Poll: Model 3 Phone Key Failure Rate

[SteveWin1]

Anecdotally there have been many reports of iPhones working more successfully than Android. Technically it makes sense since the hardware and software are much less fragmented, and iOS mostly prevents applications from interfering with each other (while Android gives applications much more freedom to interact, and interfere, with the OS and other apps).

As for your other comments, the vast majority of all smartphone users are going to fall into the same "non-technical savvy" category. Calling iPhone users less savvy than Android users just shows your own bias.

Guess I struck a nerve? I wasn't trying to call everyone with an iPhone an idiot. Just saying that on average they ARE less tech savvy. Here's a link to a Forbe's article highlighting the average difference between the two phones' users. Android users are more likely to be male than they should be based on the average population's composition. Android users are also far more likely to have a computer/technical job than they should, based on the average population. iPhone users are more likely to be female and are more likely to be people who make more money. I find this to be true in real life. Nerdy guys have androids and people who want to show off their money have the newest iPhone. That's what multiple surveys have shown. If you're determined that they're all wrong, then you might want to look in the bias-mirror yourself. No need to turn this into an Android vs iPhone flame war. Its a know fact (to everyone but you) that the groups are different and I was displaying what I thought was obviously just wishful thinking that the poll is biased because of who would actually show up here to vote. It would be great to have a poll like this that broke it down to the actual phone, so when it comes time to upgrade, we could avoid the specific phones that don't work well.

I agree about the fragmentation. Its probably much easier for Tesla to make sure that their car is compatible with all iPhones vs all Androids. Although, in my own experience, Android Auto works perfectly in my 2016 truck after an OTA update that enabled it (didn't have it when I purchased the truck), but in order to get Apple CarPlay to work, I would have to pay the dealership to install a physical device that allows CarPlay to work. The app I mentioned, Tasker, is extremely powerful and is only available on Android. So I guess, in some cases anyway, Android has a leg up in that it is a more open platform and sometimes easier to support. Overall, though, I think you're correct about fragmentation being a likely issue here.

 

[Runt8]

Guess I struck a nerve? I wasn't trying to call everyone with an iPhone an idiot. Just saying that on average they ARE less tech savvy. Here's a link to a Forbe's article highlighting the average difference between the two phones' users. Android users are more likely to be male than they should be based on the average population's composition. Android users are also far more likely to have a computer/technical job than they should, based on the average population. iPhone users are more likely to be female and are more likely to be people who make more money. I find this to be true in real life. Nerdy guys have androids and people who want to show off their money have the newest iPhone. That's what multiple surveys have shown. If you're determined that they're all wrong, then you might want to look in the bias-mirror yourself. No need to turn this into an Android vs iPhone flame war. Its a know fact (to everyone but you) that the groups are different and I was displaying what I thought was obviously just wishful thinking that the poll is biased because of who would actually show up here to vote. It would be great to have a poll like this that broke it down to the actual phone, so when it comes time to upgrade, we could avoid the specific phones that don't work well.

I agree about the fragmentation. Its probably much easier for Tesla to make sure that their car is compatible with all iPhones vs all Androids. Although, in my own experience, Android Auto works perfectly in my 2016 truck after an OTA update that enabled it (didn't have it when I purchased the truck), but in order to get Apple CarPlay to work, I would have to pay the dealership to install a physical device that allows CarPlay to work. The app I mentioned, Tasker, is extremely powerful and is only available on Android. So I guess, in some cases anyway, Android has a leg up in that it is a more open platform and sometimes easier to support. Overall, though, I think you're correct about fragmentation being a likely issue here.

No nerve struck - my point was that with so many smartphone users, the percentage of any single group (ie, engineers) compared to the whole is tiny and unlikely to bias most surveys when comparing Android to iOS. I could just as easily look at the statistics and say that, based on highest education level, iPhone users are smarter than Android users and that is the reason they are having fewer problems with the phone key. Obviously not true.

As to this poll, more iPhone users have responded than Android so I'm not sure why you think it would be biased towards more Android users reporting issues. This poll, and anecdotal evidence from this and other forums, show that the phone key is more reliable on iPhones. As a long time software engineer and developer on both platforms, this is no surprise. iOS is much less fragmented, has many fewer opportunities for interference to take place from other apps, and in general is much easier to develop for (at least in terms of supporting all hardware). Apple has also been a long time supporter of Bluetooth and as such has a very mature Bluetooth software stack. Android Bluetooth support is much more of a crapshoot.

On the plus side, it appears as though there is work being done on the Android side to specifically support bluetooth keys (can't find the link right now but I'll keep looking). Having this built into the OS would be a huge improvement and probably the only way to get reliability to the point it needs to be. I hope Apple is also looking into this but they tend to be more secretive about future plans.

 

[FalconFour]

New Model 3 owner here - but a fairly savvy Android user for reasons I will avoid starting a religious war over.

