Phone as Key Issues

[Yonki]

That's exactly the problem though. Those variables will always be changing, unless tesla starts making phones. Right now they only control one side of a two sided system. That will create problems for the lifespan of the system.

I was thinking the same thing the other day, then I remembered how many Model Ss and Xs there are in the Apple and Google parking lots (there are a lot of them). Soon there will be even more Model 3s. So I wouldn't be surprised to find the reliability and responsiveness of the other side of the system being addressed in a future phone OS update.

Until then, I'll continue to casually take out my phone and launch the Tesla app as I walk to my car and press the unlock button as I arrive, avoiding the humiliation of pulling on a locked door handle...

 

[azred]

I check this thread weekly to see if there has been a breakthrough. Maybe when the thread hits 50 pages and someone at Tesla notices.

 

[azred]

Extremely convenient if it's raining cats and dogs, or some creep is following my wife to her car. Thanks Tesla!

My wife and I agreed that she would always drive the S for this very reason. It’s just swell to buy a new $50k+ car and then not drive it.

 

[dhrivnak]

I think I figured out the phone issue at least with my car. If the phone is in my back pocket, frequently the car will not wake up. But if I rotate my body or have the phone in the front pocket or hand, I have yet to have a problem. The same with starting the car. Back pocket often a frustration, but if the phone is in my lap or plugged in, never an issue. So I guess short range BlueTooth is very short range and the body can block the signal.

 

[KentuckyX]

As someone who is waiting for his delivery date, I’m curious: is the “phone as a key” working correctly for ANYBODY?

 

[jsmay311]

As someone who is waiting for his delivery date, I’m curious: is the “phone as a key” working correctly for ANYBODY?

I'm also very curious about this. This is honestly one of the main things holding me back from placing my order at this point.

I did a 24-hour Model 3 rental with the key card and hated it. And even a 5% or 10% failure rate with the phone I could see driving me crazy over the long term.

I'd personally classify "working correctly" as working at least 99% of the time -- which is actually pretty lenient considering my current car's key fob has worked literally 100% of the time over 6 years and many many thousands of times unlocking and starting my car.

 

[voltage]

As someone who is waiting for his delivery date, I’m curious: is the “phone as a key” working correctly for ANYBODY?

Working for me 100% of the time with iPhone X. Just keep the app running in the background. Keep phone in my left front pocket.

 

[ratsbew]

I have an old Google Nexus 5 phone. I'm terrified that it won't work. Tesla really needs to ship a physical FOB that unlocks the frunk and trunk along with regular walk-up unlock.

 

[Kipp]

On a trip from WA to CA, bay area and have been experiencing somewhere in the 30-40% success rate with my Android phone where I can open my car the first time I walk up to it. I currently feel lucky when I push in the handle and can get into my car.

While charging at Vacaville this morning, another car, identical to mine, pulled up to charge. The driver was a Tesla employee that works on the Model 3 firmware. He was driving a test car and asked me what firmware I was running (2018.12.1). We talked for a bit and I told him about the phone as a key issues I have been having. He mentioned that many of the issues are due to Google OS issues and that a number of the Google higher-ups have been getting Model 3s and are much more keen to fix these issues. Not sure if that is really going to help me as I'm on Android 6.0.1 and highly doubt my phone manufacturer is going to do anything to get me to a later OS. Hopefully some of these issues can be fixed in the App but I'm really not holding my breath.

 

[AllDigital]

iPhone X has been almost 100%. IPhone 6 has been about 98-99%. Apple released some iOS updates recently that improved 3rd party Bluetooth connections and recent M3 firmware changes have made the experience much better. The early issues of the car locking and unlocking when walking around your house are gone.

I think it is important to get all the phone settings correct. Background refresh enabled for the app, location always on, and most report that the app should be open in the background and swiped to the M3. On my iPhone X I don’t seem to need the app open in the background.

 

[M falcon]

As someone who is waiting for his delivery date, I’m curious: is the “phone as a key” working correctly for ANYBODY?

Works fine for me. I’ve had my model for 3 days.

 

[M falcon]

I'm also very curious about this. This is honestly one of the main things holding me back from placing my order at this point.

I did a 24-hour Model 3 rental with the key card and hated it. And even a 5% or 10% failure rate with the phone I could see driving me crazy over the long term.

I'd personally classify "working correctly" as working at least 99% of the time -- which is actually pretty lenient considering my current car's key fob has worked literally 100% of the time over 6 years and many many thousands of times unlocking and starting my car.

