My phone works perfectly 100% of the time, it is a.......

[nvx1977]

I've been an Android user for just about 8 years

Same here. Sprint Evo 4G was my first Android. Loved that phone to death. and modded the sh*t out of it.

I think one of the reasons I'm more tolerant of phone-as-key issues (for now) is because it reminds me of the early days of Android, when the user had to do some work to get the experience s/he wanted. And often times that work yielded a device that outperforms stock abilities and made iOS look like a total joke.

For example, with a bit of understanding of the OS, back when battery optimization management was non-existent, and the help of a dev community custom kernel, you could configure your phone to have insanely good battery life, even for Android phone models notorious for having bad battery life.

My tinkering days with Android are over, but pulling out Tasker again recently to try to find a creative solution to workaround the phone key issues has been somewhat of a nostalgia run for me. I'm pretty confident that Tesla will figure out how to get the BLE service to work reliably with Android, or they will offer a fob if they can't. In the meantime, I'm enjoying the chance to tinker with my phone.

I know this isn't for everyone. It never was, even in 2010.

 

[SDKoala]

The OP came here looking for advice on which phone would give the best results as a car key. As you can likely see, right now, that would be a current iPhone. I’m sure at some point in the future there will be android phones approaching the same success rate but it doesn’t seem to be the case today.

It pains me to write it, but if I was buying a smartphone specifically to use with the Model 3 and I didn't care about the OS, then I'd absolutely go with an iPhone X.

 

[SDKoala]

Same here. Sprint Evo 4G was my first Android. Loved that phone to death. and modded the sh*t out of it.

I think one of the reasons I'm more tolerant of phone-as-key issues (for now) is because it reminds me of the early days of Android, when the user had to do some work to get the experience s/he wanted. And often times that work yielded a device that outperforms stock abilities and made iOS look like a total joke.

For example, with a bit of understanding of the OS, back when battery optimization management was non-existent, and the help of a dev community custom kernel, you could configure your phone to have insanely good battery life, even for Android phone models notorious for having bad battery life.

My tinkering days with Android are over, but pulling out Tasker again recently to try to find a creative solution to workaround the phone key issues has been somewhat of a nostalgia run for me. I'm pretty confident that Tesla will figure out how to get the BLE service to work reliably with Android, or they will offer a fob if they can't. In the meantime, I'm enjoying the chance to tinker with my phone.

I know this isn't for everyone. It never was, even in 2010.

Yes, just part of being Android users. I used to run rooted Nexus phones and have them completely customized, but now with more and more apps (like for banking) requiring non-root, and the time it took to manually update the OS, it became not worth it. Pretty sure the chance of a rooted phone breaking the BLE connectivity would be sky high anyway.

 

[woof]

Has anyone tried an iPod touch? For about $130 refurbed you android guys could have the iPhone experience! (Just kidding). But that's cheaper than a fob. I don't happen to have one handy, so I cannot try it, but I don't see why it wouldn't work.

 

[ElectricKid]

Well written, and respectful: Applause!!

I've been an Android user for just about 8 years, so I have no interest in trying to validate anything about iPhones.

You're getting confused between something like OnStar RemoteLink for your Volt or the Tesla App versus the direct Bluetooth LE connection that is established between the phone and the Model 3 to allow the phone to serve as the key. So no, it actually doesn't count toward this discussion at all because it's the later that is giving people issues.

I haven't seen anyone complaining about the remote capabilities of the Tesla app, which allows unlocking, pre-conditioning, etc, via Tesla servers from anywhere you have an Internet connection. (Except, of course, for that day a few weeks ago where the servers were down and it wasn't working for anyone.) When people are complaining that the phone isn't working as the key, it's the direct Bluetooth connection at fault, not the functionality of the app.

 

[Nurkbonis]

Have seen chatter from people reporting no issues with iPhone X. Just wanted to say that I do have issues with iPhone X. Seems like no phone is perfect. It is wildly annoying.

 

[GutsyGibbon]

I have a Samsung Galaxy S8 and it unlocks perfectly 100% of the time. My wife has a Samsung Galaxy S7 edge and its fails to unlock 90% of the time. Is there anything I can do to make this better?

 

[GutsyGibbon]

I have been messing around with the settings, and below is what I had to do to make the phone unlock work 100% of the time. I have the 2018.18.3 sw update
Before you start, make sure you keep any other phone with proximity lock, away, or turn it off. Keep the problematic phone with you and start the below process.
1. Unpair the problematic phone from the bluetooth settings of the car
2. Unpair Tesla from the Phone bluetooth settings
3. In the car go to Car icon-> Locks -> Trash icon to delete the lock for the problematic phone.
4. Full Restart the Phone (Very important step). The app asks you to turn Bluetooth off and on, but that is not enough.
5. Full restart the car multimedia system. Hold both scroll buttons till the display goes off and comes back on. Let it boot fully.
6. Turn on Bluetooth, and location services on the phone
7. Follow procedure to Pair the Tesla to the phone.
8. Follow procedure/wizard to add the phone as the key. (you will need the key card)

With these done, I have locked and unlocked alternatively and in random order with my phone, and my wife's phone(that used to have issues). It has been working without fail so far (1 hour, 20 out of 20 tries). Please try this out and let me know how it goes. I will update the thread again after a few more days.

 

[jamnmon66]

Small sample size because I've only had the car for 2 days but I have not had a single problem with my Nexus 6p. I preemptively disabled power-saving on the app and set up the Tasker solution so that might have something to do with it.

 

[S3XY]

I'm using a Samsung S7 and it's works 100% of the time. I'll be adding my wife's S7 later today so we'll see how well hers works and if it affects mine at all.

