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Maximum Distance for Lock Icon to Work
- Thread starter swifthause
- Start date
There isnt one (maximum distance away from the car to use the lock icon in the app).
You can lock (or unlock the car) that way from anywhere (like, another state, or another country even), provided both you and the car have cell signal.
That lock icon has nothing to do with "phone as key", btw.
You can lock (or unlock the car) that way from anywhere (like, another state, or another country even), provided both you and the car have cell signal.
That lock icon has nothing to do with "phone as key", btw.
Soul Surfer
Cancervivor, tech geek & musician
I think that the max distance might be the moon or nearest planet. As long as you have LTE, and are near WiFi, you can do it.
No problem.
Keep in mind, however, that to unlock the car using the app (which, I will repeat for clarity, is NOT the same as using the phone as key function), both your phone, AND the car have to be in places where they have a network connection.
Why am I making that distinction? If (for example) you park in an underground parking structure, and there are no cellular repeaters in there, the car may not have a connection to a cellular network, so unlocking via the app wouldnt work.
Why do I keep repeating that "phone as key" is not the same thing? Because phone as key is a bluetooth connection to the car, locally, and does not require a network connection to work, but has nothing to do with the "lock icon" in the app. It also requires you to be pretty close to the car, in normal usage. A few feet, normally.
I just keep pointing it out, because many people get confused thinking (for example) that unlocking the car using the app, or any of the other third party apps that allow that (like smart watch apps, for example) are using the phone as key functionality, and they arent. In practical terms, it may or may not be different for you, depending on if you ever park your car in a place with no cellular coverage for either your phone or your car.
Actually according to recent Tesla YouTube videos the app does unlock/lock and control the trunk and charge port via BT if you are in range. (Which as you said is fairly limited.)
At least for the current Model S&X. I assume it applies to Model 3&Y as well.
Thats interesting, thanks for sharing that. Perhaps that is a result of app version changes or updates. I wonder if its the same for model 3 (probably, like you said, since tesla tends to drive parity for features like that).
Im probably still going to treat them as different (phone key vs app unlock) myself, but its definitely interesting information, and I wont say "they are different!" definitively, like before.
The answer is the same though: it works at all ranges as long as there's "connectivity". All app functionality works the same way. There are two possible communication channels underneath depending on the situation, that's all. It makes it work when you're close to the car even if you're stuck in an underground garage where there is no LTE signal.
Phone as key is still different: you don't need to open the app and press any button, the car unlocks and lets you drive as long as the phone is with you. Under the covers bluetooth LE (only) is used for communication and the app installed on the phone answers the key requests behind the scenes.
Phone as key is still different: you don't need to open the app and press any button, the car unlocks and lets you drive as long as the phone is with you. Under the covers bluetooth LE (only) is used for communication and the app installed on the phone answers the key requests behind the scenes.
RayK
Active Member
Approximately 12,450 miles, as long as both points have cell signals that the car and you can access.
edit: Changed from 12,430 miles to 12,450 (as measured at the equator).
edit: Changed from 12,430 miles to 12,450 (as measured at the equator).
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davewill
Active Member
Yeah, was I happy about the remote features last night. I had just sat down at a concert, and checked my phone to see that my driver's window was open. Forgot to close it after dealing with the parking attendant. Just had to click the "Close" prompt in the notification.
I appreciate your clarity, especially regarding phone as key and lock icon on app. I learned I had to be pretty specific because the first time I searched for an answer to my question, all the search results were for “phone as key”, which was not what I wanted.
Soul Surfer
Cancervivor, tech geek & musician
I had set mine to close windows on walk-away lock. Peace-of-mind