It has not once actually worked properly - out of the 6 or so times I've tried using it today during my "oh my god I have a Tesla" tour. I haven't yet quite gone as far as busting out the key card (okay, just once, in a hurry), but it has not once worked "as intended". It's required fiddling, Airplane Mode, opening the Tesla app (it even said "waking up..." once but didn't unlock), a few others...

I've got a Moto G5 Plus, a fairly inexpensive but remarkably robust and trouble-free phone. It's running Android 7.0. Tesla app had been installed for quite some time (but dormant), and always auto-updated.

I think there's a major problem (software-wise) with the concept of constantly scanning for a BT device in the background. I was really worried that the 3 would use this kind of mechanism, knowing what problems it'd present. I really just hope this doesn't turn into a case of "oh, well Android just sucks, there's too many different phones, oh well, you'll just have to use your key card every day".

I'll probably find a workaround routine in a week... but I do wish someone would summarize the 10 pages of this thread and any solutions that were found. (or that the forum software could just pick-out and highlight top rated posts, oh well)

 

[Rhody]

I finally got my phone (one of them) to work as the key 100% of the time. I was using a Samsung S7Edge, and I tried changing the settings so the Tesla app doesn't go to sleep. I also tried doing the same with some Bluetooth "apps." It still did not work reliably. Almost every time, I had to take the phone out of my pocket, unlock it, open the Tesla app, and wait until it showed "Updated just now" on the bottom of the screen.

I fixed it by switching to my Sony Xperia XZ1 Compact. I went into the settings, Battery, menu control, Power-saving exemptions, and added the Tesla app and the Bluetooth service to the exemptions. Now it works every time, even if I do not have the Tesla app opened.

Granted, this will drain the battery more, which would have been a problem with the Samsung, but the battery on my Sony was lasting multiple days, so I can stand a little battery drain.

 

[mmccking]

My Samsung Galaxy S8 works flawlessly every time, however, my wife's iPhone 6 almost always (<75%) does not unlock or lock the doors when coming or going. Both on latest phone firmware. Car's on 26.3.

 

[Tocunvt]

Got my car yesterday and wanted to post a good-news story (sometimes I feel like only the ppl that have a bad experience are the ones that take the time to post - which was my case with delivery delays).

I have an iPhone X and it works absolutely flawless as a key. I walk up, phone in pocket, and the car unlocks before my hand opens the door. After I park, I get out, walk away, and phone locks (with associated *beep* from horn) within seconds. Every time. It’s awesome not having to worry about carrying around or misplacing an extra key or fob. Just like it’s awesome to have a car that drives itself. It took all of 2 minutes to realize I never want to drive an ICE again.

 

[Nocturnal]

My Bluetooth connection works too well. When I'm washing the car it keeps trying to steal my music from my Bluetooth headphones. Galaxy S9. My only issue is that sometimes the app itself doesn't like to connect for a bit, but the car still let's me in/drive.

 

[jsmay311]

So far my iPhone 6S has been working quite consistently (~96%) when unlocking/opening the doors. I think it's failed only twice: once was immediately after a software update, and the other was after previously locking it with the key card (which I have rarely done).

But when the car is "asleep", the charge port/connector *never* unlocks when I press the button on the UMC handle like it should. So literally every morning I'm opening and closing the trunk or straining to reach the left-rear door handle to tap it before I can unplug my $50k car.

Idk if the phone key system itself deserves any blame here, but Tesla Engineering certainly does. Heaps of it. What a truly pathetic f***-up on their part.

 

[plasmo]

But when the car is "asleep", the charge port/connector *never* unlocks when I press the button on the UMC handle like it should. So literally every morning I'm opening and closing the trunk or straining to reach the left-rear door handle to tap it before I can unplug my $50k car.

Idk if the phone key system itself deserves any blame here, but Tesla Engineering certainly does. Heaps of it. What a truly pathetic f***-up on their part.

This is not unique to Model 3.
On my Model S, I cannot remove my UMC wallcharger, even when pushing the button. The only way to remove it is to walk closer to the door handle, and wait for the self-presenting handles to pop out. THEN the charger is able to be removed.

 

[kk2020]

Phone key has been my biggest disappointment with model 3 - while car has numerous things that make it generation ahead of other cars, the "remote unlock" mode I'm stuck with takes it back to couple decade old behavior.

My Motorola (android) has never work well, I've been on call with customer service, doesn't seem to help. Only way for me to make it work is by rebooting both car dashboard and phone, and then re-pairing. Then it stops working after few hours.

KEY FOB please!!!!!!!

 

[GPinzone]

Phone key has been my biggest disappointment with model 3 - while car has numerous things that make it generation ahead of other cars, the "remote unlock" mode I'm stuck with takes it back to couple decade old behavior.

