It used to be my phone's bluetooth was all that was needed to unlock my car without the Tesla App running but within the last week or so that is no longer the case and I have to have the App running (in background at least) for it to work. WTF? It won't even show up in the list of bluetooth connections without the App running. Come on, really?!?!?! So if your App is down, like it was for a bunch of people some time ago that I read about and couldn't believe that people relied on the app, I won't be able to get into my car?!?!?!?
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How can an app do any actions if the app is not running?
Keycard: pocket
Boom
Highlights from the manual:
Before you can use a phone to access Model 3, follow these steps to authenticate it:
1.Download the Tesla mobile app to your phone.
2.Log into the Tesla mobile app using your Tesla Account user name and password.
Note: You must remain logged in to your Tesla Account to use your phone to access Model 3.
Note: If multiple vehicles are linked to the Tesla Account, you must switch the mobile app to the vehicle that you want to access before you can use the phone as a key.
https://forums.tesla.com/forum/forums/car-now-unlocks-without-tesla-app-running
People were all over me saying that's the way it's always worked. Even EVRider said, "I don’t know if that’s actually new behavior." And now he says it has always been necessary.
My experience after almost two years with the car is that the app almost always needs to be running in the background for the auto-unlock to work. There have only been a few occasions when I've forgotten to start the app where it has allowed me into the car. I generally only drive on weekends so don't leave the app running all the time.
I don't think that is necessarily true. If the car and phone are paired the car should be able to detect the phone's bluetooth signal without the app running. These two excerpts are from the manual.
"Using your phone is a convenient way to access your Model 3. As you approach, your phone's Bluetooth signal is detected and doors unlock when you press a door handle."
and,
"Model 3 communicates with your phone using Bluetooth. To authenticate your phone or use it as a key, the phone must be powered on and Bluetooth must be enabled."
No mention in either of these about the need for the app to be running. Plus the experience of myself and others is that it works, at least sometimes, without the app running. This next excerpt may prove to be the key.
"You must remain logged in to your Tesla Account to use your phone to access Model 3."
So perhaps without the app running you are logged out of your Tesla account after a period of time and starting the app logs you in again. This should be easy to test by starting and then closing the app and then approaching the car and see whether it will unlock and start.
You can try removing your phone as key and adding it again to see if that helps? I’ve always noticed when my phone is out of phone key range, the Bluetooth “device” that’s the string of characters disappears. Only when I’m in range of the vehicle does it reappear.
It’s difficult to be certain the app isn’t actually running, especially with background app refresh enabled. Certain iOS apps will still run in the background even if you force quit them.
I tried it. Didn't work. June 2018 build LR RWD, 2020.4.1, iPhone X, iOS 13.3.1
If the app didn't have to be running why would it make a difference which one of multiple Teslas was selected?
I can only surmise that you have changed a setting on your phone that I have not. One of those allow processes to work all the time instead of only when using app
I don’t toggle that option on my iphone and the car does not respond without app physically open in background.