Is this what it's like to have a functioning phone key?

[chronopc]

The key is one thing, I have no problems as a key with my old galaxy S6, but how well can you connect to do summon?

Hopefully having a key fob will fix the connection for summon issue.

 

[Gavyne]

Yes, having a functioning phone key is THAT good. I've been fortunate to have a fully functioning phone key since taking delivery. I was using iphone 6 before, and it had 1 hiccup once. Now using iphone XS and it has been flawless so far as well. To not having to think about pressing any buttons, locking anything, or messing around in my pocket is too sweet. The hard part initially is to get your mind away from thinking that you need to do any of the extra steps.

 

[WileyTheMan]

Upgrading my iPhone 6 Plus to an XS dramatically improved the unlock rate of my car. It's not perfect but I can actually rely on it now.

 

[Kichwas]

IPhone 6s here because... headphone jack...

I find I have to have the Tesla app running.

If I close the app completely the phone has... closed it completely... so won’t work as a key.
Otherwise it does work.

I am also suspecting that if I have the card and put it down near the center console... it tried to get me to use that or enter my password in the phone, but I have yet to A-B test this to be sure I hadn’t just closed the app and am having fuzzy memory right now...

 

[SDKoala]

Don't be too quick to celebrate. My iPhone 7 works ok for several weeks, then craps out from time to time.

I'm very well aware that it could break at any moment. My point is, it's noticeably better than my Pixel 1, which went from not being able to open the car about 50% of the time 6 months ago, to working most of the time, but still requiring Bluetooth toggling multiple times daily. This has been replaced with the ability to open it every single time so far over the past 5-6 days. Not one hiccup yet. The Pixel 1 never did that, which makes it very much cause to celebrate.

 

[PessimiStick]

I never had my Nexus 6P fail to unlock (well, as long as its battery didn't die...), and for the last 2 days I'm still at 100% with my Pixel 3 as well. FWIW, the Pixel 3 does a better job of connecting to the audio system for media/phone calls as well, compared to my 6P.

 

[nvx1977]

@SDKoala: mixed feelings on this one, being a fellow Pixel 1 owner as you know. Super happy you found a phone that works flawlessly (so far). Super annoyed that now I'm tempted to upgrade. I was hoping to make this phone last 2 more years. lmk in another month if you're still stable

 

[SDKoala]

@SDKoala: mixed feelings on this one, being a fellow Pixel 1 owner as you know. Super happy you found a phone that works flawlessly (so far). Super annoyed that now I'm tempted to upgrade. I was hoping to make this phone last 2 more years. lmk in another month if you're still stable

Yep, your posts help turn the Pixel 1 from almost entirely unusable to at least tolerable the majority of the time. I no longer have to run Tasker to automatically toggle Bluetooth, which is nice. In all other respects, I don't feel the Pixel 3 isn't that much of an upgrade over the Pixel 1. It's a little more responsive and feels zippier in general. Screen might be nicer, or it could be my imagination because I run it a brighter setting. Camera's supposed to be better, but I'm not a phone photography person and prefer to use my DSLRs for photos that actually matter. Would have been very disappointed if I just bought thinking it would be a big upgrade from Pixel 1. However, the fact that it works better with the car makes it worth it so far. It's not just the fact that it opens reliably every time too. That little hesitation lasting a second or two before unlocking the doors that would happen very frequently with Pixel 1 is completely gone with Pixel 3.

 

[GPinzone]

Never had a problem with my Samsung Note 8

 

[nvx1977]

Yep, your posts help turn the Pixel 1 from almost entirely unusable to at least tolerable the majority of the time. I no longer have to run Tasker to automatically toggle Bluetooth, which is nice. In all other respects, I don't feel the Pixel 3 isn't that much of an upgrade over the Pixel 1. It's a little more responsive and feels zippier in general. Screen might be nicer, or it could be my imagination because I run it a brighter setting. Camera's supposed to be better, but I'm not a phone photography person and prefer to use my DSLRs for photos that actually matter. Would have been very disappointed if I just bought thinking it would be a big upgrade from Pixel 1. However, the fact that it works better with the car makes it worth it so far. It's not just the fact that it opens reliably every time too. That little hesitation lasting a second or two before unlocking the doors that would happen very frequently with Pixel 1 is completely gone with Pixel 3.

I would love to experience flawless operation. The new issue with v9 is that when I hold open the handle in the passenger rear door, nothing happens. Even if I hold it there for 10 sec. but the instant I let go, all the doors unlock and the mirrors fold out. How is that even a thing? that feels more car side than phone side, but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[lolder]

I think lately the car turns on the wi-fi and cell functions less often to reduce phantom drain which causes the long wake-up times.

 

[SDKoala]

One thing that I've noticed is that the car makes it's "clunking" noises when it's waking up from a farther distance when I approach it with my Pixel 3 compared to my Pixel 1. I wouldn't be surprised if the better function of the phone key is probably related to the BLE connection establishing from a greater distance and more time for the phone and car to communicate.

 

[jkirkwood001]

I've well-documented my troubles and attempts to troubleshoot the phone key on my Google Pixel 1 on this site over the past half year. Earlier this week, I received my new Pixel 3--a phone I purchased solely in hopes of it working better with the Model 3. I justified spending nearly $1000 on a new phone (within my preferred ecosystem) that I really didn't need because my phone key was giving me so many problems multiple times a week.

