should work. The other issue is with the Take 360 Surround Image. This feature has also never worked from day 1. I get the same error message every time: “Sorry we could not capture the surround view images, please try later.” I’ve tried under various conditions. Indoors, outdoors, different locations, etc. Same failed result every time. All of the other features work, although there is a 30-60 second delay when refreshing the vehicle status. Hopefully these issues will be corrected in future updates.
I just bought my first Kia, and at first, I was impressed. I can lock, unlock and start my car with my phone? Cool! I thought this app was new and so they just hadn’t worked out all the kinks. But here it looks like it’s been live for over 4 years! What? And you haven’t managed to fix all the problems in that amount of time? For some weird reason, both the charge and remote start schedule screens contain the exact same information, and every time I try to adjust anything on those screens I get the error “invalid schema request”. So now, it is stuck on the first charge schedule I set up. Also, the locations screen is completely useless, no info in there about charging stations, etc. When you click on “contact us”, a blank screen pops up. Very limited and basically useless info in the help sections. Literally nothing in the “manuals” or owner materials screen either. Why have all these functions if you are not going to set them up?
I am very disappointed that out of the 30 day. UVO only works maybe three times a month for me and when it does work I have to turn off my Internet and stand within 100 feet of the vehicle to even try to get the car to lock when I know it’s locked but it says unlocked. I press the option to lock sometimes it locks sometimes it doesn’t lock, if it locks I will then attempt to start it most often it will not start with that command I am very disappointed because I pay a monthly fee for the service and have absolutely NO POSITIVE EXPERIENCE TO GIVE AS FEEDBACK! I have contacted Customer Service multiple times regarding this that was how I learned that I needed to shut off the Internet customer service is wonderful each person I encounter is friendly and helpful. It is discouraging and I believe this will be my last month that I subscribe to this service based on the past six months of lack of usage for something I pay a monthly expense on!
Ive used or attempted to use the app since April 2019 and haven’t gone even one week with reliable functionality. At times it connects and locks/unlocks and completes remote start functions fine. More often I am experiencing problems that seem based in the lack of robust UVO network. I’ve experienced many problems with infotainment screen not displaying time at all, complete loss of GPS and zero voice navigation availability after using app to start vehicle. A soft reset inside the vehicle does not correct the issue. If this happens I have to shut off vehicle let it set for at least 30 minutes and restart NOT using app for resolution. I live in an area where the network signal is suppose to work fine for the weather widget but it doesn’t work regularly. Customer service has not explanation or recommended reasons why system doesn’t function reliably or why network is not robust and dependable. The fact that new vehicle is only getting free app access for one year is really poor especially given I can go a week without experiencing problems.
I have had this app for nearly a year now. It’s still slow. 🐢 Faster to go outside and start the car as opposed to using the app (useless). I spent hours on the phone last year “there’s a lot of work on the backend and we’ll be pushing an update soon.” ❌ People still complaining about how slow the apps is. Now, since the last update, I can’t access the finance section. Neat. UPDATE: Love the new update!!! Simpler layout makes it easier to read and use. So far... so far... it seems faster for remote start. Finally, the heated and cooling seat options for remote start. Vehicle status right at the top! So far so good! Apple shortcuts next😅? App responds better now. Nice touch with the watch, but if I have to sign in on my phone just to use the watch app, I might as well just keep using the phone app. I get security and all that, but it kinda defeats the purpose.
So I’ve used the app now for almost a year for my EV6 and the one major thing I have to complain about are the lack of widgets!!!! The Hyundai app has this for the IONIC5 and the Kia can’t? It’s the same shell of the car and the parent company. I rely on the app to stop charging when using my home charger as it’s not smart wifi enable and the app forces you to have an extra step of collapsing the dashboard options in the recent update. If I could have a widget to have on my iPhone homescreen that would be clutch. Besides that maybe having the scheduling for charge a little bit more user friendly. And there has to be a way with the app, Bluetooth, key fob to do Auto Unlock and lock on the doors. Seems a bit silly to me that the car can recognize you are approaching with the key fob, expand mirrors, give you lighting but NOT unlock the driver door.
