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new update of "remote S for tesla" allows summons while you are not near car?
- Thread starter electrictim
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- Model S
The FOB must be in or near the car for summon to work at all.
The "Tesla" iPhone app has an additional restriction that the iPhone must be near the car geographically to allow the Summon button to appear. IOW, the iPhone must also have accurate knowledge of its location (if you disable location services for "Tesla," Summon no longer appears).
The "Remote S" app does not have the requirement for the iPhone to be near the car. But the key fob must still be in or near the car.
The last thing I have not been able to test, is whether Summon will work with "Remote S" if the CAR has no GPS. I predict that it would, but I have no access to a GPS shielded location, where cellular still works. This would give Remote S (and the watch) the unique ability to be used out of GPS coverage, although cellular would still have to work.
Perhaps someone has tried Summon buried in an underground bunker with no GPS and no cellular (using just the key fob).
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I thought upthread someone had said that activating the remote start function through the app removed the need for the key to be near to the car.
In any case if gun manufacturers are not liable when you shoot people with their guns, and Tesla are not liable when you hit&run people with their cars, I don't see why the developer of Remote S should be liable if you do something moronic with Summon using their app.
brucet999
Active Member
I did try it - from only 50 feet away and it would not work, offering an error message saying the key fob is not close enough to the car.
And in the future, it would be nice if you did not SHOUT at people in your posts. It is not polite.
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AllenWong
Member
Yes, someone told me that activating Keyless Start allows Summon to work without the keyfob. Actually, at least two people told me this. If someone else would like to verify this, please do so.
Have you tried activating Keyless Start before trying Summon without the key fob nearby?
brucet999
Active Member
It never occurred to me. Why would I even want to summon the car from a great distance away?
For me, there could only be one reason to use summon; that being to pull out of a parking spot when some jerk had parked too close to enable me to get in. I can't imagine using it to park in a spot too narrow for me to do it myself unless it were a narrow one-car garage, perhaps. If a public parking space is very narrow it would practically guarantee that I would receive a door ding.
Ulmo
Active Member
How about this approach:
1. RemoteS developer temporarily put in restrictions of use that match the restrictions Tesla has imposed, i.e., affirmative localization of control (must be near car), as a safety measure.
2. Then, approach Tesla directly, and ask them to coordinate a reasonable set of guidelines for the features of RemoteS, other than of course knee-jerk reactionary stuff like "you can't do anything" and "the owner is god" and stuff like that.
the only reason I downloaded remote S is because it did things that the tesla app didn't do. One example is being able to open the sunroof fully or any particular position. If it had the same features as the tesla app, I wouldn't have downloaded it.
The liability of what happens while using this app, has to be the liability of the person using it, the same way auto pilot works. If your car runs over someone while in auto pilot, it is the drivers responsibility.
The Tesla drives very slow (and carefully ) in the summon mode and will stop if an object is in the way. A very slight resistance (like a bump in the driveway) will stop the car. I think the liability is minimal and the responsibility of the user. If you are concerned, I wouldn't use it.
The liability of what happens while using this app, has to be the liability of the person using it, the same way auto pilot works. If your car runs over someone while in auto pilot, it is the drivers responsibility.
The Tesla drives very slow (and carefully ) in the summon mode and will stop if an object is in the way. A very slight resistance (like a bump in the driveway) will stop the car. I think the liability is minimal and the responsibility of the user. If you are concerned, I wouldn't use it.
CHG-ON
Still in love after all these miles
There is no way I would allow the car to move without me seeing exactly what it is doing. I most definitely do not trust the tech THAT much.
Andyw2100
Well-Known Member
Unless you downloaded the app in the last few days, summoning the car was not one of those things.
It may be the driver's responsibility but that doesn't prevent the app developer from being sued and then having to defend the suit.
All I'm saying (mainly in the other thread now) is that based on the return Allen is likely to get from offering the feature as compared to the risk of being sued and what that would cost him, I think it makes no sense for Allen to offer the feature. Let Tesla take the risk.
I just used the Remote S app to move my car from the garage (FOBs around 100' away). There is a bug though, it'll only go forward (I had backed my car in). When I tried to back it back in, the app says "moving forward"... I thought sh!t, it's going to drive into the street! (remember, my fobs were 100' away in the house), luckily, I guess once it hits it's 39', it won't go anymore. whew!. I then ran into the house to get the fob and back it back into the garage. That was scary.
The trick, as mentioned earlier, use the keyless start, then summon (both Remote S or Tesla apps).
The trick, as mentioned earlier, use the keyless start, then summon (both Remote S or Tesla apps).
AllenWong
Member
Perhaps you're within viewing distance when you want to summon, but not Keyfob distance close. You could save some time pulling out of a parking space with Summon while rolling your shopping cart towards your car instead of having to wait to get to the car first before pulling the car out of the parking spot.
Another case would be if you're on the other side of the house and you want to activate Summon before you reach your car because your garage door is slow or because Summon itself is pretty slow too.
As for great distance, I don't really see much use cases for this. But I can think of a case for HomeLink. Let's say you have something in your garage that you need someone else to fetch while you're not at home. Perhaps your garage is connected to your house and you want to be able to open the door for a friend while you're not home yet. Then you can activate HomeLink without giving your friend your garage PIN code.
brucet999
Active Member
Now that's something I had not thought of. I could see Girl Scout leaders wanting to enable access by other volunteers to troop equipment or cookie supplies; Boy Scout leaders, service clubs, charity volunteers as well. Presumably HomeLink only works if the car is in or near the garage?
AllenWong
Member
It would need to be as close as your car needs to be to activate the HomeLink. It could be 100' away, but it wouldn't matter if your car can't signal your garage to open/close more than 50' away. I can think of another use case where you need to open your garage from the outside and don't want to bother having to punch in your PIN number. In the official app, if your Tesla is plugged in, the HomeLink button is not available because the Summon button disappears to display charge information. Whereas in Remote S, you don't have to unplug the car to use HomeLink.
Soolim
Member
Andyw2100
Well-Known Member
Not everyone has MyQ. For those who don't, it costs about $80 and some time to install, assuming they have a compatible opener. If something similar can be accomplished with a $10 app, that's obviously a better option for some.
TaoJones
Beyond Driven
Before I begin, thanks for making and maintaining a great app.
Concerning the question above, it's worth noting that a prosecutor does not have to prove who pressed the button, per se. The prosecution need only convince a jury (I hesitate to say "of one's peers") that a given defendant is guilty.
With the usual disclaimers and caveats, I'd start by reviewing logs from the car owner's phone. Location and IP address would then be matched with the car's logs and possibly with information from the app's servers, depending upon who got served with what.
The analysis could exonerate or, more to the point, *not exonerate* the owner. It's the latter case that would then get spun by the prosecution to "make the rich Tesla driver pay". Not to mention the follow-up civil trial with a lower standard.
One does wonder about the wingnuts who lurk in the shallow end of the gene pool, screwing things up for everybody. See recent Danish video of backseat driving, or, inevitably, some video of someone who tries to Summon their car from a greater-than-intended distance, in the process managing to run over over the neighbor's cat or body part. Or worse.
Gotta love the bleeding edge of applied technology, relatively speaking.
AllenWong
Member
I've been told that the Summon function is very sensitive to resistance, so if it hits a bump like a cat, it would stop. But let's say that it does manage to happen. Who's fault would it be in that case? It would be negligence on the driver's part, right? Because he's ultimately the one who issued the command to Summon the car. It would be no different than if he put a brick on the gas pedal. The person issuing the command would be responsible, right?
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