IMO it's a mixed bag. Being able to start the process from further away than your key fob is an improvement because it can get actually warm if you're walking to it rather than it just have a minute head start which at idle doesn't always get the engine warm enough to be nice and toasty.
For electric vehicles there's also benefits when charging because you can actually leave your vehicle and check if it's charged while you eat/shop/walk/etc to kill the time.
Then if you have kids that drive but don't have their own vehicle yet the location and speed tracking a lot of these apps provide is probably a big plus to them too. I'd certainly feel more comfortable with my kid using a car knowing I can find where they are and that they'll be a bit safer drivers since they can actually be caught speeding, I know I was reckless knowing there was basically no way for my parents to know.
None of this requires collection and storage of location long term but that's companies just following the profit motive of our entire system. It's shitty and bad they're allowed to do it but I'm hardly surprised that they do.
For electric vehicles there's also benefits when charging because you can actually leave your vehicle and check if it's charged while you eat/shop/walk/etc to kill the time.
Then if you have kids that drive but don't have their own vehicle yet the location and speed tracking a lot of these apps provide is probably a big plus to them too. I'd certainly feel more comfortable with my kid using a car knowing I can find where they are and that they'll be a bit safer drivers since they can actually be caught speeding, I know I was reckless knowing there was basically no way for my parents to know.
None of this requires collection and storage of location long term but that's companies just following the profit motive of our entire system. It's shitty and bad they're allowed to do it but I'm hardly surprised that they do.