Fobo Tire Pressure monitor for smart phones

[gzerninplatz]

It does seem to be related to the in-car wake-up, also for me. With the in-car asleep, it doesn't stutter (at least for the few minutes I sat there).

Leaving the in-car unit completely OUT of the car also works - you can get pressure readouts on your phone, but alerts aren't possible.

I'm still in discussion with them to see if we can figure out the cause....

 

[gzerninplatz]

A solution may be at hand!
This from Fobo:

Our technical people believes that it might be actually the attenuation of the volume rather than skipping of the music streaming. We have found a possible solution to this and should be releasing a new version of the app in the next 48 hours. However, please note that it might take the App Store another 7-10 days to release it to the public.​

 

[AppleFan]

Hi, I updated to the latest app version 2.7. No dice. Same problem. If anything, it seems even more frequent (though I had the app running in the background while driving when I wouldn't do that before).
Anything else to try?!

 

[gzerninplatz]

I took the car out for a round trip of 35 minutes each way, with the new app. Got some different results that might suggest a cause, have relayed the info to Fobo..

OUTBOUND: had a cluster of dropouts every 3 minutes (used to be every 7 minutes with old app!)…would have about 6 quick dropouts, about 5-10 seconds of working fine, then another cluster of dropouts (old app was a single cluster every 7 min.). Repeated dual clusters every 3 minutes.

RETURN TRIP: All worked perfectly!! Not one dropout. Very strange….will have to keep testing!

NOTE: It occurred to me that the Tesla key fob is in some form of constant bluetooth contact with the car…remove the fob from the car, and the car turns off…I don’t know if this could be interfering somehow…

We'll see what Fobo comes back with...this new info might help them, because it must be related to the change they made...they certainly are poking at the right area...

 

[jayman]

I'm still getting dropouts but for me less frequent but still intolerable

 

[gzerninplatz]

From fobo: question re Bluetooth 4.0?
"One new possibility that our engineers strongly feel is that your Tesla might also have Bluetooth 4.0 but does not have the proper protocol to handle it which causes interference with the music streaming that is being handled by Bluetooth classic i.e 3.0 or 2.1. This is because when the In Car Unit scans and syncs periodically with the phone and sensors via Bluetooth 4.0 protocol, the Bluetooth 4.0 in your car also tries to connect and causes the interference. This does not affect the iPhone as it has the proper protocol to deal with this connection. We are trying to find someone in Tesla to confirm this which might take some time as we only have the general contact info by them. Do you have any specification of your car that shows what version of Bluetooth that it has?"

 

[gzerninplatz]

I just called in to Tesla Service. They started a case. I gave them Fobo contact info and a description of the issue. They will send it on to Engineering, who hopefully will contact Fobo or me....the Service person agreed that the Tesla, with no real tire pressure info, no spare tire, and only bluetooth for local streaming audio, has a few issues that Fobo could eliminate if only it all worked correctly....

Tesla uses Bluetooth 2.1 for phone and media, and 315Mz. for key fob. No other transmission in the vehicle, other than AT&T 3G for internet connectivity. Specifically, no Bluetooth 4.0 anywhere. We'll see what Fobo makes of that...
-S

 

[gzerninplatz]

From fobo:

"...can you do us a favor to help us narrow down the issue? Can you stream music to your car with another bluetooth device such as an iPod or another iPhone? At the same time, have Fobo Tire running on your phone but make sure it is not connected to your car system. See if the skipping happens when the In Car Unit wakes up and when it's running.
By the way, we have found that there are some customers using Android phones with their Tesla and does not face this issue with Fobo Tire"
--------------------

OK, I tried it... music coming from iPad, Fobo app active on phone, in-car unit in sleep mode.

​

Woke up in-car unit, sat in car for 10 minutes - perfect reception, no interrupts at all. Sent info to them....seems to have something to do with how the iPhone interacts with the app only when streaming to a Tesla, maybe? Subtle combination of issues...

We'll see what they come up with now...

