Phone Key Range and Notifications

[rpo]

First, the range on the bluetooth using the phone as key is WAY too far. I have a detached garage on the other side of my backyard where my X is parked. If I walk into the back half of my house (kitchen), my phone connects to the car and I can see the lights blink on the car when it then unlocks...from ~85 feet away and through two walls/windows/doors. It's happening constantly and is very noticeable at night. This alone is probably going to make me use the fob all the time and disconnect my phone. Anyone else having this occur?

Second, I was used to the app showing the "T" icon in the notification taskbar when it needed to actually inform me of something. Now it is there all the time because it thinks I need to see whether the car is connected or disconnected to my phone...all the time. Is there a way to turn off just this one notification? I don't see it in the notifications settings in the app.

 

[GtiMart]

The car shouldn't "unlock" just by your phone being close. Someone should have to touch a handle somewhere first. You should send someone else to see if it really unlocks with your phone that far. I suspect it will not.

Lights could blink if sentry is on and the car detects something moving around it.

 

[Placeman]

When In the app under "Security & Drivers," it says that your phone is "connected," this simply means that your phone is connected to the car via Bluetooth. This does not necessarily, mean that you will be able to unlock the door. To do that, your car has to sense that your phone is in close proximity.

As far as the persistent "T" icon on your phone, I am going to assume you are using Android. Android allows for many notification channels per app. That "T" icon is probably associated with the phone key status to let you know the app is active as a phone key. I found that persistent notification to be annoying, so I turned it off. You can do that by long-press the tesla app icon and selecting "app info." In the "notifications" section, turn off "Phone Key Status" as seen in the image below...

 

[cmy4x4]

First, the range on the bluetooth using the phone as key is WAY too far. I have a detached garage on the other side of my backyard where my X is parked. If I walk into the back half of my house (kitchen), my phone connects to the car and I can see the lights blink on the car when it then unlocks...from ~85 feet away and through two walls/windows/doors. It's happening constantly and is very noticeable at night. This alone is probably going to make me use the fob all the time and disconnect my phone. Anyone else having this occur?

Second, I was used to the app showing the "T" icon in the notification taskbar when it needed to actually inform me of something. Now it is there all the time because it thinks I need to see whether the car is connected or disconnected to my phone...all the time. Is there a way to turn off just this one notification? I don't see it in the notifications settings in the app.

I have found just the opposite. If I have my phone in my BACK pocket, many times the car will NOT unlock when I grab the car handle and I have to grab my phone out of my pocket and move it closer to the car. Agree with @GtiMart that sentry mode may be activating and flashing the lights.

 

[rpo]

I have found just the opposite. If I have my phone in my BACK pocket, many times the car will NOT unlock when I grab the car handle and I have to grab my phone out of my pocket and move it closer to the car. Agree with @GtiMart that sentry mode may be activating and flashing the lights.

I have sentry disabled at home plus it's in a garage with no movement, etc and have no sentry alerts. It's physically unlocking. Pretty much can see it happen every time I walk into the kitchen where I have line of sight across my yard and through a garage window and can see the back of my car. It's within a few seconds of being in the line of sight. Crazy. I should have the physical keyfob in a month (that was the earliest mobile appointment to get one for free) and will just switch to that once I have it.

And it not working with your phone in your back pocket would be frustrating too. I put my phone into my back pocket once. Bent it in half. LOL. Never again!

 

[GtiMart]

That makes no sense to me. My car is parked in my garage and I often open that door to throw some recycling in a bin. I can see the car. It NEVER flashes, unlocks etc. I do however hear it lock and honk when I arrive home, as soon as I step inside the house. I have never seen my car unlock/flash etc as I approach it. It has always required that I physically touch a car handle. There's something I don't understand here.

 

[rpo]

That makes no sense to me. My car is parked in my garage and I often open that door to throw some recycling in a bin. I can see the car. It NEVER flashes, unlocks etc. I do however hear it lock and honk when I arrive home, as soon as I step inside the house. I have never seen my car unlock/flash etc as I approach it. It has always required that I physically touch a car handle. There's something I don't understand here.

Odd. Mine flashes when it unlocks and makes a quiet honk when it locks after walking away.

 

[GtiMart]

Oh, maybe my car flashes when unlocking when I pull a handle, but certainly not just by itself without me touching anything. That's what I mean.

 

[cfl246tho]

If I were experiencing the same as the OP, I think I'd submit a service request

I have a 3, so touching the handles does nothing. I know the S and X do respond to touch.

I have never experienced the same as the OP. Like others, my car honks minimally as I walk away from the it, typically as I step into the house, maybe < 10' away. Conversely, I've never noticed it doing anything when I only come into its proximity.

I have to get my phone pretty close to the car to do things well. On some RARE occasions it doesn't unlock when I'm standing next to it, apparently not recognizing my phone, even if I'm holding it out (Android 12). I then use the RFID key in my wallet, or I reboot my phone.

My Android always shows a silent app notification, that it's "connected," though most of the time it really is NOT fully connected. On top of that, Android regularly complains about the app burning too much energy.

I have difficulty with waking up the app. Opening the app shows no status, it has no functionality, showing "last seen XX minutes ago," even if I'm next to the car, or esp. if the signal has to pass thru even 1 wall.

If I open the app, and I'm close enough, and it spends some time working, then it usually reestablishes a full connection. But it takes too long. Seems related to the many, MANY quirks of BT connectivity.

