iOS 15 - phone key keeps disconnecting

[SilentFlight]

Well... today, about 15 minutes after I parked the car and then went back to it to get something from the trunk, the car asked me for the key card. I opened the app (which usually solves this - when I start the app, Phone key starts working again). But this time, I was welcomed by the login screen of the Tesla app... like it had a stroke and forgot that I have been logged in ever since I got the car and have been using the app daily...?

 

[X-Chris]

I was looking under Bluetooth and see “Device Type” for my car. Choices are Car Stereo, Headphone, Hearing Aid, Speaker or other. I chose Car Stereo, but am wondering if it should be other? Would that be messing things up?

A note and an answer:

The note: this is unrelated to your phone serving as a key. You have two Bluetooth connections to the car (assuming you have paired to the audio system.). The one for which iOS allows you to set device type is the Bluetooth audio connection.

(There is a separate connection which serves as the key - it will have a name with letters and numbers, and does not have this option.)

The answer: In iOS, the Device Type option allows the iPhone to properly compute audio volume levels so that it can warn you when you are damaging your hearing.

Use headphone audio level features on iPhone

Set a headphone audio limit. iPhone also automatically turns down the volume to protect your hearing.

support.apple.com

 

[SilentFlight]

In iOS, the Device Type option allows the iPhone to properly compute audio volume levels so that it can warn you when you are damaging your hearing.

Use headphone audio level features on iPhone

Set a headphone audio limit. iPhone also automatically turns down the volume to protect your hearing.

support.apple.com

Even though completely off topic, thank you for sharing this! I had no idea this setting existed but with my previous car, it was quite annoying that my iPhone I usually play music audiobooks from on long trips kept turning down the volume, telling me something about the headphone volume exceeding some limit. I just changed it to Car Stereo - hopefully it will prevent this from happening.

 

[parkds_nyc]

Very odd so many are seeing this issue. I have been using iOS 15.0 since early on in the beta (iPhone 12 Pro Max) and never had a single connectivity issue. Migrated to GM of iOS 15 and no issues and then moved to the beta of iOS 15.1 (iPhone 13 Pro Max) and still no issue. I have been on 15.1 for several weeks now. When I received my new phone I obviously had to set up the key from scratch again, so maybe that helped? Not sure what is going on for people though; this issue seems a bit scattershot. Maybe it has to do with model of phone as well as the OS? Has anyone tried moving to the 15.1 beta to see if that helps?

 

[TechJunkie_01]

This is actually a known issue with iOS 15. Apple is working on a fix for it. iOS is failing to detect the iBeacon signal from the car, which is what is used to wake up the app on the phone from the suspended state into the background state, and then send the command to lock / unlock the door. The irony is that Apple wrote the iBeacon standard. It is hit and miss as well, so it's not consistent. Bottom line - don't rely on it working for the short term. This bug is affecting all kinds of apps. It's also causing problems with the Tailwind garage auto-open / close (like Homelink on Steroids and way cheaper), retail apps, sports venues, etc.

 

[andaconda]

Updated to iOS 15.1 -- phone key still flaky as ever. I guess I'm just going to have to start carrying my key card.

Don't mess with it if it works / or / mess with it until it doesn't work. This may have been the case.

 

[WillwayGTO]

I am not sure if the issue is related to iOS 15, but I never had my phone key not recognized by my MY. After updating my phone to iOS 15, it keeps disconnecting ALL the time, so there is at least a coincidence here. I was running a few errands today, when I got into the car (which BTW was opened by my phone) the car refused to start and asked for the key card. While driving, with my phone on the wireless charging plate, the car gave me the "Phone key not detected, won't be able to restart this drive after stopping" or something similar - multiple times. I could fix it by putting my phone into airplane mode and then back on normal. Just Bluetooth off and on didn't fix it.

Has anyone experienced the same?

