General Motors is expanding the power of OnStar from the vehicle to the smartphone with a new mobile app (Onstar Guardian) for OnStar members in the United States and Canada, available complimentary for six months if members redeem the offer by Friday, July 31, 2020. General Motors’ OnStar is launching a new smartphone app called Guardian for customers who want to access OnStar’s remote assistance service capabilities when they aren’t physically inside their car. With OnStar Guardian app, members with active service plans and up to seven of their family members and friends can access critical OnStar safety services from their compatible phones, whether they’re at home, out walking, or traveling in any vehicle, regardless of brand, age or ownership.
Previously, OnStar’s operators were only accessible to subscribers of the service by pressing a button on the rearview mirror or infotainment screen of their GM vehicle. Now, with the new app, OnStar customers can connect to an operator where ever they have their phone, either in the car, at home, or out walking. And for a limited time, they have the option of extending those services to up to seven family and friends of their choosing.
The launch of OnStar Guardian comes at a time when the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted people’s personal lives in profound ways, according to the Pew Research Center. As health officials and lawmakers begin to relax shelter-in-place guidelines, it’s even more important for people to be safe while moving around.
Guardian also allows customers to keep tabs on their loved ones through active location sharing. Think of it as GM’s version of Apple’s Find My Friends. The app OnStar customers to track the location of approved users through live GPS sharing. GM envisions this being useful “during walks home after dark, time spent in a rideshare or rented vehicle, or when a teenage child is riding in a friend’s car.”
Head of OnStar Guardian and manager of GM’s Global Innovation effort, Jeffrey Haase said this could be especially useful during the COVID-19 pandemic, as people want to keep track of family members scattered around the country. “So knowing where they are, where they’re going, without necessarily hovering and consistently asking or calling to monitor, helps provide that peace of mind to know where family members are,” he said.
Guardian also allows customers to keep tabs on their loved ones through active location sharing. Think of it as GM’s version of Apple’s Find My Friends. The app OnStar customers to track the location of approved users through live GPS sharing. GM envisions this being useful “during walks home after dark, time spent in a rideshare or rented vehicle, or when a teenage child is riding in a friend’s car.”
The app includes access to select OnStar safety services backed by a trained OnStar advisor, including:
Mobile Crash Response:
The Guardian app is designed to use your smartphone’s sensors to detect a crash and alert an Emergency-Certified Advisor. The Advisor will call your phone and contact First Responders and provide them with your location. For Android™ users, the app can automatically connect — even if you can’t reach your phone.
Roadside Assistance
If your family needs to travel, have added confidence knowing that someone is ready to help. You and your loved ones can get help with a flat tire or battery charge or have their doors unlocked. They can even get fuel if they run out of gas.
Emergency Services
The red Emergency button in the app provides access to OnStar Emergency-Certified advisors, who are available 24/7. These advisors are certified by the International Academies of Emergency Dispatch and can assess a situation, contact 911 as needed, provide critical medical instruction and stay on the line until help arrives.
Location Status
OnStar members and the loved ones they choose can share their location with the entire group in the “My Family” section of the app. Members can have added peace of mind and see locations of their loved ones, based on the location of their smartphone, right in the app. View and share locations with each person you add to your plan — right in the app. Get a little peace of mind knowing where those closest to you are — even when you’re apart.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, GM and OnStar have taken many actions to support our members, including Crisis Assist, advisor screenings for COVID-19 symptoms, routing assistance to COVID-19 testing facilities, and 24/7 Command Center monitoring of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Department of Homeland Security and public safety channels for the most current information.
OnStar members can check their eligibility and redeem the complimentary OnStar Guardian offer at: onstar.com/guardian
OnStar services are complimentary for six months if members redeem the offer by Friday, July 31st, 2020. In the US, OnStar’s “Safety and Security plan” is $24.99 a month.