# Can the distance of the phone app's unlock be tuned?



## coredumperror (Mar 23, 2018)

I just got my 3 a few hours ago, and unfortunately, my fears were realized once I finally got home. I live in a condo that is directly above my carport, so when my phone is sitting in most places in my house (anywhere in the kitchen, or living room, or bathroom), it's close enough to my car that the app unlocks my doors. I obviously can't leave the app enabled as a key if simply walking into my living room with my phone in my pocket unlocks the doors of my car.

So, does anyone know if the auto-unlock distance can be tuned in any way? Is there a way to configure the app so it _never _automatically unlocks, only unlocking the door when I click the lock/unlock button? I've got the keycard in my wallet, and I'll apparently need to use it until/unless I can get the app distance issues resolved.

Speaking of the keycard, will the car automatically lock when you get out if you're using the card? I don't think it does, but maybe that's a config option?


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## LUXMAN (Apr 4, 2016)

coredumperror said:


> I just got my 3 a few hours ago, and unfortunately, my fears were realized once I finally got home. I live in a condo that is directly above my carport, so when my phone is sitting in most places in my house (anywhere in the kitchen, or living room, or bathroom), it's close enough to my car that the app unlocks my doors. I obviously can't leave the app enabled as a key if simply walking into my living room with my phone in my pocket unlocks the doors of my car.
> 
> So, does anyone know if the auto-unlock distance can be tuned in any way? Is there a way to configure the app so it _never _automatically unlocks, only unlocking the door when I click the lock/unlock button? I've got the keycard in my wallet, and I'll apparently need to use it until/unless I can get the app distance issues resolved.
> 
> Speaking of the keycard, will the car automatically lock when you get out if you're using the card? I don't think it does, but maybe that's a config option?


Well, one choice is to turn off the BT when you get home. The doors will lock and then walk-up unlock wont work in the house. Then as you leave turn the BT on and the they will unlock. Pain in the … I know cuz you have to do it every time.

But there is no distance setting available (yet). So you may have to go the card route if you don't want to do the BT dance.

If you turn off the auto-lock features and use the card, you will have to use it all the time. The card will need to be used to lock the car as well. Sorry, I know you are hoping for a fix, but I don't see one here. The car will appear locked but if you are close enough then the doors will open if someone try's the handle.

That all said. I am in my office right now and my phone is here. The car is on the other side of the wall. I just went out there and could not get into the car at maybe 7 feet away. So have you tested trying to get in the car with the phone in the condo? Maybe place it at the nearest location to the car and go out and see if it opens,


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## SoFlaModel3 (Apr 15, 2017)

coredumperror said:


> I just got my 3 a few hours ago, and unfortunately, my fears were realized once I finally got home. I live in a condo that is directly above my carport, so when my phone is sitting in most places in my house (anywhere in the kitchen, or living room, or bathroom), it's close enough to my car that the app unlocks my doors. I obviously can't leave the app enabled as a key if simply walking into my living room with my phone in my pocket unlocks the doors of my car.
> 
> So, does anyone know if the auto-unlock distance can be tuned in any way? Is there a way to configure the app so it _never _automatically unlocks, only unlocking the door when I click the lock/unlock button? I've got the keycard in my wallet, and I'll apparently need to use it until/unless I can get the app distance issues resolved.
> 
> Speaking of the keycard, will the car automatically lock when you get out if you're using the card? I don't think it does, but maybe that's a config option?


The app will say "connected" for phone key if you're somewhat near the car, but in my experience unless you are incredibly close the doors won't actually open. Have you confirmed that the doors truly unlock versus just seeing the phone key is connected?


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## coredumperror (Mar 23, 2018)

Yes, I've confirmed that the doors will open if I leave my phone in my condo and walk down the stairs to the carport. I didn't even leave it directly above the car, but rather 5 or 10 feet away (in the kitchen), and the doors would still remain unlocked.

I did confirm that the car will lock and stay locked when I walk away to pick up my mail, but unfortunately, I park directly next to the stairs that go up to my condo (and I can't change that), and going up those stairs brings me close enough for the phone to unlock it. So there doesn't appear to be any way to avoid having the car unlock itself whenever I enter my condo. 

