Phone as key thought

[dumbass]

Haven't had any problems with my phone as a key ever since I was t-boned Dec 15th. Unfortunately that is only because the car is still in the shop. First recommendation...don't get in an accident with this car. Takes long time to fix.

In the meantime, I bought some wireless earbuds to replace the ones which I thought were going bad because the connection kept flickering on and off.

Lo and behold, connection is just as crummy with the new ones. Seems mostly to happen when moving around.

So I am wondering if my phone's bluetooth antenna has sustained some impact damage along the way? Then voila, I thought perhaps that is a contributing factor to some of the phone as key issues which pop up? It would also possibly explain why some folk (with solid phone construction) would enthuse about the phone as key (when it works its great) and others can't get it to with any consistency?

 

[StealthP3D]

Our two phones work 100% on our two Model 3's and so I've always maintained the Bluetooth issues some people kept harping on as if it was something within Tesla's control were due to their phone or it's configuration. Because both our cars keyless entries are reliable as a Swiss watch.

 

[SKERBS]

This is my first post so cut me some slack.

My Samsung S7 works as a key about 50% of the time. If it won’t let me in, I don't bother opening the app to "turn Airplane Mode on and off". Since the key card works without removing it from my wallet, it's much simpler to just tap my wallet against the sensor. Same with starting and driving the car. I have no doubt Tesla has people working on this problem and that a fix will be coming soon. In any case, it's just not a BFD.

After nearly 60 years of owning and driving all sorts of cars, including Porsches, Audis, BMWs and Mercedes, I can't say I've ever owned a more satisfying automobile. IMHO, the quality of build and attention to detail ranks with the best. Performance is second to none.

I’ll withhold judgment on Autopilot for awhile but it sure is fun.

 

[Kilotango74]

This is my first post so cut me some slack.

My Samsung S7 works as a key about 50% of the time. If it won’t let me in, I don't bother opening the app to "turn Airplane Mode on and off". Since the key card works without removing it from my wallet, it's much simpler to just tap my wallet against the sensor. Same with starting and driving the car. I have no doubt Tesla has people working on this problem and that a fix will be coming soon. In any case, it's just not a BFD.

After nearly 60 years of owning and driving all sorts of cars, including Porsches, Audis, BMWs and Mercedes, I can't say I've ever owned a more satisfying automobile. IMHO, the quality of build and attention to detail ranks with the best. Performance is second to none.

I’ll withhold judgment on Autopilot for awhile but it sure is fun.

First off welcome.....love Anacortes (lived in Oak Harbor for 17 years while in the Navy) and I miss the ghost pepper fish taco's at Rock Fish Grill...YUMM!!! I'm surprised your key card works through your wallet, I have heard this usually is not the case.

 

[benh57]

This is my first post so cut me some slack.

My Samsung S7 works as a key about 50% of the time.

<slack cut as it's my third post>

My Model Y is on Preorder.

Unfortunately people have been complaining about the phone key since the Model 3 was released. I have seen no evidence of any 'fix' coming soon.

With my Prius i just open the door and the fob has not once failed. 50% failure seems pretty annoying having to put a card up. I'm not looking forward to it, as i expect it will still be a problem when I get my Y in 2021.

 

[Kilotango74]

<slack cut as it's my third post>

My Model Y is on Preorder.

Unfortunately people have been complaining about the phone key since the Model 3 was released. I have seen no evidence of any 'fix' coming soon.

With my Prius i just open the door and the fob has not once failed. 50% failure seems pretty annoying having to put a card up. I'm not looking forward to it, as i expect it will still be a problem when I get my Y in 2021.

I have read a lot posts from a lot of people who have had little to no issues with using their phones as keys. Keep in mind there are a lot of squeaky wheels on these forums. As a side note I too am misfortunate enough to be driving a soul eroding Prius. UUGGG. I will be picking up a performance 3 in a few months.

 

[srs5694]

Unfortunately people have been complaining about the phone key since the Model 3 was released. I have seen no evidence of any 'fix' coming soon.

Most of the problem reports are from people running Android 8.1 or earlier; people using iOS and Android 9 seem to have better luck. (Note: I'm not saying that performance with iOS and Android 9 is flawless, just that problems seem to be less common with those OSes.)

When I first got my Tesla (on March 30 of this year), my OnePlus 5t with Android 8.1 worked about half the time, with a definition of "work" to mean that the door would open on the first try. I'd usually be able to get in by pulling the handle several times (or maybe it was just slow, so standing there without touching the handle would have worked, too). After a couple of weeks, I upgraded the phone to Android 9, and the phone-as-key feature became much more reliable. It now works about 90% of the time, and when it doesn't work, I can usually figure out why (like a recent reboot of the phone). Unfortunately, starting with Tesla's 2019.12.1 release, I began having a problem with Bluetooth phone calls, but that's another matter.

Note that phone-as-key reliability can also vary with the phone model, not just the OS. If I understand correctly, the Tesla is monitoring for a Bluetooth signal, and will unlock when it detects a strong enough Bluetooth signal from the phone, even before it actually finishes the Bluetooth handshake to connect. As phone models vary in the Bluetooth hardware they contain, it's to be expected that they'd vary in how well they work with Tesla's phone-as-key feature because of phone hardware differences.

Thus, if you're using an Android 8.1 or earlier device, I recommend upgrading. You can sometimes install Android 9, either via an official update from the manufacturer or through an open source variant like LineageOS. (Installing a "hobbyist" Android like LineageOS isn't for everybody, though. It can be very tricky or even impossible to do on many phones, and even in the best of cases, it requires significant technical aptitude.) If that doesn't help, or if your phone is old enough to have no upgrade available, you might consider replacing your phone with a newer model. You'll have to be the judge of how much money and/or effort you want to go to in order to get the phone to work more reliably as a key, of course.