This app needs a lot of work. I have the ev6 and had the paid version free for the first year. It worked but it took about two minutes before sending a request, for example starting the car, for the car to actually start. Also you have to manually refresh the app every time you go into it just to get updated info. If your car was unlocked before opening the app, the app tells you it’s unlocked when it’s not. My wife just got a Tesla this week and teslas app is really quick, on top of it all the basic features are free. For something like the their sentry mode and streaming it’s only 9.99 a month. I have to pay just to know if my 12 volt battery is low.. and to unlock the car and remote start it all costs more than Teslas app (which is free for those features). App needs to be modernized, and basic features should be free, if not free a lot less than it is now.
Good for the most part, the UI and glitches need work tho
For the most part, this is a great app and it brings a cool new to how we start our Kias. We all know Kia have had a few hiccups in the past, but I do believe they’re trying to get better as a brand. As an engineer myself, I see a few things that could be definitely improved, including the UI itself. Needs a new rebrand so to speak for better efficiency, appearance, and user navigation. I also experience the app being down at very inconvenient times where I’ve almost been locked out of my car. The app was down and unable to connect for 3 to 4 hours. this has happened more than once also including today. Please fix some of these issues and I think you guys will be off to a much better start regarding the rest of the reviews here.
This app worked fine for my 2022 Seltos until the 5.7 update several months ago. Constantly sends me notifications that one or more doors is unlocked, I check and they are locked. Actually when that happens I press door lock on the app and hold as instructed, it sends the command then sends a message it failed, unable to comply. But then the app seems to update and shows the doors as locked. Very buggy. Of course when the doors show as unlocked in the app, even tho they are locked, the app won’t start the engine remotely. As buggy as this app is, unless they fix it I see no reason to pay for it after my free trial year is up. I can start my engine remotely with my key fob to warm up the car when it’s cold. This is my first car with all the technology bells and whistles and I originally thought the app was so cool. Now it’s become a frustration and annoyance.
You have to log into the app frequently and must type your full login and your password each time. There’s no ability to have it stored in Keychain or have it remembered the way that you can in your phone’s browser. Imagine that you want to start your car remotely before walking out to a hot interior - no problem; just take the extra two minutes to open the app, type in all the characters in two fields, and then wait for it to connect. Also it doesn’t update the location of the vehicle unless parked, so you cannot see where the car is when it is driving, just where it was maybe hours ago when it was stopped. Those are things that are common in similar apps like Tesla’s. With Tesla I can always see where my car is, where it is navigating to, how fast it is traveling, etc., and I never have to log in once I’ve got the app logged in on my phone. These are very basic functions of a car app, and Kia needs to catch up to the competition.
I’ve been using this app for almost 4 years and I keep asking myself why do I continue to pay such a premium price for such an inadequate app? I guess the answer might be because I like to throw money away 🤷🏽♀️ In the years that I’ve used this app it has NEVER worked consistently. I could try every day for a week and get nothing. I get errors like previous request still pending or move your car (I park outside). Sometimes it just times out! Not to mention the lag time between sending the command and the car receiving the command when the app actually works. I pay way too much for this not to work properly. I should’ve taken the money and used it to install a remote directly to the car. Customer support will have you reset which will work once maybe twice after that then it’s hit or miss again. I don’t know what you guys need to do to fix this but you gotta do something. Stop ripping us off!!!!