Fortunately, I did manage to get the keycard situated in my wallet such that I only have to swipe my wallet on the B pillar to make it lock/unlock. So it's not *too* bad. But it's definitely frustrating that I won't be able to use one of the coolest features of the car.

I'm going to a Tesla Owner's Workshop tonight at the delivery center, so I'll definitely be asking them what I might be able to do about this.


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## LUXMAN (Apr 4, 2016)

Well I hope they can think of something. But that is strange as I cant even leave my phone on the other side of the wall and retrieve something from the car. I always have to have my phone with me.


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## coredumperror (Mar 23, 2018)

Does your phone connect to your car's Bluetooth system at all while it's on the other side of the wall? I realize this'll be hard to check, but you could do it by using the keycard to get into the car while your phone is in the office.

I ask because it may be that you have a Bluetooth-impermeable wall, while I don't. I've known for a while, from my previous car, that if I leave my phone in my condo, my Prius would still connect to its Bluetooth and auto-play music until I drive out of the driveway.


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## LUXMAN (Apr 4, 2016)

I just checked. I had my phone on the desk. I went to the car and it would not open. I used the card to get in. I was able to make a BT call. 
So it is connected but not for the locks. So somehow that portion is distance limited. 
It is a regular frame house. The wall is a regular wall to a garage with drywall on both sides with blanket insulation in between.


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## coredumperror (Mar 23, 2018)

Huh, that does give me a lot of hope that something can be done about this. I'll definitely be grilling the Tesla folks at the workshop tonight.


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## raptor (May 6, 2018)

If you're running Android, you could in theory address this with Tasker or AutoMagic and an NFC sticker (when you tap the sticker, it activates a task).

Some triggers I can think of:

Bluetooth OFF:

Turn bluetooth off when your home network becomes invisible.
Turn bluetooth off when disconnected from the vehicle.
Bluetooth ON:

Turn bluetooth on when you tap an NFC sticker with your phone.
Turn bluetooth on when you shake your phone.
Turn bluetooth on when you turn the screen on/off $x times.
I wonder if you could build some type of faraday cage which only blocks 2.4 GHz (or enough to weaken BT, while still allowing the phone to work), but that's far from ideal.


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## coredumperror (Mar 23, 2018)

Sounds pretty interesting, but sadly, I have an iPhone. heh

Frustratingly enough, iPhones have a really easy "quick disable" for Bluetooth. But iOS 11 converted it from "turn off Bluetooth until I turn it back on" to "Turn off Bluetooth for a little while, then turn it back on, because people are stupid and forget they turned off Bluetooth, then call Apple and complain that their phone is broken". And there's NO OPTION to disable that nannying bull****. The only way to truly disable Bluetooth is unlock the phone, go to Settings -> Bluetooth and disable it from there. Wayyyy too inconvenient to do every single time I park my car at home, since I obviously don't want my car to suddenly unlock some indeterminate time after I get home.

So far, using the keycard is really not that bad. Mildly annoying since it sometimes doesn't detect on the first try, and I have to flail my wallet around a few times to get it to detect. Bit it's usually pretty good.

I did speak to a Tesla rep at the Owner's Workshop today, though, and he said that a Service Center *might* be able to help. Since I'm also having severe issues with power efficiency, I may end up scheduling an appointment sooner rather than later.


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## LUXMAN (Apr 4, 2016)

coredumperror said:


> Sounds pretty interesting, but sadly, I have an iPhone. heh
> 
> Frustratingly enough, iPhones have a really easy "quick disable" for Bluetooth. But iOS 11 converted it from "turn off Bluetooth until I turn it back on" to "Turn off Bluetooth for a little while, then turn it back on, because people are stupid and forget they turned off Bluetooth, then call Apple and complain that their phone is broken". And there's NO OPTION to disable that nannying bull****. The only way to truly disable Bluetooth is unlock the phone, go to Settings -> Bluetooth and disable it from there. Wayyyy too inconvenient to do every single time I park my car at home, since I obviously don't want my car to suddenly unlock some indeterminate time after I get home.
> 
> ...


I agree, that BT BS is really annoying. I have to put it in Airplane mode all the time and I want to leave the BT and WiFi off but they still come on every time I toggle that on and off 

I would be interested to hear what the SC says about it.


