Is it possible to unlock the Model 3 using only my Apple Watch without the iPhone? Would be great for those situations where I don't carry my phone or if my phone battery dies.
-
Want to remove ads? Register an account and login to see fewer ads, and become a Supporting Member to remove almost all ads.
A phone is only a key if its running the Tesla app - and I don't think the Tesla app is compatible with the Apple Watch, so not likely to work until they release a watch version.
That would make life much easier though wouldn't it.
That would make life much easier though wouldn't it.
The possibility of this depends a lot on if the phone or the car is considered the central BLE device vs the peripheral for this context. AFAIK, WatchOS's implementation of CoreBluetooth doesn't allow the watch to be the central device. My expectation, however, is that the car is the central device and would thus allow the watch to be an authorized peripheral device. This functionality has been seen in other contexts, notably the SPG Keyless implementation at some Starwood hotels, where either your watch or your phone can unlock your hotel room. If Tesla is using the same basic methodology, they could write the WatchOS app and enable this functionality.
edited to add: Also worth noting is that for SPG Keyless, the watch *must be connected to the phone* to open the door, so it's only acting as a proxy and wouldn't work in the case that you mention I guess.
edited to add: Also worth noting is that for SPG Keyless, the watch *must be connected to the phone* to open the door, so it's only acting as a proxy and wouldn't work in the case that you mention I guess.
Last edited:
e-FTW
New electron smell
Third-party apps have offered that in the past. Remote S comes to mind, but I stopped using it, especially once the Tesla app added TouchID support.
alfadur
Member
My Apple Watch Series 3 is essentially touted as being made to be a standalone device (it even has its own phone number, albeit redirects to/from the iPhone). Agreed it would really be great if we could unlock TM3 with the Apple Watch-- if only as backup to a phone without power.
TT97
Active Member
I know Apple Pay works on the watch without the iPhone present so the technology is there, however, Apple Watch will not pair to a car (even the LTE version). Tesla would need to work with Apple to be able to set up the watch as a stand alone key so, unfortunately, don't see that ever happening.
I use an app called EV Watch. I mostly use it to precondition the cabin and occasionally unlock the doors while in the garage if I don’t have my phone. It also allows you to use the watch crown to set the charge limit in 1% increments. I haven’t noticed any vampire drain like other 3rd party apps usually cause. The app can be a little finicky if the Tesla app hasn’t phoned home in a while.
Apple Pay uses NFC (Near Field Communication) whereas Tesla is using Bluetooth for its key technology. NFC only works within inches of the receiving device - bluetooth has much further range.
TT97
Active Member
I was inferring that the Apple Watch has the technology to work as a stand alone without the iPhone. Naturally, the Apple Watch already has Bluetooth as it has the ability to connect to headsets and other devices but Apple restricts the watch from syncing with vehicles.
jrmnet
Member
I "Think" the Remote S IOS app, which also has a watch app can do it. The downside is you can't just walk up, you need to open the app, scroll to the view with the car, click the car icon in the lower corner - and then click unlock. With an Apple Watch 2, you would still need your phone. I don't know if the AW3 with cellular would do it, but my guess is even with that you might need the phone.
UltralightBeam
Member
Well, the app unlocks the cars fine and the watch is a secure connection and extension of the phone so I would expect one to be able to use the watch to leverage the phone app to unlock the car, no?
I have a Model 3, a new Apple Watch series 4 with cellular service from T-Mobile, and the "Remote S" app on my iPhone X and on my Apple Watch series 4. When I turn my iPhone completely off, all the functions of the Remote S app (lock, unlock, etc.) on my watch work fine to operate my Model 3. (Note: the car does NOT have the new version 9 software yet installed (it has version 36.2); I don't know if that would effect anything.)
I have no technological insight into how exactly it works, but the car can be controlled from the watch when I'm standing outside the car, which was parked in my garage. I also tested the functions of Remote S with my phone completely off, and the wifi on my watch off. From my backyard and a distance of about 200 feet, all the functions of the app still worked.
The watch uses bluetooth version 5, which has a very long range (more than 200 feet?), so I don't know if the Remote S app on my watch connected to the car via bluetooth or via cellular, but it was not via wifi and it was not via my phone. And all functions of the app on the watch worked just fine!
I have no technological insight into how exactly it works, but the car can be controlled from the watch when I'm standing outside the car, which was parked in my garage. I also tested the functions of Remote S with my phone completely off, and the wifi on my watch off. From my backyard and a distance of about 200 feet, all the functions of the app still worked.
The watch uses bluetooth version 5, which has a very long range (more than 200 feet?), so I don't know if the Remote S app on my watch connected to the car via bluetooth or via cellular, but it was not via wifi and it was not via my phone. And all functions of the app on the watch worked just fine!
UltralightBeam
Member
Now this is getting interesting! Is your Apple Watch paired to your car? I'm about to get a new AWS4 and I'm hoping to try all of this out too! I think only an official Tesla app would be able to make the pairing though 'pair as a key' option.
It’s not connected directly to the car over Bluetooth, it’s using the cellular data connection to talk to Tesla’s servers, just like the Tesla app (but not the phone key).
BrandonLive
MS LR (refresh) Blue/Black/21s/FSD
That app is just using the API over the cellular connection (or WiFi, also supported on the Apple Watch). It isn’t using Bluetooth.
This is very different from having it actually work as a key the way your phone does. While the Remote S app can unlock the doors and configure things, it can’t actually let you drive the car without an actual key (card or phone), and won’t automatically unlock or lock via proximity. That *might* be possible with the Apple Watch, but it would involve Bluetooth and would likely only happen via an official Tesla app (and would most likely require you to swipe a key card over the center console as part of the pairing process just like with a phone).
Kermee
It's Not Easy Being Green
AFAIK, my bet is there is no hardware limitation with using a Series 3 or Series 4 Apple Watch or any recent Android Wear device that has Bluetooth for the "Phone as a Key" feature. It's just how much/well the Bluetooth stack is exposed for developers to use.
I mean, the newly released fobs for the Model 3 are basically "dumb" Bluetooth-LE devices with a simple encrypted 2-way handshake for authentication.
I mean, the newly released fobs for the Model 3 are basically "dumb" Bluetooth-LE devices with a simple encrypted 2-way handshake for authentication.
Similar threads
