// At best they are extremely rare and weird edge cases and good UX ... how likely is it that you are in the car, NOT sitting in the front seat and a kid is sitting in the front seat ... I mean, even if they press the start button, then the car won't start unless you've also pressed the brake pedal?
"Tell me you don't have kids without telling me you don't have kids." But seriously, this happens all the time - I am taking something out of the trunk or taking the baby out of the rear seat, meanwhile my toddler jumps into the driver's seat to play around with the steering wheel. 20% of the times he does that, he's gonna hit the big blue start button. I hear it because I am right outside the car, and it matters because this turns on the electrical system so leaving it that way will drain the battery.
// Really, the constant beeping and maniacally locking the doors all the time is ridiculous.
You can turn most of that off, and if you're doing normal things like starting the car the right way, you never hear them. EG, I only hear that beep when the toddler does his thing or on the very rare occasions when I intentionally turn on the electrical system w/o starting the engine.
// Also, can anyone explain why in the US if I click unlock on the remote, it just unlocks the front door?
Sure. I relate to this use-case less personally but it's a safety feature for when you're parked somewhere desolate and dark. The idea is that by unlocking only the driver door, you create less room for someone to jump into the car from the other doors and carjack you. Like I said, not something I encounter but I suppose it got created for a reason.
It's also a thing you can turn off. Here's the instructions for Toyota[1]. It's also obviously a muscle memory for cars you own, where you press once or twice depending on which doors you want to open.
// Really, the author of the article is 100% correct. The UX on most new mid-range cars is ridiculously bad
The author reports a couple of things that sound like straight up BUGS and I pointed those out as things he should really talk to a dealer about because they are so dumb that it might just be his car specifically. The rest of them and the ones you listed - are very reasonable features and sane defaults as I described. You may not be used to them in rental cars and obviously you aren't going to fiddle with the settings in those cars, but if this was your car you'd either turn them off, adjust your style to match the device (ie - what ARE you doing that you're getting that beeping all the time?) or maybe your life will evolve to a place where you appreciate some of these kid-focused features more.
"Tell me you don't have kids without telling me you don't have kids." But seriously, this happens all the time - I am taking something out of the trunk or taking the baby out of the rear seat, meanwhile my toddler jumps into the driver's seat to play around with the steering wheel. 20% of the times he does that, he's gonna hit the big blue start button. I hear it because I am right outside the car, and it matters because this turns on the electrical system so leaving it that way will drain the battery.
// Really, the constant beeping and maniacally locking the doors all the time is ridiculous.
You can turn most of that off, and if you're doing normal things like starting the car the right way, you never hear them. EG, I only hear that beep when the toddler does his thing or on the very rare occasions when I intentionally turn on the electrical system w/o starting the engine.
// Also, can anyone explain why in the US if I click unlock on the remote, it just unlocks the front door?
Sure. I relate to this use-case less personally but it's a safety feature for when you're parked somewhere desolate and dark. The idea is that by unlocking only the driver door, you create less room for someone to jump into the car from the other doors and carjack you. Like I said, not something I encounter but I suppose it got created for a reason.
It's also a thing you can turn off. Here's the instructions for Toyota[1]. It's also obviously a muscle memory for cars you own, where you press once or twice depending on which doors you want to open.
// Really, the author of the article is 100% correct. The UX on most new mid-range cars is ridiculously bad
The author reports a couple of things that sound like straight up BUGS and I pointed those out as things he should really talk to a dealer about because they are so dumb that it might just be his car specifically. The rest of them and the ones you listed - are very reasonable features and sane defaults as I described. You may not be used to them in rental cars and obviously you aren't going to fiddle with the settings in those cars, but if this was your car you'd either turn them off, adjust your style to match the device (ie - what ARE you doing that you're getting that beeping all the time?) or maybe your life will evolve to a place where you appreciate some of these kid-focused features more.
[1] https://www.toyotanation.com/threads/remote-2-press-unlock.1...