Phone as Key Issues

[daniel]

At some point you just need to remember things man. What happens when you forgot your key fob to your Prius? Geez.

See, that's the thing: If I forgot the key fob for the Prius I'd walk out to the garage, be unable to start the car, and have to walk back into the house and get the fob. It's not possible to start the car without the fob, and if you have the fob the car always unlocks. (And starts if it does not break down, which mine never did in the 15 years I owned it.)

The problem with the Tesla is that you can start the car with the phone most of the time but then once in a while it doesn't work, and then you need the key card, which you forgot because you almost never need it. (Though hopefully that card holder that N5329K recommended will solve the problem for me, because then I'll always have the key card if I have my phone.)

And when you get to be my age you'll realize how glib "you just need to remember things" sounds.

 

[srs5694]

At some point you just need to remember things man. What happens when you forgot your key fob to your Prius? Geez.

Prior to getting my Model 3, I did that more than once! (Except I've never owned a Prius -- but it's happened with my Chevy Volt, VW Golf, and every other car I've owned.)

 

[vickh]

alarm went off when wife opened car. Phone took forever to connect while everyone was screaming

 

[RTPEV]

My overall experience with phone as key can be summed up as follows:

Started out with about an 80% success rate (and a 20% fail rate is REALLY bad by the way!)

After a couple of months, something changed--not sure if it was an app update, or a car s/w update, but I seem to recall it was around the time the app started having its permanent notification icon in the notification bar (which I quickly disabled)--and reliability shot up to essentially 100%.

Then maybe 3-4 months ago, reliability went down to maybe 95% (where I would actually have to get the phone out and open the app, and even occasionally use the key card).

That seemed to be resolved fairly quickly, and where I'm at now is that the phone key is more or less 100% reliable, but I do occasionally have to remove the phone from my pocket and wait a few seconds for the key to be detected. Many times this isn't an issue because my phone is already out of my pocket as I approach the car, but sometimes I have something in my hand already. So it's definitely a weak signal issue now rather than an app/Android Bluetooth/car being asleep issue.

 

[RTPEV]

And when you get to be my age you'll realize how glib "you just need to remember things" sounds.

Maybe, but after reading your various posts about how you can't carry a wallet, and forget your watch, your driver's license, and everything else (save your phone I guess), I'm thinking that if the card holder for the phone thing doesn't work out, that maybe your solution is to simply stop using the phone as key altogether and ONLY use the card. With all your caveats, it seems like the only way you can have a reliable system if your phone can't be trusted to be reliable.

 

[daniel]

Maybe, but after reading your various posts about how you can't carry a wallet, and forget your watch, your driver's license, and everything else (save your phone I guess), I'm thinking that if the card holder for the phone thing doesn't work out, that maybe your solution is to simply stop using the phone as key altogether and ONLY use the card. With all your caveats, it seems like the only way you can have a reliable system if your phone can't be trusted to be reliable.

I remember the phone because if I don't have it the car does not unlock. And now with the card holder glued to the phone, I don't forget the card.

Make fun of us old fogies all you like. But you're going to be me someday.

 

[RTPEV]

I remember the phone because if I don't have it the car does not unlock. And now with the card holder glued to the phone, I don't forget the card.

Make fun of us old fogies all you like. But you're going to be me someday.

I'm not sure how young you think I am, but it's usually the younger people that tend to shun everything except their phone (stood in line behind a kid at a hockey game that had ordered a sandwich and left his wallet behind on the counter). I'm old enough to have always carried a wallet, always wore a watch, and still carry cash...something the younger folks tend not to do.

 

[BioSehnsucht]

I still have had essentially zero issues with my Pixel 3a since replacing my old 2015 HTC One m9.

Now I just wish walk up unlock worked for unplugging the car, I usually have to tap a door handle first to wake the car before I can use the mobile connector's button to stop charging and unlock the charge port to remove the plug. Occasionally it works without waking the car, which really just means the car happened to be awake for some reason at the time.

I suspect if I let Sentry Mode run while at home it wouldn't be an issue, but I don't want to be wasting energy/storage on recordings of me squeezing past the car to take out the garbage or whatever, much less setting it off by accident. I haven't gone on a road trip since getting the new phone but I expect since I will have Sentry Mode on at Superchargers that at least then I'll be able to walk up and release the plug without further effort...

 

[Richhagelin]

My wife is having a problem with her phone key not working on a regular basis. What’s the solution?

 

[RTPEV]

Read this 64 page thread: Phone as Key Issues



Lot's of possible issues and solutions. Personally I think the most reliable solution is to have the phone out of pockets/purses as you approach the car, and make sure battery optimization is turned OFF for the app (so it's always active). But even then, certain software revs of the car and app seem to have trouble and you just need to wait for the next update.

 

[jjrandorin]

Read this 64 page thread: Phone as Key Issues



Lot's of possible issues and solutions. Personally I think the most reliable solution is to have the phone out of pockets/purses as you approach the car, and make sure battery optimization is turned OFF for the app (so it's always active). But even then, certain software revs of the car and app seem to have trouble and you just need to wait for the next update.

(moderator note : new thread merged into existing thread you referenced, which is why you now find your post in the thread you referenced).

 

[jjrandorin]

My wife is having a problem with her phone key not working on a regular basis. What’s the solution?

There could be a lot of different reasons, and without quite a bit more information from you with details on exactly what is going on, when, no one will be able to suggest a solution.

Perhaps this comes from my IT background, but your post is the equivalent of some of my users at work saying "My computer isnt working, whats going on with it?"

You can search through this large thread for experiences from others, or perhaps post a lot more detail about what you (your wife) is experiencing like:

What phone are you using? What exact version of operating system for said phone? Does it ever work, or only work "sometimes". If it sometimes works and sometimes not, where is the phone (pocket / purse) when it does or doesnt work? When it doesnt work, does it work if you open the tesla app? Are you swiping the tesla app away? Have you re setup the phone as key feature? Does it work on your phone and not hers? (etc etc).

We cant try to help if we dont know whats going on, and "it doesnt work" doesnt say much.