Phone key drains iPhone rapidly

[rdfield]

Have other iPhone phone key users noticed the following: I used to charge my iPhone once every two or three days (I don't use it very much)l however since I've used the Tesla app as my key to the vehicle I have to charge daily. I presume this is because bluetooth is constantly connected to the vehicle, thus draining the battery. Perhaps there is another explanation; what do you think?

 

[follow.johnny]

@rdfield See my comment I posted in another post about iPhone Tesla App and Battery Drain:

I use the phone app 100% (iPhone X) for my Model 3. Haven't had much issues with unlock/lock but occasionally have hit or miss unlock in the morning when the car is waking up from a deep sleep.

Some suggestions to optimize your phone app if you have an iPhone to reduce battery drain on both your iPhone and any "Phantom Drains" to the Model 3

• Disable Background App Refresh - If you don't need to have the phone app constantly refresh to get an updated status of the car, I would recommend turning this off. You can get to this setting from Settings > General > Background App Refresh > Off for Tesla

• Location Services - If you don't want the app to constant update the location of your car etc in the background to save battery, I would recommend changing this to only "While Using" You can get to this setting from Settings > Privacy > Location Services > Tesla (While Using)

• For Phantom Drain - The more times you open and check the phone app, the more times the car needs to be "awaken" to ping the status of the vehicle, which causes the 1-2 mile drain per hour that many have reported. If you don't need to check the app constant and only use it when you need to unlock your car or pre-cool it. I would recommend force closing the app from the app switcher after you exit and lock your car.

I hope this information helps anyone using an iPhone device.

 

[rdfield]

Many thanks for the info HelloJohnny. I've previously done all but force-closing the app (a great idea, so I force-closed all). As for constantly checking the app I have never done this excpet on very rare occasions.

 

[Runt8]

Many thanks for the info HelloJohnny. I've previously done all but force-closing the app (a great idea, so I force-closed all). As for constantly checking the app I have never done this excpet on very rare occasions.

Force-closing apps is only necessary if an app is misbehaving, which is generally a very rare occurrence. The vast majority of the apps in that list are not running and therefore aren't using any battery. Closing them can actually hurt your battery life since they must reload into memory the next time you run them.

 

[Dana1]

Have other iPhone phone key users noticed the following: I used to charge my iPhone once every two or three days (I don't use it very much)l however since I've used the Tesla app as my key to the vehicle I have to charge daily. I presume this is because bluetooth is constantly connected to the vehicle, thus draining the battery. Perhaps there is another explanation; what do you think?

iPhone 6, no noticed battery drain.

 

[rdfield]

the interesting thing is, before i force-closed the app key it was not connected, but there were four different strings of letter/number combinations that were connected. These strings are what I think kept the phone connected to the car so it can be used as a key.

I reopened the app after force cloing and the four strings were gone. What I have not done, so far, is to open the car with the phone in my pocket.

 

[WileyTheMan]

iPhone 6, no noticed battery drain.

Same here, with a 6 Plus.

 

[pcpro]

when i was on 2018.24.1, i had very little phantom drain and no noticeable iphone battery drain.
Now with 2018.28.1, I have more phantom drain and much more iphone battery drain. I have always had background refresh turned on for the Tesla App. I'm on iOS 12 public beta.

 

[Lasairfion]

I'm on android, so I don't know if you have the same options, but I can swipe the dropdown menu at the top, and that can be customised. So for instance I might put bluetooth right there so I can disable it until I'm walking towards my car.

It's an extra swipe-tap to turn it on before you open your car, but if you get into a habit of turning bluetooth on as you leave your workplace, then that might save a lot of bluetooth battery drain on your phone throughout the day.

 

[rdfield]

I believe i have figured thing out: When i first mentioned the four strings (letters/numbers combination I meant to say that this was under bluetooth connections. When I force-closed the Tesla app the four strings disappeared and the phone did not drain nearly as quickly. However, my phone key was disconnected, so when heading toward the car I reconnected it using bluetooth. I now force-c;ose the Tesla app when the car is not to be driven any more that day, and I reconnect the next day. Problem (for me) solved.

 

[Reid]

I haven't noticed it, but I already charge every day. The phone can generally stay connected to the car (or in and out) anywhere in my house, so in theory, this is the worst case scenario for phone battery drain.

But again, since I charge every day, maybe a few % reduction wouldn't be noticeable. If you only charge once every 3 days, the % hit might be more noticeable.