It seems like you would want to turn bluetooth on when driving anyway, or you won't be able to receive calls. Otherwise you just need to use the key card, just like if you don't have a smart phone.
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Will we have to leave Bluetooth on all the time on our phones?
- Thread starter Big1matt
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- bluetooth hack Model 3 smartphone
It seems like you would want to turn bluetooth on when driving anyway, or you won't be able to receive calls. Otherwise you just need to use the key card, just like if you don't have a smart phone.
Swampgator
Active Member
Also,
We are talking about a 35-65K car purchase. Upgrade your dang phone dude, it's like 200 bucks!
We are talking about a 35-65K car purchase. Upgrade your dang phone dude, it's like 200 bucks!
hockeythug
Active Member
I leave mine on all day now with the Fitbit. Don't notice any increased battery usage. Bluetooth LE is pretty good.
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General comment to the OP (no intent to be dismissive), but if you have issues running bluetooth on your phone, either security, or battery life, then your phone is the problem. Bluetooth is only going to gain uses and popularity and turning it on and off when needed is only going to become more and more of a hassle. You really should be able to have a phone where you can leave bluetooth on 24x7, and not worry about battery life or security.
WileyTheMan
Peanut Gallery Member
It depends on the phone and how old it is. I have an iPhone 6 Plus (old by smartphone standards, but a decently sized battery) and I leave BT on all the time so it can automatically pair up with my current car and talk to my watch. I do not notice a significant difference from when I had it disabled all the time. As other posters stated, BT security issues gets patched up pretty quick.
N5329K
Active Member
There have been more than a few gripes about having to stand out in the rain and snow while the Falcon Wing Doors do their majestic opening act. I imagine there will be a few more when people have to stand next to their car, waving phones, fishing out cards, wondering if their BT was accidentally switched off, etc etc. IMO, there's no design excuse for engineering a complex, multistep solution to a simple problem.
Of course, it doesn't rain all that often in California.
Robin
Of course, it doesn't rain all that often in California.
Robin
But it is neither complex nor multistep when you use it as designed. You're carrying something you'd be carrying anyways, and in addition not having to carry something that currently serves a single purpose (key fob). They simply looked at the problem (unlocking the car) and came up with a simpler solution than having to carry a spare single-purpose device. That a single-purpose device has existed for 20 years to solve this problem doesn't mean it was the ideal solution, just that another more-viable solution had yet to introduce itself. Mercedes tried with a watch, but that replaced once single-purpose device with (potentially) another. A smart phone is anything but single-purpose, so the timing seems ripe to make this transition. Sounds like BMW will be making it too sooner rather than later.
Some people out there won't use their BT or phones as anticipated. Hell, some even don't have smart phones yet. But Tesla is aiming for the 90% of those that do carry a blue-tooth enables smart phone every day.
I actually installed keypad entry on my house, as once I have the model 3 I will have no need to carry any keys at all, and my pockets will thank me.
N5329K
Active Member
...and larding new functions onto an already app-heavy device, each with its own demands, limitations, broadcast characteristics and power requirements, and expecting people to be perfectly OK with standing in weather as they try to debug why the car has not unlocked, or why it won't lock, or why some of it locks but not the rest, seems like an uninspired "improvement" to me. Some multipurpose tools are actually useful. They tend to do a few things well. A Swiss Army knife with a metal file got me out of a cave I'd been accidentally locked into once.
But some are so recklessly overburdened you spend more time fiddling with them than fixing. One thing I have come to appreciate with owning and maintaining vintage cars is this: Not every improvement is an improvement. Those minimally-quieting exhaust pipes seemed cool at the moment. So much better than the stock pipes! But five minutes down the road, you realize just how deafening and dumb they are. The "phone is your key" might work for some, even many. But it falls into that "pretty dumb" category for me.
Note: it will come as no surprise that I have a nice collection of typewriters- manual and electric- too.
