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Are there any phones that work well?

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phone key
12K views 66 replies 45 participants last post by  chaunceyg1 
#1 ·
Not as a phone, but as a Tesla Model 3 Fob?

My Samsung Galaxy S6 works most of the time, but it takes upwards of 30 seconds to connect with the car so I can open the doors. I almost always have to take the phone out of my pocket, turn it on, and bring the Tesla app to the front.

I'd even consider switching to an iPhone if they worked the way I expected.
 
#39 ·
So, you're NOT recommending the Pixel XL 2? I am happy with 100% of the time. 90% would just make me wonder if it was going to work each time. From reading these forums, the phones I recall people having 100% functionality with are: Samsung S8, S8+, S9 (and likely S9+), iPhone 8 and X. Is there an iPhone 9? If there is, that's probably a good bet also. I'm sure there are others but these are the ones I remember.
 
#40 ·
I have a Pixel 2, which has worked 100% of the time since exempting the app from power savings at the beginning of June. Until the most recent app update, it never took more an instant to work, since that update I've occasionally had it take up to 5-10 seconds, but very rarely.
 
#41 ·
My wife and I both have iPhone SEs. Mine has no problems and her's does. Still trying to figure this out. She has to carry the key card with her because she sometimes has to use it to be able to drive.

The problem with using phones as keys is the need to rely on the SW and phone HW manufactured by somebody else. That's precisely why Tesla brought some Model 3 parts in-house after experiencing problems with outside suppliers. I really want a key fob.
 
#42 ·
I can understand wanting a key fob (or a new phone) if your current phone didn't work all the time. But why would you want a key fob when your phone works without problem?

BTW, I always carry my key card in my wallet and recommend this to everyone, even if your phone works perfectly. You could drop your phone and break it, the battery could die, your phone could get a virus, etc. With the keycard you will always have a reliable back-up (without calling your spouse and asking them to use their phone to activate the car for keyless driving).
 
#44 ·
iphone 7 and m3 since April. It's worked about 98% of the time for locking and unlocking. When it doesn't work I put the phone in airplane mode, completely shut down the app, turn on airplane mode, wait a sec, and reopen the app. That has worked every time except one where I had to reboot the car with the scroll pop-a-wheelies.

P.S. never going back to a fob again. this blows it out of the water for convenience. I keep the black card in my wallet just in case.
 
#45 ·
I have a 1st Gen pixel and it works 100% of the time as long as my screen is active when I walk up to the car. If the screen is off, I give it about a 25% chance to work. Obviously I have gotten in the habit of pulling out my phone and turning on the screen as I approach the car. I am going to place the phone in the middle console anyway
 
#46 ·
I have a 1st Gen pixel and it works 100% of the time as long as my screen is active when I walk up to the car. If the screen is off, I give it about a 25% chance to work.
If your numbers are even in the ballpark, they prove that it's the behavior of the phone's Bluetooth, not whether the car is "awake" or "asleep" that determines peoples success/failure using a phone as a key. I already knew this to be true because both my phone and my wife's phone unlock the car 100% whether the phone's screen is on or off (and that has been true through numerous firmware upgrades).
 
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#47 ·
My wife and I both have iPhone SEs. Mine has no problems and her's does. Still trying to figure this out. She has to carry the key card with her because she sometimes has to use it to be able to drive.

The problem with using phones as keys is the need to rely on the SW and phone HW manufactured by somebody else. That's precisely why Tesla brought some Model 3 parts in-house after experiencing problems with outside suppliers. I really want a key fob.
Does she keep her phone in the purse? If so, try having the phone out because the purse or materials inside the purse could block the bluetooth connection.
 
#48 ·
I'll ask her to try that. I'm just getting tired of trying to explain things like that to her. She wants it to work as reliably as our Model X does with the fob. The fob works fine even from her purse. I understand the reason for using a phone as it supports car sharing. But one certainly wants 100% reliability when running to the car in the rain and discovering that the doors won't unlock until you open the app.

I think the phone solution is more of a problem if you have 2 Teslas registered on the app. If I remotely start charging on the X, for example, and forget to switch back the 3 the doors on the 3 will not unlock until I open the app and re-select the 3.
 
#49 ·
I think the phone solution is more of a problem if you have 2 Teslas registered on the app. If I remotely start charging on the X, for example, and forget to switch back the 3 the doors on the 3 will not unlock until I open the app and re-select the 3.
True, the app will only unlock the doors of the active Tesla (if you have more than one Tesla registered on the same app). But as long as the Tesla you want to unlock is the active Tesla on the app, it should work 100% of the time. Or else you need to configure your phone settings to ensure it's not putting the app to sleep or in a slow state or, if that doesn't work, get a better phone that works how it should.
 
#50 ·
Fwiw...

I use an iPhone X.

If the phone is in my back pocket (Levi jeans), then it doesn't get picked up.
If I turn slightly, it works.

If I keep the phone in my shirt pocket, then no problem, works 100% of the time.

The back pocket thing is an RF attenuation thing.
 
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#51 ·
If you're looking for an affordable Android phone, I have a Nexus 5X (waiting for the Pixel 3) and have had very few problems with it. Occasionally I have to put the phone in airplane mode to reset the Bluetooth, but overall it's been incredibly reliable.
I'm actually on my second Nexus 5X since I got the car. First one crapped out on me last week and got a replacement that's been working just as well as my old one.
 
#53 ·
I'm actually on my second Nexus 5X since I got the car. First one crapped out on me last week and got a replacement that's been working just as well as my old one.
Those phones actually have a well-known defect that causes each one to enter a boot-loop after a year or two. But LG has been fixing them out-of-warranty. So if you're interested in getting your crapped-out one fixed, it's probably possible. I've had two fixed already, but the last one was fixed in December 2017, so I'm not certain that LG is still fixing them for free.
 
#56 ·
I wonder what it is that keeps them from being 100%. I think if mine didn't work 100%, I would always wonder if it was going to work each time. Maybe that 2% failure is when your phone battery gets below a certain percentage it starts shutting off services?
 
#58 ·
Our iPhone 7's have worked for door unlocking 100% of the time (first 35 days and 1000 miles). I have only used the keycard to test functionality. Software Versions 32.3 and 36.2.
 
#59 ·
Pixel 2 XL, with no special settings and it's worked 100% every time except one time when the Tesla app had just been updated and I had to re-open the app before getting access.
 
#65 ·
We get a new Pixel every year, but this year I decided getting a new Tesla should be good enough.

I suspect that will change the closer we get to Christmas tho. Until then my Pixel 2 XL has been flawless.
 
#62 ·
There are many threads about this but I'll write my answer again, my Pixel XL 2 works 99% of the time. My wife has a new iPhone and that one works 100% of the time and loads a bit faster than my Pixel XL 2.
 
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#64 ·
I'm currently using a rather low-end Moto g6 phone.
It has worked every time so far.

There were two times when I thought it wasn't working:
  1. The one time I discovered that I had turned off bluetooth on my phone. Oops.
  2. The other time, the car was in the middle of a software update. The car display just kept saying to use a keycard. But when I started the app on my phone, it had a message that the car was in the middle of updating.
 
#66 ·
My iPhone 6S works 100% of the time for unlocking. Maybe 95+% of the time for starting the car right away. This on firmware versions 36.2 and 40.1.

My phone is never behind me.
 
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