Possible Phone Key Solution - Android Oreo Update

[David 90274]

Since updating my Android phone (Moto G5 plus) to Oreo (OS 8.1.0) a few days ago my phone key has started working perfectly. Prior to that it was very unreliable. It probably worked less than 50% of the time and I had been using the card key almost exclusively since late June. If you're in the same boat (that model of phone seems prone to phone key issues based on some posts I've read here), I strongly recommend trying to update the OS.

Of course, now that I've posted about it, it will probably start acting flaky again. It is also possible that some Tesla-side software update actually solved the problem. I had not tried the phone key since the recent car-side updates but prior to upgrading my phone OS.

 

[crackers8199]

i'm gonna go ahead and disagree here, considering pie is being pushed to most new phones now. oreo has been on my phone (oneplus 5) since the day i brought my car home, and phone key has been utter dog sh*t the entire time.

 

[diamond.g]

i'm gonna go ahead and disagree here, considering pie is being pushed to most new phones now. oreo has been on my phone (oneplus 5) since the day i brought my car home, and phone key has been utter dog sh*t the entire time.

Different phone, so their experience could be different than yours.

 

[stonelance]

I have a Oneplus 5T and only had occasional issues (usually i just have to take my phone out of my pocket and try again). There was just an update a day or two ago that mentioned improved bluetooth connectivity with cars, so maybe that is the Oreo update the OP was talking about.

 

[David 90274]

I have a Oneplus 5T and only had occasional issues (usually i just have to take my phone out of my pocket and try again). There was just an update a day or two ago that mentioned improved bluetooth connectivity with cars, so maybe that is the Oreo update the OP was talking about.

My phone went straight from some version of Android Nougat (7.1.2?) to Oreo (8.1.0) about two weeks ago. No idea why the update was delayed so long or skipped the earlier Oreo versions (but not surprising that a relatively cheap phone gets less support). I did check if an Android update was available back in June/July when I had the initial problems with the phone key. The Oreo update notes indicated several bluetooth updates/fixes. It also added the persistent notification for the Tesla App which was not available on Nougat. No idea which of those things might have fixed the problem for me - just glad it did.

I wasn't suggesting it was going to fix everyone's problems. As crackers8199 pointed out, people with newer phones preloaded with Oreo or even newer versions of the Android OS are still having problems. I posted my experience mainly so that other folks with my phone (or other models still running Nougat) might try the same solution. I would have added it to one of the lengthy threads related to phone key problems but at the time those were so far down the forum that I feared no one would see it.

 

[crackers8199]

Different phone, so their experience could be different than yours.

yeah, i completely missed the part where he mentioned what phone he has...my bad.

that being said, the title is misleading. for most people, an update to oreo isn't going to solve anything considering they're pushing out pie to most new phones now...

 

[David 90274]

yeah, i completely missed the part where he mentioned what phone he has...my bad.

that being said, the title is misleading. for most people, an update to oreo isn't going to solve anything considering they're pushing out pie to most new phones now...

Sorry to hear that your phone key isn't working. I certainly know how frustrating that can be. However, I'm not sure how misleading the title really was for "most people". First off, you can only get so specific in the title and the caveat of "Possible Solution" should have been enough to make it clear that it may not apply to "most people". The text of the post itself made it pretty clear that I was only talking about my specific model of phone (or potentially any phone with an older version of the Android OS). For anyone who knows they already have Oreo, it should be self evident from the title that this "Possible Solution" isn't going to work for them.

You seem to be assuming that most of the people with phone key issues have the newest phones or have already updated their phone to Android Oreo or Pie. That may not be the case. That certainly isn't true of Android users in general. Nougat is still the most common version of the Android OS (Distribution dashboard  |  Android Developers). Granted, Model 3 owners are probably more likely to have newer phones than the general population. However, if you peruse the threads where people discuss their problems with the phone key, there are plenty of folks with older (i.e. introduced more than a year ago, heaven forbid!) Android phones. My specific model has been mentioned numerous times in those threads which is why I posted about my experience in the first place. An OS update for that model only became available fairly recently (and I had to initiate the update manually). Seems like suggesting people check that their phone OS is up to date shouldn't be terribly controversial.

 

[Johnabis]

In general is pie better then Oreo as far as the phone key or no difference? Just curious if folks with pie aren't having issues at all

 

[shrike]

Agree. Upgrading to Oreo "fixed" the connection problems I had with my ZTE Axon 7. It was on 7.1.1 and it worked about 90% of the time. It soft-bricked a couple weeks ago (no idea why), which required a factory reset. ZTE released an Oreo update but it was not available OTA; requiring a separate download and install via SD card.

After installing the Oreo upgrade and restoring all of my apps, I found the Tesla app behaves better and I've been getting 100% reliable connections. Now, it could be the combination of a factory reset and the upgrade that did it. In any case, I'm happy with the result.

P.S. I still ordered a key fob - just for the frunk easy access.

 

[benjotron]

Since updating my Android phone (Moto G5 plus) to Oreo (OS 8.1.0) a few days ago my phone key has started working perfectly. Prior to that it was very unreliable. It probably worked less than 50% of the time and I had been using the card key almost exclusively since late June. If you're in the same boat (that model of phone seems prone to phone key issues based on some posts I've read here), I strongly recommend trying to update the OS.

I have the same phone, and the same thing worked for me. I tried several other solutions first but nothing worked until I checked for a new OS version. Definitely worth a shot, especially if you have a Moto G.

 

[MyT3View]

I have the same phone, and the same thing worked for me. I tried several other solutions first but nothing worked until I checked for a new OS version. Definitely worth a shot, especially if you have a Moto G.

First time post:
Same here! Got same Moto G5 Plus, just update to Oreo and voila: The Tesla app shown Phone Key Connected! It had been off and on to the extend that i have to use the card key 75% of the time since my new baby getting home 3 months ago! Thanks to "David 90724" and "benjotron" for ringing the smooth sound bells!