Robin
But some are so recklessly overburdened you spend more time fiddling with them than fixing. One thing I have come to appreciate with owning and maintaining vintage cars is this: Not every improvement is an improvement. Those minimally-quieting exhaust pipes seemed cool at the moment. So much better than the stock pipes! But five minutes down the road, you realize just how deafening and dumb they are. The "phone is your key" might work for some, even many. But it falls into that "pretty dumb" category for me.
Note: it will come as no surprise that I have a nice collection of typewriters- manual and electric- too.
Robin
...and larding new functions onto an already app-heavy device, each with its own demands, limitations, broadcast characteristics and power requirements, and expecting people to be perfectly OK with standing in weather as they try to debug why the car has not unlocked, or why it won't lock, or why some of it locks but not the rest, seems like an uninspired "improvement" to me. Some multipurpose tools are actually useful. They tend to do a few things well. A Swiss Army knife with a metal file got me out of a cave I'd been accidentally locked into once.
But some are so recklessly overburdened you spend more time fiddling with them than fixing. One thing I have come to appreciate with owning and maintaining vintage cars is this: Not every improvement is an improvement. Those minimally-quieting exhaust pipes seemed cool at the moment. So much better than the stock pipes! But five minutes down the road, you realize just how deafening and dumb they are. The "phone is your key" might work for some, even many. But it falls into that "pretty dumb" category for me.
Note: it will come as no surprise that I have a nice collection of typewriters- manual and electric- too.
Robin
Just means you likely aren't in the 90% market of people they're targeting. You're also taking the approach of assuming the technology will be unreliable, and judging it based on zero user experience with it. Perhaps it will be buggy at first, but key fobs had their issues too, especially when they were a new technology. But the Model 3 will be using low power, low range bluetooth, which has been around quite a while, so I don't expect there to be a lot of issues with this particular part of the Model 3. They're just taking the signal that a key fob would send and are instead asking the phone to send it. Relative to what they do elsewhere it isn't rocket science.
Phones are also changing, as evident by the upcoming IOS 11, wherein you can't fully disable the wifi and bluetooh radios.
We may also see an uptick in phone reliability as they become put more and more into the critical path of your daily life/tasks.
Ultimately I still see this as an improvement in that I can reduce a redundant tool with something that I already have on my everyday. I honestly believe in 5-10 years time we'll be flabbergasted at the idea that you needed a separate device just to unlock and start your car. Being a lover of old cars you'll have experienced having a key for the door, a key for the fuel cap, and a key for the ignition. Imagine the delight and fear that occurred when someone came up with the idea of having one key for all!
T34ME
Active Member
Sincere question, where do you carry your smartphone? I carry a very small fob for my Prius in my pocket and never have to remove it. I walk up and press the indent on the door handle and it locks with one chirp. I press the indent again and it unlocks with two chirps. I like this system much better than being required to carry a bluetooth phone or key card that i have to fumble with. I will probably purchase a bluetooth watch with an app that will suffice in my case. I frequently don't carry my smartphone with me......on purpose.
Adrien
Member
You guys realize that the model S recently changed to BT LE recently right? No one seems to be having issues. If you have a phone from the last 3 years there is a high probability it is BT LE and will work the same way the key fob does. BT LE shouldn't take more 1% per day if left on. I know I've seen tests and other articles on it. The keyfob battery should be proof enough...
AlanSqB
Dog Chauffeur
[QUOTE="gregd, post: 2316609, member: 31354]Maybe they could use the cameras to sense us swiping (waving) left to unlock and right to lock? (half kidding there...)[/QUOTE]
Hey! You might be on to something there. Hold up 1 finger to unlock the drivers door, 4 fingers to unlock all. You could even come up with some sort of duress signal that would let the car know you are in danger.
Hey! You might be on to something there. Hold up 1 finger to unlock the drivers door, 4 fingers to unlock all. You could even come up with some sort of duress signal that would let the car know you are in danger.
