Chickenlittle
Banned
Ok. Discovered fix I can hear IT comedy show saying have you turned it off and back on. Deleted tesla app reloaded it. Reconnected with car and now works after dormant over night.
-
Want to remove ads? Register an account and login to see fewer ads, and become a Supporting Member to remove almost all ads.
Phone as Key Issues
- Thread starter AllDigital
- Start date
-
- Tags
- Model 3 User Interface
T-Will
Member
You guys have this Model 3 update and the Tesla app update just released a couple days ago, right?
Tesla releases new Model 3 update to manage ‘phone keys’
Tesla releases new Model 3 update to manage ‘phone keys’
diamond.g
Active Member
I’m running 11.2.5. It works fine when the app is in the background. But if it’s been closed on the phone there is no response. As soon as I launch the app it works. But I’ve been told this shouldn’t be necessary.
diamond.g
Active Member
Are you swiping away the app when you say closed or it just isn’t in the foreground?
I don't believe anybody is saying the app has to be in the foreground. But I do believe it needs to be running.
I’m referring to the app fully closed not running in the background. I was under the impression it could work as a key without having to be open in either the back or
Foreground. Some Apple Watch apps allow for communication without the app being open at all. It works fine with the app in the background.
diamond.g
Active Member
Yeah I think the app has to at least have been running and is in the background. I am not sure if there is supposed to be an action the BT devices can initiate to start an app that hadn't been previously opened. At least I believe that is an iOS limitation. Android allows apps to have services that always runs even if the main app isn't running.
cpa
Active Member
This is something that, as a non-techie person, I've struggled to understand. Any misc Bluetooth device can recognize a previously paired phone and connect to it without having a specific app running in the background on that phone. So why would this be any different?
My only guess is that having the app running allows for a more secure authentication process between the car and phone and prevents someone from spoofing your phone and stealing your Model 3.
Can any folks out there who are more familiar with the nuts and bolts of Bluetooth protocol say if this is a likely explanation?
diamond.g
Active Member
It is probable that the app removes the pairings if it isn't running. Or at least that is how I would understand they would do it on iOS. On Android they could be using a service in the background that runs regardless of the main app running. Though it is more likely in Tesla's case that they aren't doing anything special between the two platforms (single codebases and all that jazz).
RTPEV
Active Member
I think a better analogy would be that when your phone gets in range of a Bluetooth headset it's been previously paired with, it doesn't automatically make a call. If you want to make a call, you have to open the phone dialer and call someone.
At some level, SOME piece of code on the device has to be "listening" for activity on the Bluetooth channel, otherwise nothing will happen. For example, it's common to have your phone paired with your car's audio system, or your home audio system, and it can even start playing automatically where it left off. But underneath the covers, that only works because there is some code running on the devices that sees the connection get re-established and then does something (starts the music app if it's not running and resumes the song you were last listening to).
To me it sounds like there is no such code running on your phone, or if there is, it hasn't been configured to properly start up the Tesla key app.
Not to sound too much like a doctor that says "if it hurts when you do that, just don't do that", if your phone works when the app is running in the background, just run the app in the background. If you've been told that that isn't necessary, well, either whomever told you was wrong, you didn't understand what they were saying, or there is a bug of some kind. Either way, it sounds like there is a solution (unless I'm missing some reason why it's difficult to have an app running in the background in your case--I'm not familiar with iOS, so maybe there is a good reason).
jerjozwik
Active Member
looks like as of today my phone key issues have been resolved. no app running, full day of usage and zero issues detecting my phone this morning. also happened in a time frame i consider acceptable. before the delay on a working day ment i would be standing next to my car for a good 3-5 seconds before anything happened.
removed the tesla app and upgraded to the most recent OS version. reinstall the tesla app and rebooted. lets see how long the sunshine lasts.
removed the tesla app and upgraded to the most recent OS version. reinstall the tesla app and rebooted. lets see how long the sunshine lasts.
I have a model 3 and an S. Got the 3 on Jan 8, 2018. At first the phone as key worked fine, then stopped. Tech said it might be our iphone 5, as my wife's "6" seemed to work. $800 later with AT&T's BoGo (buy-one-get-one) offer, we how have 2 "8"s. Neither will "connect as key" either close to or away from the S. Phone close to car says it's connected via bluetooth, and will unlock car with a "button" on the phone, but phone will not respond positively to "Set up your phone as a key"????? Tech support central went through a series of steps, including hard reboot ("until the 'T' appears on the screen), to no avail, and referred me to a service center, which I plan to visit today.
Yes likely the phones need to be reset up with the card key like when they first added your old Phones. Not sure why it isn’t working, but I bet it gets sorted out.
It has been working well for us since we got ours and have the latest model 3 firmware.
Knock on wood.
Still haven't gotten this update. My app updated on my galaxy S8 and I ended up having to reboot both the car and the phone in order to key phone key functionality back. It's still super slow to connect - 1-2 minutes. I finally turned on telsafi in order to try to keep the LTE on as well so I can actually preheat my car on the way out from the office. I'm surprised i'm not seeing more complaints about the phone app basically being useless for the 3 since the car turns off the LTE and there's no setting to keep it on.
Regardless, i'll report back if that helps. It sucks that i'm going to lose about 12mi range per day but it's not really an issue for me.