The fact that it doesn’t save my login info and that I have to type it in every single time is so annoying to me that I don’t even want to use this app. And I’m currently in the free trial period. Once you do log in, it rarely works and/or takes forever. So by the time you’ve logged in and connected, you’re at your car and can just get in and start the car yourself. I saw the bad reviews on this when I was researching the Optima and the reviews are accurate. When I downloaded the app at the dealership I said to the salesman, “the app only gets one star.” He said “that’s because it’s new and only has 88 reviews” I didn’t feel like arguing with him - we all know how reviews work. But to his point, it IS new but needs massive amounts of improvement. However, even it was improved, I still wouldn’t pay for it. $30/month to be able to start my car remotely and maybe control the climate? That’s insanity. I’ll just walk to my car like I’ve been doing my entire existence or maybe even get an aftermarket auto-start.
I’m very surprised by the number of positive reviews here. I’ve been using the Kia Connect app with my ‘24 Seltos SX for months and it’s been pretty terrible. The odds of a request going through for me is less than 50%. The majority of the time, I’m told my car isn’t in an area with good signal. I live in a well populated air outside of a major city - there’s no shot there’s a signal problem, and if there is, I’d imagine that would be a major problem for many other users. So many times when it’s cold, I simply can’t start the car remotely which defeats the whole purpose. Sometimes re-issuing the command works, other times it doesn’t. Occasionally the app can’t even update and the status of my car’s doors (locked/unlocked) on the app is at direct contradiction with reality… and my phone is connected to wifi. I really want to love it and I was planning on paying for it after my trial is up but no shot this shoddy software is worth the cost.
This app is 100% unreliable and potentially dangerous. First of all, during winter i wanted it to warm the car before we get in. Every time I get a failure notification the first few times, start-restart the app a few times, until I manage to make it work. Worst of all tho, was that my toddler escaped while I had my bag inside, so I locked the doors through the app. Mind you, the dog was inside. The keys inside the vehicle override the app which is outside. Although you could lock the car through the app, with the keys inside, you couldn’t unlock it. So I’m outside in the freezing cold, with a toddler in my arms, and a dog stuck inside a locked vehicle. I called KIA and after 30 minutes of explaining (they couldn’t unlock it either) the line was cut, and no one came. I called again. Long story short, it took 2 hours in total for someone to come to our rescue. There is nowhere any notification about keys overriding the app or vice versa. Let me reiterate. Unreliable and dangerous.
I’m used to various competitors’ apps that either don’t have nearly as many features, cost a ridiculous amount of money for subscriptions, and/or just don’t ever work so this was a pleasant surprise after setting up my EV9. There were some minor issues at first but they’ve already been resolved with recent updates. I’m also happy to see features getting added like charging rate/time left to charge. If I had to complain about anything it’s that the server occasionally goes down so I have to use the website to perform actions that I would normally use the app for. However, this is an alternative that I haven’t experienced from other automotive brands so I’m happy to have that as a backup.
If this app were free, i could totally cut it some slack. Unreliable is an understatement. I’ve officially had my car for 1 year and got notice my subscription had changed. (This is my 3rd Kia) I went to check to see the cost.... WHOA! Kia has lost their mind. Over $200 bucks for something that barely works. I assure you my WiFi connection at work is strong and the distance from my desk to my car doesn’t change. So why are There are days when the car doesn’t start. After several “lost connections” it’s time for me to head out in the cold and start my car the traditional way. After so many 1 star reviews I’m surprised Kia, king of customer service, doesn’t either offer it for free or turn it off until they can get it working correctly. It’s a cool feature to a cool car, but it doesn’t work and I’ve had it a year. The connecting rate has to be under 15%, that’s unacceptable and should have never been offered to customers. I have the add and the web version, it doesn’t work.