WhiskySTL
Member
I don't think this is really an issue. I already leave BT on all the time especially for my Apple Watch, but also so it auto-connects to my car's audio system. That said, at least on the iPhone it takes like 3 seconds to enable/disable bluetooth in the swipe-up menu.
N5329K
Active Member
RE reliability: has your key fob ever failed? Have you ever spoken these words into your phone, "Can you hear me now?"
I have nothing at all against a resident phone app that enables you to check charge state, set the environmentals, immobilize the car if its been nipped. I also have nothing at all against a phone app that makes the car unlock, blink its lights and toot its horn at your approach. Or even do a little happy dance (assuming they offer air suspension).
But I absolutely do not want to have that and a card in my wallet as my only means of locking, unlocking and driving.
In design, simple and good are hard goals to hit but always worthwhile. Complex is superficially easy, and it might even work, mostly. But it often just foists the issues you, the manufacturer, should have resolved through good design onto your users.
Not a nice thing to do.
But we'll see.
Robin
I have nothing at all against a resident phone app that enables you to check charge state, set the environmentals, immobilize the car if its been nipped. I also have nothing at all against a phone app that makes the car unlock, blink its lights and toot its horn at your approach. Or even do a little happy dance (assuming they offer air suspension).
But I absolutely do not want to have that and a card in my wallet as my only means of locking, unlocking and driving.
In design, simple and good are hard goals to hit but always worthwhile. Complex is superficially easy, and it might even work, mostly. But it often just foists the issues you, the manufacturer, should have resolved through good design onto your users.
Not a nice thing to do.
But we'll see.
Robin
In my front pocket, jacket pocket most of the time. I totally get that a small segment of the population doesn't carry their smartphone with them at all times, however I believe that to be a small percentage, and I think that number will continue to decrease as time goes on.
The issue here is that we're conflating simplistic design with simplicity. Simplistic design would be fulfilled by a keyfob or some simple device that serves its purpose. Simplicity, on the other hand, is not even needing a secondary device in the first place, and using something most people already have with them at all times. If you don't carry the card in your pocket instead I suppose.
Not entirely true. While you are correct that if you turn off the radios from the control center in iOS 11 they aren't completely off, if you turn them off from within the settings app then they are completely disabled. Source: Bluetooth and Wi-Fi Aren't Fully Disabled When Toggled Off in Control Center on iOS 11
T34ME
Active Member
Please understand I'm not being argumentative, I'm just trying to wrap my head around this. I appreciate your patience. I purchased my first smartphone just 18 months ago. I was a late adopter. I swore I would never get one, but truthfully, now that I have one, I am convinced. I cut my landline about a year ago and I'm never going back. So,
- I find carrying my Prius fob (about 1"x2"x1/2" in my pocket to be way less intrusive than carrying my smart phone in my pocket
- I think smartphone acceptance is generational and there are a lot more reservationists that are not tethered to their smartphones than you might think, Maybe it's more like 50/50. I am retired and I find phone calls to be intrusive in my life, now. Generally, I just put it on vibrate, stick it in my front pocket, assume it is a robo-call, and just enjoy the experience!
- In my case (and I understand you are different) the smartphone is a secondary device, not that important in my life, and it is something I don't have with me all the time. My Prius key fob is always in my pocket and I never need to access it. What happens if the battery dies in my key fob? First, I get a notice n the U.I. that the battery is low and to replace it 'now.' Second, there is a unique physical key inconspicuous in the fob that I can pull out and physically unlock the car if I ignore the warning (and in 5 years, I've never used it once).
- In the case of my 3, I will carry my key card in my wallet and forget about it. It would be a pain in the bompies to have to pull it out each time I wanted to access my car.
- Last, and to repeat, I will probably purchase a bluetooth watch that I can download the app and forget about the phone. Is that possible?
I mean no disrespect, I'm just slow at catching on. I would really appreciate your feedback as to what I'm missing here. Thanks.
BTW, my daughter is a PsyD and has a SiggyFreud bobble head on the dash of her Prius.
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