I held off on posting because the past few days have been too good to be true. Dozens of unlockings and I'm still waiting for my first failure. It has worked in every situation where my Pixel 1 would have failed and needed Bluetooth toggled--the most common situations being not being able to unlock a door right after opening my trunk, and not being able to unlock the car if I walked just out of BLE range and came back to the car (like returning a shopping cart). And it works instantly. None of this holding the door handle opening waiting for the connection to establish. Just walk up to the car, pull the handle and it opens right away.

Having experienced both sides now, I can understand where people are coming from when they boast that their phone key just works. It so easy to discount people having problems when it's working because it's truly a seamless experience, just like having a conventional fob in your pocket that you don't have to touch. I'm waiting for the next Tesla firmware update or Android software update to reintroduce the problems, but for now, I'm just going to bask in the glory of a working phone key.

I wish! You're inspiring me to upgrade my otherwise fine LG Stylo 3 Pro. #phoneaskeyfail

 

[jkirkwood001]

Of course. Mice and keyboards are the obvious example.

Mice are proprietary RF, no? All those devices with their own USB stub aren't standard Bluetooth, no?

 

[smicker]

Mice are proprietary RF, no?

No. Mice & Trackballs | Wireless Mouse, Bluetooth Mouse, Optical Mouse | CDW

All those devices with their own USB stub aren't standard Bluetooth, no?

Usually not. https://www.cdw.com/search/?key=Rf mouse&searchscope=all&sr=1

 

[SDKoala]

I've had my Pixel 3 for just about 1 month and still not a single failure. I've been through a firmware update on the car and a security patch update on the phone and it's still working. I've done everything I can to make it fail like my Pixel 1 would daily and still haven't had any problems. It's amazing. I'm totally sold on the idea of the phone key now (until it stops working, that is).

 

[nvx1977]

I've had my Pixel 3 for just about 1 month and still not a single failure. I've been through a firmware update on the car and a security patch update on the phone and it's still working. I've done everything I can to make it fail like my Pixel 1 would daily and still haven't had any problems. It's amazing. I'm totally sold on the idea of the phone key now (until it stops working, that is).

I mentioned in another thread that I think the issue with my Pixel 1 is that the BLE broadcast strength is low. Not low enough to make a connection from far away though. I can be a good 100ft away and see my phone connecting/ed to the car. And 100% of the time, when that happens, I can unlock the car successfully from the notification screen.

But when I walk up to the car and just yank on a handle or trunk, it's really hit or miss. It's like the car can't tell that I'm next to it, so it doesn't trust the attempts, even though the BLE connection exists.

And if I assume the problem is not the car (since you now have flawless operation with Pixel 3), then it has to be a weak signal issue that makes the car think I'm a bit farther away from the car than I actually am.

 

[chronopc]

I mentioned in another thread that I think the issue with my Pixel 1 is that the BLE broadcast strength is low. Not low enough to make a connection from far away though. I can be a good 100ft away and see my phone connecting/ed to the car. And 100% of the time, when that happens, I can unlock the car successfully from the notification screen.

But when I walk up to the car and just yank on a handle or trunk, it's really hit or miss. It's like the car can't tell that I'm next to it, so it doesn't trust the attempts, even though the BLE connection exists.

And if I assume the problem is not the car (since you now have flawless operation with Pixel 3), then it has to be a weak signal issue that makes the car think I'm a bit farther away from the car than I actually am.

How do you measure BLE broadcast strength?

 

[SDKoala]

I mentioned in another thread that I think the issue with my Pixel 1 is that the BLE broadcast strength is low. Not low enough to make a connection from far away though. I can be a good 100ft away and see my phone connecting/ed to the car. And 100% of the time, when that happens, I can unlock the car successfully from the notification screen.

But when I walk up to the car and just yank on a handle or trunk, it's really hit or miss. It's like the car can't tell that I'm next to it, so it doesn't trust the attempts, even though the BLE connection exists.

And if I assume the problem is not the car (since you now have flawless operation with Pixel 3), then it has to be a weak signal issue that makes the car think I'm a bit farther away from the car than I actually am.

I'm also certain it's a phone hardware problem since nothing changed with my car and it obviously works better now.

How do you measure BLE broadcast strength?

I forget the name, but there's an app that will show all available Bluetooth connections and you can filter by BLE. It will show if the phone and car are paired and it's as simple as walking closer or farther from the car to see if it connects.

 

[nvx1977]

How do you measure BLE broadcast strength?

Not sure how to measure the phone's broadcast strength. I would imagine I'd need some hardware or maybe another phone. The app I've been using to check dB levels from the car's BLE radios is this one:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.macdom.ble.blescanner&hl=en_US

This app shows me that the phone is capable of hearing BLE radios from down the street. Lots of stuff in addition to what's in the car. Signal strength is definitely not an issue as far as making the BLE connection with the car. The problem comes with using SNR to determine proximity. Not sure how the car is doing it, but it seems like my Google Pixel's signal is too weak for the car for the proximity detection to work correctly. Jeans shouldn't prevent the car from detecting the phone and yet it does.