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## Angrew (Apr 16, 2018)

You could use an app on your phone like IFTTT to turn your Bluetooth off when you connect to a specific wifi. (but then that may complicate the doors locking)


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## KFORE (May 19, 2018)

This is easily solved on Android (as mentioned above) if you were to ever consider switching phone OSs. If not, I hope Tesla makes this configurable or can help you out!

It's situations like this where Tesla really should provide a key fob for folks who want/need it.


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## coredumperror (Mar 23, 2018)

Well, to be fair, the keycards are working wonderfully. Especially now that I finally figured out the correct place to tap my key card-filled wallet (a few inches _below_ the side camera on that pillar), the experience has been basically identical to using keys. I'd love to have the even better convenience of using my phone, but I'm fairly happy with the keycards.


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## coredumperror (Mar 23, 2018)

In case anyone's still interested, I did some more testing, and I think I've found the ultimate reason for my problem, and the reason that @LUXMAN isn't having the same issue.

When I'm on the other side of carport wall, with phone key enabled, the car locks. Just like how it stays locked for Lux when he's in his office. I got within barely 3 feet of the car with my phone, and it didn't unlock. I also confirmed that it locks as soon as I bring my phone to the far side of my kitchen.

However, leaving my phone anywhere in my living room or the close side of my kitchen _does_ cause the car to unlock. That means the places that it unlocks my car are those _directly above_ and within a few feet of the vehicle.

This makes me think that the unlock may be based on 2D proximity, and doesn't take 3D height into account. Possibly because it can't? I'm not sure. It's also possible that the exterior wall of my carport is made of something with less radio permittivity than my carport roof / living room floor.

I emailed my local service center about this, and they said to call Tesla's Tech Support line. I'll be doing that as soon as I get a chance to actually park my car in my carport again. My HOA is having a team slurry-seal the alley that leads to the carports of every house on my block, and we're all forced to park on the street until Wednesday. It's not fun, lol.


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## LUXMAN (Apr 4, 2016)

coredumperror said:


> In case anyone's still interested, I did some more testing, and I think I've found the ultimate reason for my problem, and the reason that @LUXMAN isn't having the same issue.
> 
> When I'm on the other side of carport wall, with phone key enabled, the car locks. Just like how it stays locked for Lux when he's in his office. I got within barely 3 feet of the car with my phone, and it didn't unlock. I also confirmed that it locks as soon as I bring my phone to the far side of my kitchen.
> 
> ...


That is quite interesting. I would like to hear what they have to say. I have seen a picture of the front of the 3 without the front bumper and it was indicated by there that the BT receiver was up front. So I wouldn't think height would make a difference since they they would need to make a bubble around the car to allow a rear approach.


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## Chris350 (Aug 8, 2017)

Let me add a little to the mix..... I can walk up to the door and it won't unlock..... In some cases, waiting 10 seconds and then trying the door again and it unlocks fine.... So, there is a delay for some reason...... Now.... while the car is locked, in every case, I can walk directly to the truck and it will unlock everytime I have the phone.... Immediately.... everytime..... If I lock the car and leave the phone in the house.... Trunk stays locked.... Get the phone and walk directly to the trunk... it opens (using the manual trunk unlock on the car)... Not sure why the trunk works everytime, but I get a delay at the driver side door...


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## RIP_OPEC (Jul 15, 2018)

Chris350 said:


> Let me add a little to the mix..... I can walk up to the door and it won't unlock..... In some cases, waiting 10 seconds and then trying the door again and it unlocks fine.... So, there is a delay for some reason...... Now.... while the car is locked, in every case, I can walk directly to the truck and it will unlock everytime I have the phone.... Immediately.... everytime..... If I lock the car and leave the phone in the house.... Trunk stays locked.... Get the phone and walk directly to the trunk... it opens (using the manual trunk unlock on the car)... Not sure why the trunk works everytime, but I get a delay at the driver side door...


Are you on Android? As long as the Tesla app is running in the background on my iPhone, it will automatically unlock the door 100% of the time for me.


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## Toadmanor (Jul 23, 2018)

Interesting and I will follow this....


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## scaots (Sep 13, 2017)

Does the phone app actually show unlocked when you are in range? In my house I am right above the car and it the app still shows locked icon? If that indicator is misleading I think it really needs to be fixed.


