Answer Signal calls on Tesla

[doggy1]

My family used Signal for messaging, phone calls and video calling.

If my phone is connected to the car via Bluetooth and I get a regular call or SMS, all is good. I can answer calls using the left wheel button or the onscreen green and red buttons.

However, incoming Signal calls ring through to the car and a red button (for disconnect) appears in the same spot as for a standard call but there is no green button. Likewise, you can cancel the call with the left wheel button but cannot answer (button does nothing). So, I can find no way to answer the call. You can answer it on the phone but then run foul of mobile/car regulations. I tested all this on the weekend using a couple of phones but could not find any way to answer a Signal call without touching the phone.

If I have a passenger, they can answer on the phone and things then progress normally.

Has anyone come up with a way to answer a Signal call on a Tesla without touching the phone?

 

[aceon]

In NSW, you can answer a mobile phone call by touching the phone, as long as the phone is mounted in a commercially available phone holder. I use this Jowua iPhone mount for this purpose so I don't break the law answering a call from one of the various apps people use to make calls now.

The rules say

Drivers with a full licence​

There are only 2 ways you can use a mobile phone while driving:

1. Hands-free– you can only use your phone hands-free (without touching it) to:
   • make or receive voice calls
   • play audio, for example, music and podcasts.
2. In a phone holder– you can only use and touch your phone to:
   
   • make or receive voice calls
   • play audio, for example, music and podcasts
   • use as a driver’s aid, for example, maps and navigation apps or dispatch systems.

Phone holders must be commercially manufactured and fixed to your vehicle and must not obscure your vision.

You must not use a mobile phone while driving for any other function. This includes:

• texting
• video calls
• emailing
• social media
• using the internet
• photography.

 

[sammody]

I use something like this Screen Magnetic Phone Mount for Model Y & Model 3 - Tessories Australia (can probably get equivalent off aliexpress cheaper).

Works well.

 

[paulp]

In NSW, you can answer a mobile phone call by touching the phone, as long as the phone is mounted in a commercially available phone holder. I use this Jowua iPhone mount for this purpose so I don't break the law answering a call from one of the various apps people use to make calls now.

The rules say

Note only for fully licenced drivers. It is different for learners in NSW

 

[Zoltrix77]

My family used Signal for messaging, phone calls and video calling.

If my phone is connected to the car via Bluetooth and I get a regular call or SMS, all is good. I can answer calls using the left wheel button or the onscreen green and red buttons.

However, incoming Signal calls ring through to the car and a red button (for disconnect) appears in the same spot as for a standard call but there is no green button. Likewise, you can cancel the call with the left wheel button but cannot answer (button does nothing). So, I can find no way to answer the call. You can answer it on the phone but then run foul of mobile/car regulations. I tested all this on the weekend using a couple of phones but could not find any way to answer a Signal call without touching the phone.

If I have a passenger, they can answer on the phone and things then progress normally.

Has anyone come up with a way to answer a Signal call on a Tesla without touching the phone?

I have sent to this off to Pine Gap to get checked.

 

[richardnau]

In NSW, you can answer a mobile phone call by touching the phone, as long as the phone is mounted in a commercially available phone holder. I use this Jowua iPhone mount for this purpose so I don't break the law answering a call from one of the various apps people use to make calls now.

The rules say

Does that mount stay connected to the car on a hot day? Every mount with suction cup that I've ever tried has ended up with the phone crashing down on a hot day. Also, how did you route the charge cable? Thanks.

 

[aceon]

Does that mount stay connected to the car on a hot day? Every mount with suction cup that I've ever tried has ended up with the phone crashing down on a hot day. Also, how did you route the charge cable? Thanks.

Well it hasn’t moved since October, with many hot Sydney days over summer. The cable routes under the trim on the passenger side of the centre console.

 

[Onshore]

Does that mount stay connected to the car on a hot day? Every mount with suction cup that I've ever tried has ended up with the phone crashing down on a hot day. Also, how did you route the charge cable? Thanks.

This one is the simplest I've found. Very stable.

https://www.amazon.com.au/Topfit-Monitor-Sunglasses-Safety-Accessories/dp/B0BNPCPB2S

 

[m4rtin]

"Phone holders must be commercially manufactured and fixed to your vehicle and must not obscure your vision." NSW

I have the Jeda wireless charger which has MagSafe. I assume this is similar to the wireless chargers in newer models than mine. I'm not a lawyer but I'm fairly confident it ticks the boxes of being an acceptable phone holder.
Not ideal for the Signal answer call use-case but fine for using Waze for speed traps, hazards etc

@doggy1 is there a voice command that could answer the call, either Tesla voice control or Siri or whatever Android uses (Google voice)?

