Stuck without a key or a functional app

[phil99]

I’ve left the house today without the key and thought “ahh sod it, I’ll use the app”, and this was maybe the worst decision I ever made.

Every time I’ve had to use it, it’s insisted on recalibrating by uninstalling and reinstalling. This is fine at home, but at work I have no mobile coverage in the car park.

After going back to the office and reinstalling, I was able to get into the car and start it from the app.

I then had to stop somewhere on the way home. I had to go through the same thing except that this time? This time I can’t log into the damned app. The requests are timing out. Internet access works as I’m posting here!

So I’m stuck. No key. No app. No way to start the car.

I’ve been a real staunch defender of using the Bluetooth key and app until now. Now? I wouldn’t trust it for anything.

 

[MG Clive]

How did you manage to get into the car and start it without the key in the first place?

I always see the app as an emergency measure if I lost or broke the key, but a lesson learned mate, always make sure you have the key with you.

 

[phil99]

How did you manage to get into the car and start it without the key in the first place?

It worked to unlock the car every time but prompted me to uninstall and reinstall the app when I tried to use the start function

First time was in the morning on the way to work and that worked fine. No major issue there.

I had the same issue leaving work. I could unlock it but it prompted me to uninstall and reinstall the app when I used the start function. As no mobile coverage there, had to go to the office and use the WiFi there to get it downloaded and logged in to, and it worked ok.

The third time after I had to stop I had the same issue. This time miles away from anywhere. Same drill - uninstall & reinstall but this time couldn’t log back in. Service wasn’t working.

Twenty minutes after I wrote this post I got logged in and was able to start it.

I always see the app as an emergency measure if I lost or broke the key, but a lesson learned mate, always make sure you have the key with you.

What fricking use is an emergency measure if it doesn’t farking well work in a fricking emergency?

 

[Martinonline]

Sorry to hear about your issues and I hope you got home ok.

Just a few questions:

a What phone do you have?
b. What MG4 version do you have?
c. Have you tried to recreate the problem at home to see if it is a bug?

I will see if it is a feature of the latest iSmart upgrade by trying with my Trophy.

Just checked with my MY22 Trophy, info version r33, and with WiFi and mobile data switched off on my Android Moto phone. The app complained about the network being down but allowed me to unlock and start the car using the digital key. No prompts to re-install the app.

 

[DixieTGS]

It worked to unlock the car every time but prompted me to uninstall and reinstall the app when I tried to use the start function

There's a slight chance that clearing the cache (from Android or within the app), could reset it enough to fix the problem without needing a phone signal or WiFi. Worth a try.

Clearing the data from settings should be the same as uninstall/ reinstall, but not helpful here as you would then need to log in again.

 

[ReintjeWA]

Somehow, whenever I need the app to work to unlock the car, it always acts up for me. Thankfully both times the key wasn’t miles away (just on the other side of campus) so the worst outcome was a walk and lost time. But I don’t consider the system reliable enough to deliberately leave my keys at home.

 

[Yorkshire Hillbilly]

Not really helpful in this situation but the app is VERY bad.

Post in thread 'iSmart not connecting today?'

Sep 17, 2025

Is there a way to force the connection on the car to reset?

The only trick I know on android is to clear the apps data and force a full new login. That sometimes unstuck mine.

Whenever mine fails I screenshot the app and email it to [email protected]

I've a history of about 300 emails. Maybe we should collectively pool all the times the app fails and demonstrate that MGs iSmart app is defunct and the iSmart team is inept.

I'd be happy to collate all the data in a Google form if folks want to participate?

MG iSmart Faults

forms.gle

Or you...

• Yorkshire Hillbilly

The only trick I know on android is to clear the apps data and force a full new login. That sometimes unstuck mine.

Whenever mine fails I screenshot the app and email it to [email protected]

I've a history of about 300 emails. Maybe we should collectively pool all the times the app fails and demonstrate that MGs iSmart app is defunct and the iSmart team is inept.

I'd be happy to collate all the data in a Google form if folks want to participate?

MG iSmart Faults

forms.gle

Or you could bcc me into your emails
[email protected]
and I'll set up some Google magic to automatically add your email entry to the form.