You’ve been spending too much time on this forum LOL. I’ve had the car for 3 days and the phone as a key works beautifully. Go ahead and order the car and be happy!

 

[RTPEV]

As someone who is waiting for his delivery date, I’m curious: is the “phone as a key” working correctly for ANYBODY?

I'm almost positive that the likely large majority of people that have no issues are not following this thread. Having said that there is still a risk, and given even the small minority and reputation of bluetooth, I strongly wish Tesla would have just offered a fob.

 

[dhrivnak]

What I have found is if the phone is in my back pocket with my body between the phone and receiver it usually fails. But if in my hand or front pocket it has never failed. So I guess short range BlueTooth is very short range.

PS I have an iPhone 6s

 

[jsmay311]

You’ve been spending too much time on this forum LOL. I’ve had the car for 3 days and the phone as a key works beautifully. Go ahead and order the car and be happy!

That first sentence is undoubtedly correct.

And yet, just a few posts back there's a guy experiencing a 60-70% failure rate. That may well be an outlier data point, but it's still wildly unacceptable and something no new car buyer should ever have to worry about.

And I'm enough on the fence already about getting a Model 3 that something as basic and critical as keyless entry performance is far from a negligible factor in my decision.

So thanks to everyone sharing their experiences!

 

[aronth5]

Not sure where to post this but since the behavior I'm seeing only happens with the remote app figured this was as good a place as any.
On 2018.12.1 and twice when I've locked the car with the remote app (Galaxy S8) when I've come back to the car one window was open.
First time the passenger rear window was half open and today the front passenger side window was completely open. Anyone else had this problem?

 

[dswansonsb]

I think I figured out the phone issue at least with my car. If the phone is in my back pocket, frequently the car will not wake up. But if I rotate my body or have the phone in the front pocket or hand, I have yet to have a problem. The same with starting the car. Back pocket often a frustration, but if the phone is in my lap or plugged in, never an issue. So I guess short range BlueTooth is very short range and the body can block the signal.

Yes..I discovered the same thing today. For me, phone in back pocket (Nexus 5X) rarely works, but phone in my hand works fine.

Yesterday I was reading about wireless ear buds in Consumer Reports and it says "The Bluetooth signal does not travel well through water, and the human body is flush with H2O".

 

[Kipp]

On 2018.12.1 and twice when I've locked the car with the remote app (Galaxy S8) when I've come back to the car one window was open.
First time the passenger rear window was half open and today the front passenger side window was completely open. Anyone else had this problem?

Interesting... While on a road trip over last week, at the beginning (before getting 2018.12.1) we would get out of the car (2-3 times) and the back passenger window would be down a few inches. Since we had just been driving, we would have heard the open window so we are pretty sure that it rolled down as we were getting out of the car. This only happened a few times at the beginning of our trip that started on 4/6. On the afternoon of 4/12, we installed 2018.12.1 and haven't seen this issue occur but it also hadn't occurred for a few days before that so I'm not sure if it is related to the firmware or not. Our previous firmware was 2018.10.5.

 

[Kipp]

And yet, just a few posts back there's a guy experiencing a 60-70% failure rate.

When I mentioned the 30-40% success rate it is related to the first time touching the door handles. It is fairly rare to not be able to open the doors once the app is running in the foreground and the Phone Key section says "Connected". If those two requirements are met, I'd say I can open the doors in the range of 98% of the time. It may have failed to open once but I'm not 100% certain. This is still not ideal as it may take a few extra seconds to get the phone, turn it on, switch to the already running app, wait for it to come to the foreground and by that time it will come up as "connected".

We have some off-brand Android phones from ZTE (well known Chinese brand, I believe), model Blade V8 pro. It has been a pretty good phone but they don't tend to patch the OS very frequently although I did get a patch on 4/5. We're still on Marshmallow (6.0.1), February 5, 2018 security patch level. If I'd have to guess, the problem is likely with our phone and not the car. Anyway, this is still not an ideal situation for us.

I still love the car and am still trying different things to see if the phone will work better as a key.

 

[Argyle]

My car updated itself to 2018.12.1 a few days ago (and the Tesla app to 3.3.5), and at least for me, the phone as key stuff seems more reliable lately. I've still gotten a few slow unlocks but they seem to be less slow (I pull the handle and within 10 seconds the mirrors unfold and I can open the door < 5% of the time, otherwise it works as expected and unlocks on the first pull). For the record we are using Pixel 2/2 XLs as our primary phone keys.

Also the problem I had pairing an iPhone 5S as a phone key went away with the updates, so there is that as well...