Phone as Key Issues

[bhzmark]

I understand that it would be a useful diagnostic. What would you do with the data if you discover a conflict, though? Disable an app here to make one run there? Disable two apps? More? You could end up with a pretty dumb smartphone that way....IOW, a giant key fob with benefits.
This won't bother everyone, I know. And it won't bother me, because I stepped out of the reservation line. But if I were an owner, I would be pretty unhappy getting sucked into troubleshooting and finding workarounds for something that should...and could...just work.
Robin

Its the fun of being on the bleeding edge. Looks like a Tesla isn't for you. Better stick with something else. Good luck.

Others, you may see the wisdom in finding if another app on your phone conflicts with the Tesla app. Maybe it is an app that you never use and you can simply delete it. Or if it is important to you can report it to tesla and to the other app developer and perhaps one of them can figure it out.

Although I realize what I just wrote was totally obvious. What a waste of my time. I got trolled.. sigh

 

[N5329K]

Hmm. Remember, disagreeing without becoming disagreeable is possible. Just a little harder.
Back OT, some people love to dive into the digital weeds trying to get the phone-as-key to work. Good for them. But some couldn't care less and just want the damned thing to work. Every time. No exceptions. No workarounds.
And I think they have a pretty good point. We'll see how it all shakes out soon enough.
Robin

 

[diamond.g]

I understand that it would be a useful diagnostic. What would you do with the data if you discover a conflict, though? Disable an app here to make one run there? Disable two apps? More? You could end up with a pretty dumb smartphone that way....IOW, a giant key fob with benefits.
This won't bother everyone, I know. And it won't bother me, because I stepped out of the reservation line. But if I were an owner, I would be pretty unhappy getting sucked into troubleshooting and finding workarounds for something that should...and could...just work.
Robin

Seems like if you do not know what apps are using your bluetooth, you may have a problem.

 

[cellogig]

Diamond g and N5329k
people people please I know you both are on the same side of the coin. I follow both of you. We want resolve to the issue at hand.

 

[daniel]

... This won't bother everyone, I know. And it won't bother me, because I stepped out of the reservation line. But if I were an owner, I would be pretty unhappy getting sucked into troubleshooting and finding workarounds for something that should...and could...just work.
Robin

Just for some perspective, the phone does seem to work for most people, including me. My complaint is lack of an easy way to open the frunk. And it is inexcusable that they left out an easy frunk opening method and that they relied on something as unreliable and inconsistent as Blurtooth.

But in spite of that, there are work-arounds (such as the key card for entry, and the awkward but usable screen button for the frunk). And this really is such a fabulous car that even with these phone and frunk issues it's still far far far and away the best and nicest car I've ever driven.

If you canceled your reservation for other reasons, well and good. But in my opinion, anyone who cancels because of the phone issues is making a big mistake. If there was no phone key or app and all we got was the key cards, I'd still love this car.

 

[N5329K]

Diamond g and N5329k
people people please I know you both are on the same side of the coin. I follow both of you. We want resolve to the issue at hand.

Diamond g was writing something true (and important) when he said seems like if you do not know what apps are using your bluetooth, you may have a problem. He's absolutely right.
Robin

 

[diamond.g]

Diamond g and N5329k
people people please I know you both are on the same side of the coin. I follow both of you. We want resolve to the issue at hand.

Oh I agree, there should be a viable solution made for everyone.

 

[slipnslider]

Its the fun of being on the bleeding edge. Looks like a Tesla isn't for you. Better stick with something else. Good luck.

Ah the "you're not a true believer" response. EVs are already on the bleeding edge. It's awesome that anyone is willing to try them out. By making the something as basic and essential as the key unnecessarily complex and unreliable, you're SHRINKING the potential customer base, which INCREASES the number of people sticking to ICE cars and contributing to climate change, which is against tesla's mission statement. Their mission statement is accelerating the transition to clean transportation, not accelerating people's attachment to their phones.

 

[cellogig]

Diamond g was writing something true (and important) when he said seems like if you do not know what apps are using your bluetooth, you may have a problem. He's absolutely right.
Robin

Oh I agree, there should be a viable solution made for everyone.

got you sorry, long day at work and misinterpreted. Manger at a sales center stated to me tesla knows about it and working on a viable solution. Hopefully not lip service.

 

[Lanzer]

I also encountered a problem with my phone not unlocking the car today.

I recently went on vacation and had put my phone through 2 SIM card changes, multiple airplane mode toggles, and also disabled bluetooth a couple of times before switching everything back on when I return.

The Tesla app would show that the car key is "connecting" but will not show it as "connected". Closing the app from task manager and restarting the app didn't help.

I then restarted my phone, and now everything is working again.

I have no information pointing that this was the fault of the Tesla app, or the fault of my iPhone 6, but if you're having trouble, a simple reboot might be the quick solution.