​

 

[AppleFan]

Thanks gzerninplatz for all your hard work, especially raising it with Tesla. So what is the result you got from the above test? Does it still skip? Yes, a bunch of owners in Hong Kong use FOBO with their Android phones and have not experienced the same problem. Which is why I find it a bit curious that FOBO has pointed fingers at Tesla so quickly. Intuitively, I get the feeling this is an Apple problem. I assume they are jumping to this conclusion because there are iOS users with cars other than Teslas not experiencing any skipping?

 

[gzerninplatz]

Applefan - buried in my post above you will see that reception was perfect, no interruption at all. And their unit definitely works with other cars and iPhones, and Teslas and Android phones....so it is some subtle combination of their unit, their app, iPhone, and Tesla, when all used at the same time....but since they asked that question, they must have some idea where to look now...

 

[Firewired]

I am glad to find this thread as I have been experiencing exactly the same problem with the Fobo in my frunk. I really hope that there is a fix as I really would like to keep using the Fobo.

 

[gzerninplatz]

I just moved all of my music to a 128GB Flash Drive ($40) and it really does sound better than bluetooth music anyway....I'd like to be able to play from my phone, but at least, between Slacker and the USB Drive, I have plenty of other options, until Fobo gets it figured out....I've really gotten addicted to knowing that my tires aren't starting to lose air...

 

[Firewired]

Ok. I am about done with it. I can't easily listen to any of my Audible books, which I do frequently. I have tried putting the Fobo transmitter in different spots without help, and the last update from Fobo has seemed to make the music interruptions even more frequent. I am going to try leaving the transmitter in my garage for the meantime and seeing if that works. At least I can get a read on the tires when the car is in the garage.

 

[AppleFan]

I checked with FOBO and confirmed from own experience that the sensors still work (communicate with your smartphone) even without the in car unit.
You lose the early alert of pressure loss but the pressure readings still show up on the phone.
Hope this helps

 

[gzerninplatz]

Leaving the in-car unit out is certainly an option until they get it figured out...but you probably need to take the batteries out, I had mine in the house for a day and it sent tire alerts to my phone because it couldn't read the sensors...

Still worthwhile just to be able to check all tires with a click....and you do still get the "tire very low" alert that is built-in to the app, just not the user-settable "slightly low" alert. Of course, you also get "very low" from the TPMS on the Tesla, but this will tell you which tire...even "very low" is hard to see with low profile tires...

 

[Firewired]

I took the batteries out of the in car controller and bluetooth is now problem free. Interesting thing is that when you open the iPhone app, and then close out of it it the iPhone app immediately crashes the phone bluetooth connection.

 

[Fobo Tire]

Just wanted to say thank you for the OP to start this thread and let us know about this product. In Japan Tesla TPMS is not enabled (we don't have navigation either!) so I always carry a pressure gauge. Now I installed this on my studless winter tires and 19 wheels I feel always safe about tire pressure. In my case everything works flawlessly.

BTW this product doesn't have Japanese certification so technically it's illegal though Standards are completely the same. I'm using illegal, imported phones too

Dear hiroshiy,

Please be informed that FOBO Tire has Japan TELEC certification now. We also have a distributor in Japan as well which is Blue Next Japan.

regards,

FOBO Team.

 

[hiroshiy]

Dear hiroshiy,

Please be informed that FOBO Tire has Japan TELEC certification now. We also have a distributor in Japan as well which is Blue Next Japan.

regards,

FOBO Team.

Hey, that's a great news! I know TELEC does nothing and just charge test fees, but I'm glad it is now officially legal and we can ready to discuss on blogs etc. As Toyota is skimping on safety features including TPMS and such, people with high safety awareness was waiting this kind of easy to use aftermarket solution. Please let me know when the Japanese Web site becomes ready, I'll write an article on my blog.

 

[jayman]

I'm taking my batteries out and will reinstall the app

 

[davewill]

So this thing screws onto the valve stem in place of the cover and keeps the needle valve open to measure the air pressure? Sounds as likely to cause a flat as to detect one.