I would suggest the new Tesla app if you haven’t installed it yet. I have less issues since upgrading both

 

[andaconda]

I would suggest the new Tesla app if you haven’t installed it yet. I have less issues since upgrading both

Been on version 4.2.2 for a while now. Still flaky! Car on 2021.36.8

 

[bpon89]

Just updated to IOS 15.1 yesterday and today I kept walking up to the car all cool expecting it to open but it doesn't. Even opening the app took a while to recognize. I had to restart my phone because I couldn't even put in DRIVE.

 

[andaconda]

Couldn't take the irregularity of the phone key so I slid the key card in-between the case and the phone. I have a rather thin 'leather type' case. It still charges on the wireless cradle in the car and still activates the lock mechanism on the driver-side post.

 

[samsonchen]

I highly suspect it has something to do with this iOS 15 Keychain issue:

iOS 15 keychain data retrieve issue | Apple Developer Forums

 

[andaconda]

I gave up on the frustrating phone key and ordered a FOB. I don't like carrying a phone anyway!

 

[bpon89]

Oh wow, I'm sorry guys I thought I posted here what I did. I just turned off that IOS private relay service and everything has been fine.

 

[andaconda]

Oh wow, I'm sorry guys I thought I posted here what I did. I just turned off that IOS private relay service and everything has been fine.

clue me in please...

 

[bpon89]

clue me in please...

Go to SETTINGS and search for "PRIVATE RELAY" and turn it off for now. I think it was some new feature still in BETA mode.

 

[andaconda]

Go to SETTINGS and search for "PRIVATE RELAY" and turn it off for now. I think it was some new feature still in BETA mode.

I haven’t subscribed to private relay…

 

[Kaehny]

I don't think Bluetooth on iOS goes to sleep. If anything, Apple seems to want to make sure you can't turn it off. I suspect it may be because Apple has built a few crowdsourced features around Bluetooth (Find my...) that use any iOS devices available as a mesh network to locate things. Also, with more and more "smart" things (car, house, etc.) there are an ever increasing number of devices around that rely on BT so it would be a bad move for Apple to make BT connections less reliable. I suspect it's either a bug or some typical new release issue.

This. Bluetooth is permitted during flights now, so there's no reason for it to be disabled when Airplane mode is enabled.

 

[oliphant428]

I’ve been having troubles with phone key for the past three weeks on iOS 15.1. About 75% of the time, it will not be connected to my car. App is open and running but status says “Disconnected.”

I removed and added the phone key several times. I’ve upgraded to iOS 15.2 beta 4 and still no success.

It’s super annoying, especially when walk away door lock doesn’t engage.

 

[NGM3]

Auto-unlock by phone just happened to me this week.
iPhone 11 recently updated to iOS 15.1 (was previously 14.X)
Model 3 with Version 2021.40.6

After the auto-unlock feature using my phone stopped working, I found that in the Tesla app, the section that shows Security normally showed my iPhone name, but after the iOS update it did not. I logged out of my Tesla app on the phone, then logged back into the Tesla app. I forgot to get a screen shot of it, but on the Tesla app, it would prompt me to register my phone key, just above the Controls section of the Tesla app. This would require my key card.
I followed the prompts to start the process in the app, placed my key card below the cup holders, then after the phone updated the app, my iPhone name now appears in the section that shows Security.

Tested out the auto-unlock and auto-lock a few times and it seems to be working normally now. Hope this helps others out.

 

[andaconda]

/Auto-unlock by phone just happened to me this week.
iPhone 11 recently updated to iOS 15.1 (was previously 14.X)
Model 3 with Version 2021.40.6

After the auto-unlock feature using my phone stopped working, I found that in the Tesla app, the section that shows Security normally showed my iPhone name, but after the iOS update it did not. I logged out of my Tesla app on the phone, then logged back into the Tesla app. I forgot to get a screen shot of it, but on the Tesla app, it would prompt me to register my phone key, just above the Controls section of the Tesla app. This would require my key card.
I followed the prompts to start the process in the app, placed my key card below the cup holders, then after the phone updated the app, my iPhone name now appears in the section that shows Security.

Tested out the auto-unlock and auto-lock a few times and it seems to be working normally now. Hope this helps others out.

Wait a week or so and then report back