My Motorola (android) has never work well, I've been on call with customer service, doesn't seem to help. Only way for me to make it work is by rebooting both car dashboard and phone, and then re-pairing. Then it stops working after few hours.

KEY FOB please!!!!!!!

Did you set all the available permissions for the app? Did you exclude the app from the phone's built-in power saver feature under the Battery settings?

 

[kk2020]

Did you set all the available permissions for the app? Did you exclude the app from the phone's built-in power saver feature under the Battery settings?

Yes, and granted in full permissions. Also installed 'lightblue' app for discovering bluetooth devices. Still most I can get it to work is for few times after reboots and re-pairing.

 

[kk2020]

Yes, and granted in full permissions. Also installed 'lightblue' app for discovering bluetooth devices. Still most I can get it to work is for few times after reboots and re-pairing.

Btw, I've had the car for 4 months I was hoping they'd solve this in one of the updates but no luck so far.

 

[gizmoboy]

But when the car is "asleep", the charge port/connector *never* unlocks when I press the button on the UMC handle like it should. So literally every morning I'm opening and closing the trunk or straining to reach the left-rear door handle to tap it before I can unplug my $50k car.

Idk if the phone key system itself deserves any blame here, but Tesla Engineering certainly does. Heaps of it. What a truly pathetic f***-up on their part.

This is by design. When the car is locked, you can't remove the power adapter (or open the charge door if not charging).

Early on, the car unlocked when you walked up to it, but now you have to initiate some action with a door handle or trunk release with the phone key in proximity to unlock the car.

I wish to hell they hadn't changed this behavior (or at least made it configurable), but it used to work this way.

This is not unique to Model 3.
On my Model S, I cannot remove my UMC wallcharger, even when pushing the button. The only way to remove it is to walk closer to the door handle, and wait for the self-presenting handles to pop out. THEN the charger is able to be removed.

Ditto, and it's annoying also (and I swear this didn't used to be the case, but I can't prove it). Turning in My S for a P3D tomorrow, so going to exchange one headache for another...

 

[NuclearPowered]

One more datapoint: I've had issues with the key on my Galaxy S8+ until the most recent update. Haven't had a single issue in the last ~week or so.

 

[jsmay311]

My phone key with my iPhone 6s worked nearly flawlessly (~99%) for my first 2 months of ownership. But over the past 2 weeks it's suddenly because unreliable, failing ~25% of the time. No changes in phone or car software or settings occurred in this time.

And when it "fails", its precise mode of failure varies. Sometimes it's like the car is asleep and it just takes 5-10 seconds to wake up and open the door. Sometimes it's awake but doesn't recognize the phone and asks me to use the key card on the screen, in which case toggling on/off bluetooth or airplane mode has remedied it. And, strangely, twice I was trying to open the front passenger door and it failed to respond in any way for 20+ seconds, at which time I tried walking around the car, trying the rear passenger door and then the trunk, and both times the trunk opened without delay. Weird.

 

[Casmium]

Using a Razer Phone, I've only had the car for 9 days and it's worked perfectly every time.

 

[Goatdan]

Hey all, I have a Moto G5 Plus and I get all sorts of weird behavior. Sometimes the car will unlock but I can't start it. Other times the car will connect via Bluetooth and start playing my music, but not allow me to start it. Or it connects via Bluetooth and then doesn't unlock the doors, but I can hear it.

I've also managed to break the phone and it's battery is getting pretty bad, so...

Anyone have experience with the new OnePlus 6t or maybe OnePlus 6? It seems like the newer phone builds handle this better, although I really don't mind the key card - I keep it in my wallet and i just use it nearly always, and it's still better than bringing a phone with me...

 

[BenR]

I upgraded about a week ago from iPhone 6s Plus on iOS 11 to iPhone X on iOS 12. The 6s was nearly perfect with the Model 3 phone-as-key (~99%) but the X has, strangely, been having more issues (one of the reasons I got it over other options was the well-documented success rates with Model 3...)

Specifically, it seems to "soft-close" (or crash?) the Tesla app after a certain period of time. If I've been in the car any time in the past ~12 hours it works fine (and the cellular connection seems to connect quicker and more consistently than with old phone, which is a plus) but if it's been longer than that I find I often get no response when I walk up to the car. The Tesla app is still allegedly running in the background on the phone, but when I go to bring it up it does a fresh launch of the app, then it connects and works fine.

Anyone else experience this? Is there maybe a new setting regarding background apps in iOS 12? (I can't find anything...) I also got the V9 upgrade pretty recently, but had it for at least a few days while still on the old phone and didn't notice a difference like this.

 

[apacheguy]

@BenR it has nothing to do with iOS 12. I have the same happen on 11. The only time the phone key is reliable is if I get my phone out and launch the app before walking up to the car.

At any rate, I’m not clear as to why this requires that the Tesla app be running. shouldn’t it be able to recognize the Bluetooth signal coming from a trusted device? Same way any other Bluetooth connection works.