Funny, I can often unlock or honk the horn, when the app otherwise doesn't seem to be fully connected. Like when I'm in the living room and it's not yet connected by BT. But then, what is communicating? I have enhanced connectivity in the car that could be LTE working almost any time. But when the car is in my garage it has an excellent home WiFi connection; that's the primary data connection then.

At any given time, my phone may have any combination of datacomm settings enabled: WiFi, 5G, LTE, BT. Depending on circumstances I might toggle any of them on my phone. I try to enable all of them if I'm going to the car. Sometimes I even enable my phone's hotspot and allow the car to use it.

This process, of car to phone connectivity, is an enigma!

 

[Corey2002]

I have sentry disabled at home plus it's in a garage with no movement, etc and have no sentry alerts. It's physically unlocking. Pretty much can see it happen every time I walk into the kitchen where I have line of sight across my yard and through a garage window and can see the back of my car. It's within a few seconds of being in the line of sight. Crazy. I should have the physical keyfob in a month (that was the earliest mobile appointment to get one for free) and will just switch to that once I have it.

And it not working with your phone in your back pocket would be frustrating too. I put my phone into my back pocket once. Bent it in half. LOL. Never again!

Have you left your phone in the kitchen and tested if its actually unlocked?
As someone else said, the car shouldn't react, and lights should not be blinking, until the handle is touched.

 

[GtiMart]

...and since someone described that a model 3 will do nothing if a handle is just touched (contrary to a model S and X), what I meant here is to actually pull the handle, not just put your finger on it...

 

[rpo]

Another example of this issue. I was parked on the street at a family member's home a couple of days ago. The X was ~75 feet from the front door. From inside the house, every time I walked near the front door/windows, the car would unlock (lights flash and the mirrors unfold)....from 75 feet away. It's ridiculous.

 

[Corey2002]

Another example of this issue. I was parked on the street at a family member's home a couple of days ago. The X was ~75 feet from the front door. From inside the house, every time I walked near the front door/windows, the car would unlock (lights flash and the mirrors unfold)....from 75 feet away. It's ridiculous.

Again, thats not how that works. The car won't react until you actually touch the handle.
The lights may turn on if you trip the sentry, but its not unlocking

 

[rpo]

Again, thats not how that works. The car won't react until you actually touch the handle.
The lights may turn on if you trip the sentry, but its not unlocking

It is 100% unlocking. The mirrors do not unfold unless it unlocks. And I can verify using the app that the car is unlocked immediately after it occurs....from nearly 100 feet away. And nobody is near the car when it happens whether it is in my garage (where sentry is disabled) or parked on the street where I have clear line of sight of the vehicle.

 

[Corey2002]

The manual states that the doors unlock when you press a door handle.
Does it do this every time you approach or just that one occasion?
Try cleaning the door handles, could be a sensor issue registering touches that aren't there but if the car's security is not acting as expected, Id take it for service.

 

[rpo]

The manual states that the doors unlock when you press a door handle.
Does it do this every time you approach or just that one occasion?
Try cleaning the door handles, could be a sensor issue registering touches that aren't there but if the car's security is not acting as expected, Id take it for service.

I have a Model X. You are probably looking at the manual for the Model Y.

 

[Corey2002]

I have a Model X. You are probably looking at the manual for the Model Y.

Check the red hyperlink. Its the x manual

 

[rpo]

Check the red hyperlink. Its the x manual

That's meaningless. The mirrors unfold when the car is unlocked. It's obvious when that has happened. The door handles will only "unlock" and open the doors if the phone is connected. Typically that would be the case because you have your phone on you when you touch the handle, so it opens right up. When I am walking back to the car from a store, etc, the lights flash and the mirrors unfold and the doors will open when the handle is touched because it is unlocked whenever the phone key is connected...and the lights usually flash when I am 50 feet away from the car still. If my wife is walking ahead of me and the lights have flashed (since my phone connected), she can open the doors right up. The issue is my phone is connecting from nearly 100 feet away when I am not heading to my car. That is why the car is cycling from locked to unlocked to locked over and over while parked in my garage or on the street and flashing its lights and activating the mirrors.

I had a mobile service tech come out today and he confirmed it is unlocking/locking from the other side of my property as the car occasionally connects to my phone via Bluetooth from that distance. He confirmed it is definitely a safety issue and pulled the logs to investigate. There were over 100 lock/unlock cycles the night before which also caused the mirrors to unfold/fold every time. That would cause quite a bit of wear and tear over time. My phone was on my bedside table about 110 feet from the car in the garage with 3 walls in-between when all of the lock/unlock cycles happened too. It must be occasionally connecting from that distance which is causing the issue. The tech said the only solution is using a keyfob and disabling the phone key, so I was provided keyfobs for free, and he immediately disabled my phone key to stop the non-stop locking/unlocking.

P.S. The tech said iPhones often have the opposite issue where they only will connect to the car when you are right next to it. My Pixel 7 clearly is the polar opposite of that and it was only the 2nd time he had seen this issue.

 

[rijc99]

Does it help if you turn off automatic door?
Controls>Lock>Automatic Doors

 

[rpo]

Does it help if you turn off automatic door?
Controls>Lock>Automatic Doors

I do not have that on. That appears to just open the door when you approach the car which I definitely would not want considering the car already thinks I am near it from 100 feet away. LOL