 

[doggy1]

I can't find any Tesla voice command (tried "answer call", "answer phone"). But it is a good idea to try Google answering the call.

I think "Answer Call" might work in Google Assistant. Given (if she is there) my wife can answer a Signal call on my phone and the audio goes okay via the car, then commanding the phone to work via Google Assistant should achieve the same result.

Thanks for the useful suggestion!

 

[Maximillan]

"Phone holders must be commercially manufactured and fixed to your vehicle and must not obscure your vision." NSW

The Tesla phone holder / wireless charger complies with this definition, why not leave the phone sitting there and then answer the call that way?

 

[doggy1]

The Tesla phone holder / wireless charger complies with this definition, why not leave the phone sitting there and then answer the call that way?

Hm, maybe. The phone is loose (sitting on the pad) so I thought that might not comply if I touched the screen. I've seen it described as a wireless charging pad but have not seen it described as a "Tesla Phone Holder".

Transport NSW website says: "Mobile phones can be a dangerous distraction. Full licence holders can only use a mobile phone if it's secured in a cradle or via Bluetooth."

I suspect sitting on a wireless pad is not "secured in a cradle". I think I'll take the "Hey Google" path.

My son was fined recently for having a phone sitting in his lap (so he could see Google Map Nav) and he was not touching the phone. He's accepting the fine and 5 demerit points.

 

[Maximillan]

Hm, maybe. The phone is loose (sitting on the pad) so I thought that might not comply if I touched the screen. I've seen it described as a wireless charging pad but have not seen it described as a "Tesla Phone Holder".

Transport NSW website says: "Mobile phones can be a dangerous distraction. Full licence holders can only use a mobile phone if it's secured in a cradle or via Bluetooth."

I suspect sitting on a wireless pad is not "secured in a cradle". I think I'll take the "Hey Google" path.

My son was fined recently for having a phone sitting in his lap (so he could see Google Map Nav) and he was not touching the phone. He's accepting the fine and 5 demerit points.

There's nothing in regulation about the phone being on the charging pad, and if you have any doubt as to whether it's secure let me know if you've ever had the phone come off the cradle. The wording is clear, and the Tesla phone cradle complies.

As for the example of your son's fine, that's a completely different issue and the website is also pretty clear "When driving, you must not hold a mobile phone in your hand. It must not rest on your leg, be between your shoulder and ear or any other part of your body." and so accepting the fine is pretty much the only option.

 

[doggy1]

No, my phone has not come off the wireless charger and probably only would if the car rolled whereupon there would be worse issues at play.

I will not be pushing buttons or icons on my phone when it is sitting on the pad and I am driving. You are entitled to your conclusion that this would be legal but I am going to choose "Hey Google, answer call" for Signal calls. Left button for regular calls. It will therefore be unlikely that I will get into arguments with authorities and have to use my defence of "Maximillian says it is legal!" The point about my son was not that it was in any way legal. It was in a van so the phone was fairly hidden from a detection camera by the wheel et al and probably a similar position (as far as detection is concerned) to the Tesla charge pad. So, those things are quite high tech. Of course, this does not say that a phone/fingers on a pad would have been detected (or not), just interesting that the camera was able to detect fairly easily in my son's case.

There is also a difference touching a phone in a cradle situated on the dash and within peripheral vision rather than looking down, completely away from the road, and pressing a phone icon. I'm just not going to do it, but that's me.

 

[dronus]

fun facts while only the first is on topic but that is the bare minimum haha:

1. In Australia you can’t use your mobile phone while riding a horse.

2. In Australia a horse is considered a vehicle, but must give way to pedestrians.

3. Horses must not be ridden two abreast further than 1.5m apart. Not sure how that works if you are carrying a bike, but good for Covid I guess.

Many more here:

Rules when Riding your Horse on the Road | Ranvet

In todays blog post we have a look at the rules you should follow when riding your horse out on a public road in Australia.

www.ranvet.com.au

Edit: as horses are autonomous…. Can the horse use a mobile phone and just narrate the conversation to you?