Having trouble using my iPhone as a key all of a sudden

[pkalhan]

Hi Everyone,

My iPhone X has worked flawlessly ever since I got my Model 3 in October of 2018, but for whatever reason, the last two weeks I have been having trouble. Now about half the time when I walk up to the car to get in, it says I need my key card. I basically have to get my phone out and open the app and then the door opens. Also, even if I am able to get in the car without issue, when I try to drive it or put it in reverse, it is asking me to put my key card on the center console. Again, I pull out my phone, tap on the app, and then my seat moves in to proper position so I can drive.

Has anyone else started having this issue? Is there a fix for it? It is becoming very annoying.

Thanks in advance everyone!! Hope you all have a very nice Thanksgiving!

 

[MrG_NY]

Try repairing the phone to the car. IOS when it updated probably got some permissions skewed.

 

[pkalhan]

Hi @MrG_NY, thanks for the advise. I tried that and still have the same issue. It is so frustrating. I set up an appointment with Tesla service for 12/23/19 (I cant believe it is so far out) but I do not think they will be able to help me, but we shall see.

 

[diamond.g]

When looking at your Bluetooth page do you see one or three of the BT items?

 

[RonB]

I had the same problem this weekend. It really was annoying. My fix was to completely delete my iphone from the car and then reinstall it.
Problem solved. Hope this works for you.

 

[Big Dog]

make sure you have teh Location finder on ALL the time.

 

[btownalset]

make sure you have teh Location finder on ALL the time.

Agree. iOS 13 seems to frequently verify the Tesla app needs to “always” use location services. If I remember correctly, when I upgraded to iOS 13, it made me verify that at least 3-4 times. And my wife’s phone somehow reverted to only use location services when using app sometime before yesterday. She was annoyed that she couldn’t use her phone consistently the past few weeks.

 

[pkalhan]

Hi @diamond.g thanks for the comment...you know, I never knew what those items were. I use to have 3 items along with my model 3 and my apple watch, but looking at it now, it looks like have my apple watch, my model 3, and just one other item with a bunch of letters and numbers.

Hi @RonB, yes, I did that. I removed it from my car and then put it back on. I then noticed that it said for best results, it said to have the app set to "always on". I had it on "only when using the app" as I did not think I needed it to be always on. I put it to "always on" and then the next time I had to use the car, it asked me to use the key card. Maybe the phone and the card need some time to "sync"? I will see how it goes today. I do not know why it works sometimes and then other times it does not.

 

[CAAD]

Having the same problems - none of the above worked. I think its an iOS issue.
The phone does not list the car as a device in the BT discovered devices.

There is one that is sort of a serial number and another that says "Tesla Model 3". The latter is for music streaming.
The serial number does not show on my phone. Its odd that the streaming BT connection is fine.

 

[Johnny Mac]

It is an iOS issue. Only remedy is 2 choices. Either leave app open all the time or purchase a key fob. I purchased a few fob because my OCD can’t not close out my apps. It’s simply too much of a habit

 

[whatthe2]

It is an iOS issue. Only remedy is 2 choices. Either leave app open all the time or purchase a key fob. I purchased a few fob because my OCD can’t not close out my apps. It’s simply too much of a habit

Strange (well maybe not really since some people have issues while others don’t) but I can close my Tesla app and still access my car just fine. iPhone 11 Pro Max iOS 13.2.3

 

[KenC]

You need to delete the iPhone from the car's settings. Then, you need to delete the app from your iPhone. Then you need to redownload the app, and then log into it, and re-pair to the car.

Make sure, the all the Settings for the Tesla app are on, Location Always On, Bluetooth, Background App refresh, Cell data.

One of the iOS updates, recently, changed its behavior for privacy reasons. It asks you if you want to allow each app, to use Location Services. Keep it ON for the Tesla app.

 

[Wennfred]

New Tesla App update, 3.10.2 try that. Then reboot your phone. Rebooting after IOS-13 worked for me.

Fred

 

[boaterva]

You need to delete the iPhone from the car's settings. Then, you need to delete the app from your iPhone. Then you need to redownload the app, and then log into it, and re-pair to the car.

Make sure, the all the Settings for the Tesla app are on, Location Always On, Bluetooth, Background App refresh, Cell data.

One of the iOS updates, recently, changed its behavior for privacy reasons. It asks you if you want to allow each app, to use Location Services. Keep it ON for the Tesla app.

This happened at 13, so issues should have occurred in September or so (as we all saw). More recently is an individual issue.

I deleted the car from our two phones and re-added it from scratch, and got the BT popup for permissions. We have the Tesla app in the background all the time. You do need to have the correct car selected if more than one, of course.

(I know most people know this, being complete for reasons. )

 

[pkalhan]

I think it is all good now...thank god! I removed the app from my phone. I removed my phone as a key on the Tesla. I rebooted the Tesla and iPhone. I reinstalled the app on my phone (left it on "Always on" and then added phone on to Tesla. It has worked without issue since. We will see what happens tomorrow. Thanks for the input everyone, I appreciate it and want to wish all of you a Happy Thanksgiving!

 

[Magnets!]

Same issue here. I rebooted car and phone and turned BT off and on again, still no go, so I just used the card key and then returning from my destination the phone again worked just fine.