Personally, if I have to use a card as the key and I now need to use a card sitting in my wallet as the means of unlocking my car, I would still be happy doing that than carrying a fob. Of course, that's not to say that having the option to choose wouldn't be better, but if there's only one option, I'm happy with Tesla's decision. I used to carry my phone, my keys, and my wallet wherever I go. But now days my home is keyless, my phone case hold my license and credit card, and with my Model 3 the only thing I need to carry is my phone when I leave the house. Life is great.

 

[slipnslider]

I used to carry my phone, my keys, and my wallet wherever I go. But now days my home is keyless, my phone case hold my license and credit card, and with my Model 3 the only thing I need to carry is my phone when I leave the house. Life is great.

I'm baffled by people who see carrying a key or a fob as some sort of terrible burden that they're so desperate to be freed from that they're willing to replace them with tech devices that require setup, troubleshooting, and hoping that they always work.

And now if your phone falls in a hot tub, you can't make calls, get into your car, or get into your house.

Mo tech, mo problems.

Reminds me of apple getting rid of the 1/8" headphone jack, which was compatible with billions of devices for decades, in order to make the phone 1mm thinner. Techies who love anything new think that 1mm is totally worth it, but they pissed off a lot of non techie people in the process. Tesla can't afford to piss off any potential customers at this point.

 

[diamond.g]

I'm baffled by people who see carrying a key or a fob as some sort of terrible burden that they're so desperate to be freed from that they're willing to replace them with tech devices that require setup, troubleshooting, and hoping that they always work.

And now if your phone falls in a hot tub, you can't make calls, get into your car, or get into your house.

Mo tech, mo problems.

Reminds me of apple getting rid of the 1/8" headphone jack, which was compatible with billions of devices for decades, in order to make the phone 1mm thinner. Techies who love anything new think that 1mm is totally worth it, but they pissed off a lot of non techie people in the process. Tesla can't afford to piss off any potential customers at this point.

Some of us have water resistant phones.

Seriously though, I am bummed no one on the ER call is asking about getting a FOB...

 

[slipnslider]

Some of us have water resistant phones.

Seriously though, I am bummed no one on the ER call is asking about getting a FOB...

Other companies made their phones water resistent without getting read of the 1/8" jack.

 

[dswansonsb]

Anyone know how the car detects that your phone is within the necessary range to allow you to unlock the door? Is it signal strength? If so, according to what I read (I know zilch about BT), signal strength can't reliably measure distance.

 

[bhzmark]

some people love to dive into the digital weeds trying to get the phone-as-key to work. Good for them. But some couldn't care less and just want the damned thing to work. Every time. No exceptions. No workarounds.

That's what my grandmother said when I gave her a cell phone and she wanted to just use her landline. Some people are better off with older simpler technology.

 

[bhzmark]

Autopilot has nothing to do with EV either. Wacky door handles aren't furthering the EV mission. Single screen and no dash doesn't further the EV mission.
They try lots of things. Some are great. Some fail. Some have some kinks to work out. If you can't handle that then Tesla may not be the right car for you.

Doing a simple diagnostic with adding blietooth rts to phone apps isn't that challenging.

Ah the "you're not a true believer" response. EVs are already on the bleeding edge. It's awesome that anyone is willing to try them out. By making the something as basic and essential as the key unnecessarily complex and unreliable, you're SHRINKING the potential customer base, which INCREASES the number of people sticking to ICE cars and contributing to climate change, which is against tesla's mission statement. Their mission statement is accelerating the transition to clean transportation, not accelerating people's attachment to their phones.

 

[daniel]

Anyone know how the car detects that your phone is within the necessary range to allow you to unlock the door? Is it signal strength? If so, according to what I read (I know zilch about BT), signal strength can't reliably measure distance.

Yep. It's signal strength. And you are right. It does not reliably measure distance. Which contributes to some of the problems. It does give a relative measure, though. Sort of. Most of the time.

 

[slipnslider]

Doing a simple diagnostic with adding blietooth rts to phone apps isn't that challenging.

If my 65 year old mother can't do it, then it's challenging. Tesla shouldnt count on all their customers being tech professionals.

 

[slipnslider]

That's what my grandmother said when I gave her a cell phone and she wanted to just use her landline. Some people are better off with older simpler technology.

Your grandmother sticking with her landline doesn't hurt the planet. People sticking with ICE cars because EVs are too full of unreliable tech does.

 

[daniel]

Your grandmother sticking with her landline doesn't hurt the planet. People sticking with ICE cars because EVs are too full of unreliable tech does.

Fortunately, for the time being, there are more eager EV buyers than the total capacity to manufacture EVs. Somebody choosing to buy an ICE instead of an EV this year, and probably for the next decade or so, will not lower the total number of EVs sold, because the auto makers are going to sell every EV they can make for some time to come. I'm not bothered by the people who cancel their Model 3 reservations because there are so many people clamoring to get one.