 

[SDKoala]

Small sample size because I've only had the car for 2 days but I have not had a single problem with my Nexus 6p. I preemptively disabled power-saving on the app and set up the Tasker solution so that might have something to do with it.

This is the magic combination. I've gone a week now without my Pixel 1 failing to unlock the doors since making this change. I had a few issues starting the car, but it was clear because the phone was in my left pocket and the signal was being blocked. (Same will happen if you sit on your phone...) As soon as I moved it to the center console, it started right away.

 

[GutsyGibbon]

With these done, I have locked and unlocked alternatively and in random order with my phone, and my wife's phone(that used to have issues). It has been working without fail so far (1 hour, 20 out of 20 tries). Please try this out and let me know how it goes. I will update the thread again after a few more days.

Just wanted to update that with 2018.18.3 and after having followed the procedure I mentioned here to pair - I am a happy camper. The phone unlock is working great.

 

[jamnmon66]

Small sample size because I've only had the car for 2 days but I have not had a single problem with my Nexus 6p. I preemptively disabled power-saving on the app and set up the Tasker solution so that might have something to do with it.

5 days of ownership now and still zero problems with my Nexus 6p. Also, my wife has a Samsung S7. She had trouble the first day getting it to connect to the car but zero problems with it since then. I'm not sure if it was user error or if there was really a problem. Also, I have made the changes noted in my quoted post but she has not done anything besides install the app and pair the phone to the car. I'll report in again in a week or two, or if either of us have any problems in the meantime, but both phones are looking good so far.

The car is on 18.3 firmware now. It was 14.(something) at delivery and updated two days later. Didn't notice any changes besides the auto-high beams and modified media interface.

 

[Pkmmte]

Literally all my working phones work 100% of the time. I tend to keep older phones instead of trading them in and I've found that they all work flawlessly.

My daily drivers are the Google Pixel XL and iPhone 7 Plus. (yes, I carry two phones with me all the time)

I tested my previous phones various times (7 to 15 times each) to see if they'd have any issues and they all worked perfectly. Those phones are: Nexus 6P (rooted), LG G5, LG G4, and LG G3. I also recently tested a Samsung Galaxy S3, Nexus 5 (rooted), Sony Xperia Z2, and iPhone 5 I had laying around in my office and they all worked.

I keep repeating this but I seriously think this has more to do with the car than the phone itself. My boss has a Google Pixel 2 XL and it fails most of the time. I guess I just got lucky with mine.

 

[jamnmon66]

... I seriously think this has more to do with the car than the phone itself...

This is very reasonable. There's also a plausible theory in one of the other threads that it has to do with where you carry your phone as you walk up to the car (pocket, purse, hand, etc.). I keep my phone in a belt holster on my right hip normally but I usually have it in my hand as I approach the car because I'm getting ready to put it on the charger after I get in. Ether case, the phone is the closest thing to the car as I approach. Maybe that's why it always works so far and it has nothing to do with the phone or the car.

EDIT: More specifically, it's usually in my right hand because I'm using my left hand to open the door.

 

[SageBrush]

Interesting thread; keep the reports coming !

My Model 3 is in pre-VIN land. I'm resigned to using the card for a while if need be until any phone issues get sorted out for my Google Pixel (android), but I am honestly more interested in the car vampire losses. Any phone solution that increases the car vampire losses is not a solution I want.

So please, if possible annotate phone success with car vampire losses: same, worse or better.

 

[jamnmon66]

Interesting thread; keep the reports coming !

My Model 3 is in pre-VIN land. I'm resigned to using the card for a while if need be until any phone issues get sorted out for my Google Pixel (android), but I am honestly more interested in the car vampire losses. Any phone solution that increases the car vampire losses is not a solution I want.

So please, if possible annotate phone success with car vampire losses: same, worse or better.

I think you shouldn't stress over the vampire losses. I made a spreadsheet to compare the real cost of electricity to run the car vs our other two cars. It costs between 9-10% as much per mile to drive the Model 3 compared to our Jeep Wrangler and around 15% compared to our Infiniti G37.

It will cost me between $225-250 per year to drive the 3 around 12,000 miles. Even if I super over-estimate the vampire loss & other inefficiencies at 25%,then it's still only around $300/year. I spent well over $2500 in fuel last year for just my Jeep!

Granted my off-peak charging rates are low at $0.06/kwh & I'm comparing to a very inefficient vehicle but I expect the 3 to save me almost $200/month in fuel. If you're situation is even remotely similar then a few % loss to the vampires is meaningless.

 

[SageBrush]

I think you shouldn't stress over the vampire losses.

I don't care about the money; I do care about the energy waste.

 

[Pkmmte]

This is very reasonable. There's also a plausible theory in one of the other threads that it has to do with where you carry your phone as you walk up to the car (pocket, purse, hand, etc.). I keep my phone in a belt holster on my right hip normally but I usually have it in my hand as I approach the car because I'm getting ready to put it on the charger after I get in. Ether case, the phone is the closest thing to the car as I approach. Maybe that's why it always works so far and it has nothing to do with the phone or the car.

EDIT: More specifically, it's usually in my right hand because I'm using my left hand to open the door.

That's a very good point. I hadn't thought of that.

I never use cases on any of my phones and generally carry them on either my side jean pockets or back pocket. I guess not having a case might help.

 

[jamnmon66]

I don't care about the money; I do care about the energy waste.

Totally reasonable but I'd still argue that the car is so much more efficient than an ICE... or almost every other vehicle on the road that it's not that big of a deal.