Welcome to Tesla Motors Club
Discuss Tesla's Model S, Model 3, Model X, Model Y, Cybertruck, Roadster and More.
Register

Unable to unlock from app(s)

This site may earn commission on affiliate links.

redi

2013 P85+
Aug 31, 2013
627
157
DFW, TX
Maybe there is an obvious answer I am overlooking: While every other function of the remote app works, I am unable to unlock the car from the Tesla app (or Remote S).

I am on the last 6.2 release and plan on staying there for the foreseeable future.

Other functions work fine (horn, lights flash, etc).

I have rebooted both displays in the car and phone.

This has been an issue for a while and I am curious if anyone has the problem or has solved it.

ServiceNA has no idea.
 
Not going to debate here your decision to stay on 6.2 -- as there is plenty of that in other threads, but as an X-software and technical support kinda guy, the reality likely is as you get further behind in firmware releases, more odd problems may creep up where interfaces to things like the Tesla App (& Remote S or other apps that use the evolving and officially undocumented API) are involved. We know Tesla changed things to introduce Homelink, Summon, etc in both MS firmware, the Tesla App itself, and likely the API. To what degree that involves the door lock logic, or they touched other parts of the API or code that may have broken something interacting with old releases, only Tesla engineers into the bowels of it would perhaps know. I suspect the issue is Tesla does not perform regression testing to ensure everything continues to operate with (much) older firmware releases. Frankly, I wouldn't expect them to, with their standard of pushing new firmware releases out to the fleet, and new Tesla App levels to the App Stores. Sure, customers can continually decline installing a new firmware release in their MS or not updating from the App Store, but that doesn't mean Tesla will or must ensure everything continues to operate with the growing number of code combinations that have ever existed.

All that being said, posting here to find another 6.2 owner was probably a good move. The other thing I'd suggest, is post which App (iPhone or Android) and what release of the Tesla App you are using -- there have been several, and you need to find an owner matching both sides of the equation to really come to a conclusion if it's just you or the specific combination causing issues. Good luck.
 
  • Informative
Reactions: supratachophobia
All that being said, posting here to find another 6.2 owner was probably a good move. The other thing I'd suggest, is post which App (iPhone or Android) and what release of the Tesla App you are using -- there have been several, and you need to find an owner matching both sides of the equation to really come to a conclusion if it's just you or the specific combination causing issues. Good luck.

Thanks. All that being said, I don't believe it unlock has ever worked for me since the feature was released, regardless of version, iOS version, or app version.

I would also generally agree that Tesla's regression testing might be limited, but I could not imagine they could skip regression testing software across releases particularly since they are dealing with a 5000lb missle and all the inherent liability and regulatory concerns around the globe.

I did find some reference to what may be some (firmware-independent?) OTA fix. Unfortunately no one so far in "service" has been aware of this and I will likely just put it on the list for the next service center visit as it is not worth the trek and trouble for this issue alone.

Can't unlock with iPhone app | Tesla Motors
 
Last edited:
I am having the same problem now with the latest 7.1 firmware update. 2015 Model S P85D and cannot unlock car from app. Rebooted car display and dash, rebooted phone, deleted and reinstalled tesla app, turned remote access off and on in car, turned off and on always connected option. Tried from my wife's phone. Car on strong wifi or cellular. Cannot unlock car, everything else works on iPhone app I'm bringing car in for service next week for Ludicrous upgrade and will add it to the list. I read above linked thread and it looks like Tesla needs to fix it and no amount of rebooting, reinstalling will help. Of note, I had to have my display replaced at the last visit so maybe that had something to do with it?
 
Please have them tell you the details of the fix, it may be handy to keep the fumbling to the minimum for my debugging. My symptoms are exactly the same, and my display has been replaced twice over the lifetime, and out at least one more time for the LTE upgrade.
 
Please have them tell you the details of the fix, it may be handy to keep the fumbling to the minimum for my debugging. My symptoms are exactly the same, and my display has been replaced twice over the lifetime, and out at least one more time for the LTE upgrade.

I won't mess with the settings now until I bring it to Tesla Service next week. I also had the LTE upgrade along with the display replacement so our problems are the same. I'll be sure to post here when I have an answer.
 
I cannot remotely unlock my car either. I did not try it for over a year and after a center display replacement (mine was damaged during the LTE update) is when I noticed this. Lights and horn work. I also can't remotely start the car- can you?
 
I do appear to be able to start the car remotely. Just not get into it.

Of course it is impossible to tell if the car is "started" when it is locked up tight and display off. But if the door is open it says the car is started and has the little 2 minute countdown timer going.

And even more curiously, I can lock the car from the app if it is open.
 
Last edited:
I do appear to be able to start the car remotely. Just not get into it.

Of course it is impossible to tell if the car is "started" when it is locked up tight and display off. But if the door is open it says the car is started and has the little 2 minute countdown timer going.

And even more curiously, I can lock the car from the app if it is open.

I can remotely lock.
I've seen the timer also. But if the car is unlocked, and I place the key far away, do a remote start, and step on the brake during the 2 min countdown, I can't drive. I had the SC look at this and the inability to remotely unlock and they said they had never seen it before. They questioned some of my mods, dash cam, CAN device, rear appliqué, and of course I can't prove those devices are not interfering. But I doubt it.
 
I have no mods. They've had the MCU out several times and also (iirc) replace some of the upper panel top cover as it was buggered up during the MCU replacement.

I seem to recall app unlock working in the distant past. But I don't use it much and consider it a failsafe for a lost or dead key.
 
I have no mods. They've had the MCU out several times and also (iirc) replace some of the upper panel top cover as it was buggered up during the MCU replacement.

I seem to recall app unlock working in the distant past. But I don't use it much and consider it a failsafe for a lost or dead key.


I always considered it a backup, never tried it. Had the car more than 18 months and tried it, only to have it not function.
 
I'm finding it much more difficult for the mobile app to even access the car - most of the time, it cannot connect, after multiple tires - and I have the "sleep mode" disabled during the day.
 
I'm having the same issue with my car and would appreciate some help on how to fix it. It's a CPO and I've had it for 8 weeks. I know the MCU was replaced before I took delivery. I have yet to be able to use the remote start or remote unlock. I'm now on 17.11.10 and tried reinstalling the app (iOS) as suggested by my SC a couple weeks ago.

I nearly had a panic attack earlier today. Got out to plug my car in at a public station and closed the door. Charger had a fault and wouldn't let me unplug the cable. Tried to get back into the car to unlock the charge port and the door handles wouldn't present. The key was in my purse on the back seat (had been there all morning and the doors worked fine at least three times when I opened them at home). App wouldn't unlock the doors. Had to crawl in through the trunk to retrieve my key.
 
Anyone know a solution to this?
Mine was fixed yesterday by a Ranger and a an update with a laptop in about 10 minutes. Had not been working for quite a while. When I see the service invoice I'll update with any details.
I have not been able to utilize the remote unlock app feature as mentioned above in this older thread, but know of no solution. The local SC has never seen this before and didn’t know what to do about it either. Anyone know what the fix could be??
Thanks