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## Kizzy (Jul 25, 2016)

Chris350 said:


> Let me add a little to the mix..... I can walk up to the door and it won't unlock..... In some cases, waiting 10 seconds and then trying the door again and it unlocks fine.... So, there is a delay for some reason...... Now.... while the car is locked, in every case, I can walk directly to the truck and it will unlock everytime I have the phone.... Immediately.... everytime..... If I lock the car and leave the phone in the house.... Trunk stays locked.... Get the phone and walk directly to the trunk... it opens (using the manual trunk unlock on the car)... Not sure why the trunk works everytime, but I get a delay at the driver side door...


Is this the case for all doors?


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## coredumperror (Mar 23, 2018)

scaots said:


> Does the phone app actually show unlocked when you are in range? In my house I am right above the car and it the app still shows locked icon? If that indicator is misleading I think it really needs to be fixed.


Hmmm, I vaguely recall a single instance of it seeming confusing, so it's possible that it showed "locked" when it wasn't actually locked. But don't quote me on that.

I can't test it right now because no one on my block is able to park in their carports until Thursday due to the alley being slurry sealed. I'll get back to you on that as soon as I'm able to park my car in the carport again.


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## PaulK (Oct 2, 2017)

RIP_OPEC said:


> Are you on Android? As long as the Tesla app is running in the background on my iPhone, it will automatically unlock the door 100% of the time for me.


Yes, since you're using an iPhone you might try simply "force quitting" the app (double click the home button and swipe up) after you get home. Then simply launch the app from your home screen when you are ready to go to your car.

...BUT...

I'm about to start a new thread on this - because this "force quit" the app behaves differently on my wife's iPhone 7 than on my iPhone 7. Same exact phone model. Both running the exact same iOS version. Both have installed the exact same Tesla app version 3.4.2.

*Her phone:* When "force quitting" the Tesla app the Bluetooth connection stops, and the iPhone "location services" arrow turns off. The Model 3 does not unlock when she walks up, unless she launches the Tesla app again.

*My phone:* When "force quitting" the Tesla app, my BT connection remains, and my iPhone "location services" arrow remains on. And the car unlocks when I walk up to it even though the app is quit. Now, if I "delete" the Tesla app, BT and "location services" arrow are off - and (obviously) the car doesn't unlock. But this isn't a good workaround.

Neither of us have ever installed any other tesla related app. Strange, huh?

-Paul


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## Kizzy (Jul 25, 2016)

PaulK said:


> Yes, since you're using an iPhone you might try simply "force quitting" the app (double click the home button and swipe up) after you get home. Then simply launch the app from your home screen when you are ready to go to your car.
> 
> ...BUT...
> 
> ...


Do your phones both have the same location services permission for the app? "While using the app" or "Always"?


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## PaulK (Oct 2, 2017)

Good question! Both phones are set to "always". Both are also set to allow background refresh. 

-Paul


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## Pareto (May 13, 2018)

coredumperror said:


> Frustratingly enough, iPhones have a really easy "quick disable" for Bluetooth. But iOS 11 converted it from "turn off Bluetooth until I turn it back on" to "Turn off Bluetooth for a little while, then turn it back on, because people are stupid and forget they turned off Bluetooth, then call Apple and complain that their phone is broken". And there's NO OPTION to disable that nannying bull****. The only way to truly disable Bluetooth is unlock the phone, go to Settings -> Bluetooth and disable it from there. Wayyyy too inconvenient to do every single time I park my car at home, since I obviously don't want my car to suddenly unlock some indeterminate time after I get home.


You can use Siri to turn it properly on/off. "Bluetooth On" or "Bluetooth Off"


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## coredumperror (Mar 23, 2018)

OK, I spoke with Tesla's tech support about this Phone Key issue, and it's actually a known problem. Apparently it's quite common for carports to be right below living rooms in San Francisco townhomes. The guy said they are aware of the issue, but they aren't currently working on a solution. 

Oddly, he gave me instructions for a workaround that appears to actually be out-of-date and no longer applicable. He said to try disabling "Walk Up Unlock", and to manually use the app to unlock my car, instead. But that option doesn't appear in the Locks settings any more.

