Phone key doesn't connect while talking on the phone?

[SDKoala]

My phone key has been working perfectly since switching to a Pixel 3 about 10 months ago, after struggling with a Pixel 1 not working about half the time. I know there are well-documented phone key issues in the multitude of other threads and this isn't meant to re-hash those problems.

I started noticing about a month ago that if I'm talking on the phone while approaching the car, the car does not sense it as the key and the doors will not unlock. I end up using my key card to get in to avoid having to hang up on the person I'm talking to since troubleshooting the phone's Bluetooth would start with toggling airplane mode. The phone won't connect as a Bluetooth audio device once I'm in the car until a few minutes later. If I'm not talking on the phone, none of this happens--the doors unlock and it connects as an audio device immediately, just as it should.

Has anyone else experienced this?

 

[SDKoala]

Wow, really? No one? Or did this just get buried so fast that it wasn't seen?

 

[cucubits]

Bring on the dislikes but I think everyone just started getting used to and accepting these random problems. Obviously going with the phone unlock was a poor poor design choice for the Model 3 but die hard fans will convince themselves that this is also a required step for the future :|

TBH I'm not surprised at all about the issue you're describing. One more thing which wasn't tested and just released as is...

 

[jamnmon66]

I have a Pixel 3XL and I've never had that problem. My previous phone was a Nexus 6p and I didn't have that problem either. Sometimes when I get into the car while I'm on the phone (usually with a Bluetooth headset connected), the Bluetooth phone audio connects to the car but there's no sound and the other person can't hear me. I usually switch to speakerphone and then disconnect & reconnect the Bluetooth with the infotainment screen while I'm talking and before I start driving. Then it works. Pretty annoying but it's not frequent enough for me to contact Tesla about it.

Your problem sounds much more annoying. My phone-as-key has pretty much been flawless for several months whether I'm on the phone or not.

I suspect that this won't help because yours is different than any problems that I've had, but it's worth a shot... make sure to turn off battery optimization in the Android settings for the Tesla app. All of my phone-as-key problems went away once I did that.

Beyond that, the simple stuff like removing and re-installing the app and deleting the car and the phone from each other's Bluetooth settings and re-pairing might be worth trying if you haven’t already done so. There's always the nuclear option of a factory reset too if it's worth the hassle to you for the chance that it might help.

Hopefully someone else will have another idea if that doesn't work.

 

[Dan203]

Is it possible there is a setting somewhere that prevents the phone from connecting to a BT device while you're on a call? I could see a setting like that being implemented to prevent the type of issue jamnmon66 described where it attempts to connect to another device and doesn’t transition seamlessly and screws up the call.

 

[Big Dog]

I have an iPhone and have not had this problem. In fact, when I am on the phone and approach the car, and open the door, the car speakers take over the call and I go to hands-free phone.

 

[notrhj]

I have an iPhone and have not had this problem. In fact, when I am on the phone and approach the car, and open the door, the car speakers take over the call and I go to hands-free phone.

Same experience on iPhone X/Xs, soon as the door was opened the call was switched right to the door speakers. Everything in the car operated as expected

 

[notrhj]

Bring on the dislikes but I think everyone just started getting used to and accepting these random problems. Obviously going with the phone unlock was a poor poor design choice for the Model 3 but die hard fans will convince themselves that this is also a required step for the future :|

TBH I'm not surprised at all about the issue you're describing. One more thing which wasn't tested and just released as is...

Car was released long before your Pixel(s).
As far as a poor poor choice
The card key is default and primary
Key fob is also an option like for 99% of all other cars.

I’m not surprised that’s it’s just another Android issue from the king of
Android issues Google......

Not saying Apple doesn’t have issues or is superior in anyway.
I use both solutions work / Home but IOS 12-13 has been seamless with my m3 so far.
My Nexus Not so much.

 

[Casmium]

Hi, also have a pixel 3, what I noticed is if I'm on a call it may take longer for the car to react sometimes, maybe 1 in every 10 times I approached the car while on a phone call, I usually just hold the Handel and it will open in a second or two, also used to happen on my razer phone as well.

 

[Dan203]

Seems like they may have a lot less issues with their iPhone app then Android. I wonder of this is due to hardware or better software? The two platforms typically require separate teams to develop, so maybe their iOS team are just better developers.

 

[Casmium]

I would think the iOS development would be a lot easier as you only have to do testing and debugging on a handful of phones. There is probably about a thousand different models of Android phones all running different versions of Android

 

[Dan203]

I would think the iOS development would be a lot easier as you only have to do testing and debugging on a handful of phones. There is probably about a thousand different models of Android phones all running different versions of Android

Yeah that is an issue. But high profile phones, like Samsung and Google should be the ones they focus their efforts on. The weird brands they can write off as wonky hardware or old versions of Android, but the top few sellers should be rock solid.