The app has improved with the most recent update, but there are a few things that are still kind of a nuisance. 1. When opening the app, it’s still kind of slow. This improvement will come with time as the bugs are worked out of the new updates. 2. I wish the Apple watch version of the app was a little easier to use. There’s a lot of times when I go to use the watch app remote services, and the watch says that I must reconnect with the phone app first. 7 of 10 times when using the watch app, this will happen. 3. **BIGGEST IMPROVEMENT REQUEST** when going through the app to make a payment, it’s very difficult. First off, you go to features, and then click on Finance. This takes you to the app overview version of your Kia loan. When you click on “Make a Payment”, it takes you to a website version (out of the app) to make a payment. However, it takes you to a link that says “page not found”. First, if the link could be fixed to the actual payment page. Second, if you could actually make the payment from within the app like you do with credit card or other creditors. This would be a huge huge help to me and other app users. Thank you Kia!! Watch Payment
Kia Access is the official Kia America, Inc. owner’s app. Kia Access makes getting your vehicle information and services easier than ever. Gain all the benefits of the Kia Owner’s Portal, combined with many of the convenient, streamlined features of Kia Connect (formerly known as UVO link) (if equipped) [1] [2] [4] – right in the palm of your hand. Download the app to access: • Owner’s Manual, quick guides, videos, and warranty information • Vehicle payment information (if financed through Kia Motors Finance) • Information about maintenance milestones Vehicles equipped with Kia Connect may also have access to the following features: • Vehicle health reports [2] • Send locations to your vehicle’s navigation system [3] • Remotely lock/unlock doors and initiate horns & lights [2] • Remotely find your car [3] • Remotely set your car’s cabin temperature [4] Plug-in hybrid and electric vehicles support special features, including: • Remotely check battery status and estimated driving range • Locate charging stations • Schedule charging times Get Kia Access today! Kia eServices users – Please use the Kia eServices app. Create an owner account directly from the app or go to: Kia.com/owners [1] Kia Connect is currently unavailable for Model Year 2022 vehicles sold or purchased in Massachusetts. See Kia Connect Terms of Service for more information. [2] Features only available for vehicles equipped with Kia Connect. Determine Kia Connect availability for your vehicle by visiting: https://owners.kia.com/content/owners/en/uvo-availability.html/ Vehicle health reports are not a substitute for regularly scheduled maintenance. Vehicle health reports check powertrain, chassis, and airbag systems, and require initial activation. See Owner’s Manual for details and maintenance schedule. [3] Vehicle must be equipped with Kia Connect and navigation [4] Some vehicles with Kia Connect may not support remote climate control (e.g., 2019 Optima LX). Do not use remote climate control or remote start if vehicle is in an enclosed area (e.g., closed garage) or a partially enclosed area without ventilation. Close all doors leading from adjacent living areas to the vehicle area before executing a remote climate control or remote start command Use of Kia Access is subject to agreement to the Kia Privacy Policy (available at https://www.kia.com/us/en/content/privacy-and-legal/privacy-policy) and Terms of Service (available at https://www.kia.com/us/en/content/terms-of-use). Kia Connect features require an active Kia Connect subscription; purchase/lease of certain new Kia vehicles with Kia Connect includes a complimentary 1-year subscription starting from new vehicle retail sale/lease date as recorded by the dealer. After the complimentary 1-year Kia Connect subscription expires, continued access to the full suite of Kia Connect services available on the vehicle will require a paid subscription at the then-current subscription rate or use of certain Kia Connect features may immediately terminate. Use of Kia Connect is subject to agreement to the Kia Connect Privacy Policy (available at https://owners.kia.com/us/en/privacy-policy.html) and Terms of Service (available at https://owners.kia.com/us/en/terms-of-service.html). Contact Kia at 800-333-4KIA (4542) or https://ksupport.kiausa.com/ConsumerAffairs for questions or help with enrollment. Only use Kia Connect when safe to do so. Message and data rates may apply. Cellular and GPS coverage is required to use most features. Kia Connect features may vary by model, model year, and trim level. Features, specifications, and fees are subject to change. For more on details and limitations, visit https://owners.kia.com/content/owners/en/uvo-availability.html/ or your authorized Kia dealer. Kia Connect may currently be unavailable for Model Year 2022 and newer vehicles sold or purchased in Massachusetts; please see the Kia Owner's Portal for updates on availability.
