Welcome to Tesla Motors Club
Discuss Tesla's Model S, Model 3, Model X, Model Y, Cybertruck, Roadster and More.
Register
This site may earn commission on affiliate links.
In the past, I was able to unlock my Tesla Model 3 without opening the Tesla app. Recently, I've noticed my phone key card started only letting me open my Tesla while using the app. I'm not sure why all of a sudden it stopped working, has anybody else ever experienced this? Or have any solutions to fix this issue. Please comment below! (I have an iPhone 11. )
 
  • Like
Reactions: Zinjan
In the past, I was able to unlock my Tesla Model 3 without opening the Tesla app. Recently, I've noticed my phone key card started only letting me open my Tesla while using the app. I'm not sure why all of a sudden it stopped working, has anybody else ever experienced this? Or have any solutions to fix this issue. Please comment below! (I have an iPhone 11. )
Try going to settings > tesla app towards bottom > location/always on, bluetooth/on, background app refresh/on

No idea if it will work or if its the problem, just brainstorming.
 
Car has been a little glitchy as far as I'm concerned. I've been locked out of my car twice because my phone stopped working as access. One time closing the Tesla app and restarting it worked to get back in. The other time nothing worked, but I keep my second, uh, key in my wallet and had it outside the car. I don't trust the phone by itself, so I carry the card key as a backup.

I think these glitches might have happened after an update. The more updates I get, the fewer I want.
 
I hear ya, but since 48.35.5, all I have to do is walk up with my phone in my pocket, and I can press the door and it opens.

Thats how its supposed to work...

you said "open the chargeport without the phone" so I thought you ment "without the phone in your possession". You dont have to open the tesla app to push the charge port button, but it sometimes takes a couple presses on mine for the car to wake up (as long as I have the phone in my possession).

Maybe when you said "without the phone" what you ment was "without using the phone to open the tesla app"?
 
Car has been a little glitchy as far as I'm concerned. I've been locked out of my car twice because my phone stopped working as access. One time closing the Tesla app and restarting it worked to get back in. The other time nothing worked, but I keep my second, uh, key in my wallet and had it outside the car. I don't trust the phone by itself, so I carry the card key as a backup.

I think these glitches might have happened after an update. The more updates I get, the fewer I want.
I guess it's a good thing you carry your key card with you haha.
 
On the rare occasion that I've had an issue, simply cycling bluetooth off and back on in the phone settings clears it right up. It's probably happened 3 times in the last year. It's a bluetooth issue, not a Tesla issue per se.
Didn't work for me on my second failure. I even rebooted the phone and it didn't fix the problem.

For whatever reason the phone had been disconnected from the car, and was no longer a 'key'. It happened the next day after an update, which is why I don't trust the updates. Tesla seems to do superficial QA and apparently doesn't even try to fix this sort of 1/1000 scenario.
 
My wife started having this problem a few months ago. It ended up being that she would force quit (swipe up) on the Tesla app every night.

Once the Tesla app is open on your phone, and the car functionality is working, don’t ever close the app. When you’re not using the Tesla app, just leave it open in the background. Short summary: if you have to get to the app by launching it from the icon, you’re doing it wrong. :)

Ever since she has left the Tesla app open, she hasn’t had anymore problems.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Zinjan
I am so sick of the phone being blamed for this. The phone manufacturers didn't decide to make them keys. Tesla did.
In three years of owning my Model 3, this is my biggest frustration with the car. 9 out of ten times, it takes multiple pulls on the handle before it opens. Too many times it never does. Multiple phones. OS and Android. Same problem.

When I have called Tesla, I get all the advice here ... reboot my phone, sign out and back in on the app, yadda yadda. You know what I never had to reboot? The key fob on the car I traded in for the Model 3.

Tesla needs to own their mistake and fix it.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Wheely
In the past, I was able to unlock my Tesla Model 3 without opening the Tesla app. Recently, I've noticed my phone key card started only letting me open my Tesla while using the app. I'm not sure why all of a sudden it stopped working, has anybody else ever experienced this? Or have any solutions to fix this issue. Please comment below! (I have an iPhone 11. )
Answer:
iPhone
 
I am so sick of the phone being blamed for this. The phone manufacturers didn't decide to make them keys. Tesla did.
In three years of owning my Model 3, this is my biggest frustration with the car. 9 out of ten times, it takes multiple pulls on the handle before it opens. Too many times it never does. Multiple phones. OS and Android. Same problem.

When I have called Tesla, I get all the advice here ... reboot my phone, sign out and back in on the app, yadda yadda. You know what I never had to reboot? The key fob on the car I traded in for the Model 3.

Tesla needs to own their mistake and fix it.
Tesla hasn't changed the way the car communicates over bluetooth, why would you blame Tesla when an new iOS breaks the Bluetooth LE communication because it wants to pump up the battery life of its phones. It's not even just Apple, Android does it also but on Android you can set specific apps to not be under any "optimization" or "intelligent management" or *sugar* like that. That seems to work for most Android phones but not Apple? How is that Tesla's issue if something doesn't work for one company but doesn't affect the others?
 
Try going to settings > tesla app towards bottom > location/always on, bluetooth/on, background app refresh/on

No idea if it will work or if its the problem, just brainstorming.
THANK YOU!!!! Got my car Friday (3 Performance) and could not for the life of me get the phone key to work. Bluetooth was on in phone, but without this tip I’d still be lost, lost, lost. You have to enable Bluetooth for the Tesla App on iPhone. THANK YOU.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Gasaraki
Tesla hasn't changed the way the car communicates over bluetooth, why would you blame Tesla when an new iOS breaks the Bluetooth LE communication because it wants to pump up the battery life of its phones. It's not even just Apple, Android does it also but on Android you can set specific apps to not be under any "optimization" or "intelligent management" or *sugar* like that. That seems to work for most Android phones but not Apple? How is that Tesla's issue if something doesn't work for one company but doesn't affect the others?
Knowing this kind of thing happens is why it was not a smart idea to design your key to rely on a device you have no control over.
 
Knowing this kind of thing happens is why it was not a smart idea to design your key to rely on a device you have no control over.

Eh, most people will tell you this is one of the best features of the car. It works most of the time for most people and when it doesn’t, toggling Bluetooth or reestablishing the phone as a key fixes nearly all issues.

Everything outside of that is an edge case for a great feature IMO.
 
Knowing this kind of thing happens is why it was not a smart idea to design your key to rely on a device you have no control over.

Tesla both offers a keyfob for a reasonable price (compared to other car manufacturers in this space, try pricing a BMW or Mercedes keyfob for sticker shock), for people who want one, and a keycard for those who dont want, or cant use their phone.

Using the phone allows people to have "one less thing" they have to carry around, because your average tesla owner in 2021 IS going to have some sort of smartphone. Most people want to carry less stuff, not more, and having the phone be able to be a key means that a family can easily have additional drivers in the home, if they want to, without losing "their" key.

TL ; DR ... if people want a keyfob, they can buy one for a reasonable price, so this doesnt have to be an "either / or" situation.