It used to be there, but Tesla removed it because they changed the system to just always have "Walk Up Unlock" turned on, but to have the feature function a little differently. It used to unlock and _awaken_ your car when you simply got close, causing your mirrors to swing open and the AC to turn on and stuff. This was undesirable for a number of reasons (major battery drain while not using the car, for one), and people complained, so now the Phone Key system simply sets your car into a state where it will unlock and awaken when you pull one of the handles.

Unfortunately, this means you CAN'T disable Walk Up Unlock any more, so there's _no way_ to prevent the phone from automatically unlocking your car through proximity. Thus, I'm stuck with keycards indefinitely. 

Oh, and by the way, if you disable Phone Key from the APP, *it doesn't actually get disabled*. Walking up to the car will continue to silently unlock the doors until you tell the CAR to delete your phone from the Keys list. That's a massive security fail, because you won't even notice that your phone is unlocking your car once you start using just keycards (I didn't notice this problem until a day later, when I got curious and took another look at the Keys list on the car). But I'm not really sure what the best way to report it is. Just call the Tesla service number again?



PaulK said:


> Yes, since you're using an iPhone you might try simply "force quitting" the app (double click the home button and swipe up) after you get home. Then simply launch the app from your home screen when you are ready to go to your car.
> 
> ...BUT...
> 
> ...


Is your phone paired to the car, and your wife's phone not paired? Pairing is a separate thing from using Phone Key, and is used for playing music and stuff from your phone through the car's speakers.

Your hint about force-closing the app convinced me try that out for myself, as a workaround for my Phone Key woes. Unfortunately, my phone continued to unlock my car via proximity, even with the app force-quitted.


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## garsh (Apr 4, 2016)

coredumperror said:


> It used to be there, but Tesla removed it because they changed the system to just always have "Walk Up Unlock" turned on, but to have the feature function a little differently. It used to unlock and _awaken_ your car when you simply got close, causing your mirrors to swing open and the AC to turn on and stuff. This was undesirable for a number of reasons (major battery drain while not using the car, for one), and people complained, so now the Phone Key system simply sets your car into a state where it will unlock and awaken when you pull one of the handles.


My understanding was that this was always the behavior when you had "Walk Up Unlock" turned off.
@SoFlaModel3, can you confirm?


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## SoFlaModel3 (Apr 15, 2017)

garsh said:


> My understanding was that this was always the behavior when you had "Walk Up Unlock" turned off.
> @SoFlaModel3, can you confirm?


That's true as far as I remember. Oddly I didn't like it back then and now love it


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## scaots (Sep 13, 2017)

To ease your woes a little... Do you use a case on your phone? Likely you can slip the keycard in your phone case and swipe with your phone so you don't have to dig for the card.


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## coredumperror (Mar 23, 2018)

I don't have a phone case that would work with, but I appreciate the suggestion. I've been using the same technique, but with my wallet, which works fine. I put the keycard in the closest-to-the-outside card slot.


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## PaulK (Oct 2, 2017)

coredumperror said:


> Is your phone paired to the car, and your wife's phone not paired? Pairing is a separate thing from using Phone Key, and is used for playing music and stuff from your phone through the car's speakers.
> 
> Your hint about force-closing the app convinced me try that out for myself, as a workaround for my Phone Key woes. Unfortunately, my phone continued to unlock my car via proximity, even with the app force-quitted.


Both phones are "paired" to the car. Still, my phone is the only one that the app leaves BT connected (and the "location services" geofence icon lit up) even when I force quit the app. I also tried "unpairing" mine (removing my phone from the car's BT menu, and did the "forget" on the BT connection in the iPhone).

Thanks for the idea.

-Paul


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## coredumperror (Mar 23, 2018)

Pareto said:


> You can use Siri to turn it properly on/off. "Bluetooth On" or "Bluetooth Off"


I don't know how I missed this when the thread was still active, but I happened upon this thread again last week, and I've been trying this Siri-based Bluetooth disabling since then.

IT'S PERFECT! I already have to use Summon to park my car in my carport next to the giant SUV my neighbors just got, so I've got my phone in my hands when I want to lock it permanently. So I just pop up Siri and tell it to turn off BT, and BAM! The car stays locked even when I'm in my living room.

I finally get to use Phone Key!!


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