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What does the app mean when it says phone connected?
- Thread starter tom_1983
- Start date
I believe this is Bluetooth connection. So it gives you the features of bluetooth connection (unlock, frunk), but does not necessarily mean it is in close enough range for the doors to unlock if someone tries to open them.
Plug it in
Member
Also if the car is sleeping you lose that connection so you have to wake it up using the Tesla app.
if you're talking about the phone key, it's whether or not you can use the phone key to open the car. if it says connected, you can. if it says anything else, you can't.
it has nothing to do with whether the car is asleep or not, you can use the phone key to open/unlock the car even if it is asleep (source: me, i've done it many times).
it has nothing to do with whether the car is asleep or not, you can use the phone key to open/unlock the car even if it is asleep (source: me, i've done it many times).
favo
P3D+ owner
"Connected" definitely refers to the Bluetooth connection to the car. If you turn off Bluetooth on your phone, it will no longer show connected. My phone (Samsung S9) can connect from 100+ feet away, but that alone is not sufficient for the car to be unlocked. It requires me to be closer (less than 20', but I haven't tried to narrow it down further).
It seems having your phone connected may hamper the car's ability to sleep. When I first got the car (FW 28.3), it seemed the car was losing several miles at night even though it was plugged in. The phone was in the bedroom right above the garage. I started turning off Bluetooth at night, and the drain went down to 1-2 miles per night. Might have been a FW issue. Now on 34.1, but haven't tested it.
It seems having your phone connected may hamper the car's ability to sleep. When I first got the car (FW 28.3), it seemed the car was losing several miles at night even though it was plugged in. The phone was in the bedroom right above the garage. I started turning off Bluetooth at night, and the drain went down to 1-2 miles per night. Might have been a FW issue. Now on 34.1, but haven't tested it.
no, it's the phone key. if you open the app, the only spots that say anything about "connected' or "disconnected' is the phone key. also, my phone right now says "connected" in the notification and the app, but the actual bluetooth connection to the car (that would be used for phone calls and audio and such) is not connected. they're two different things.
at the same time, of course bluetooth has to be turned on - the phone key uses BLE. if your phone's bluetooth is turned off, the phone can't connect to the bluetooth receivers to use the phone key. you can be standing right next to the car with the phone key saying "disconnected" and it won't let you unlock, regardless of how close you are. ask me how i know.
this may be true about the bluetooth connection itself, but is not true of the phone key. my phone key stays connected all the time in my house, yet the car is sound asleep in the garage at the moment.
one strange thing i've noticed is that if you turn off bluetooth and back on after you've exited the car, it will reconnect to the car and stay connected (actual bluetooth connection, not phone key). i have no idea why it does this, but that might be what you're seeing.
favo
P3D+ owner
Sorry, yes, I was referring to the Bluetooth phone key connection, not Bluetooth for audio/phone calls. I don't know how far away the phone can be and still have the car grab the audio. (I did have that happen from a couple feet outside the car.)
What FW is your car on? My phone was directly above the car, maybe 10'-12' away with a floor in between. Maybe it was close enough that the car would allow unlocking. Or maybe it was just a bug with 28.3 FW. I'll have to test this later.
I wasn't turning Bluetooth off and on again after exiting.
favo
P3D+ owner
With phone on my nightstand and Bluetooth on, car would not unlock by pressing door handle. Then I unlocked the car with the card key and checked Bluetooth audio connections on the car, and it said my phone was connected. Presumably if a phone call came in at that point, the car would grab the audio. I assume it would not grab audio if the car is asleep. Not sure what would happen if car is awake and locked, but I would say it should not grab audio then. This is all on FW 34.1, App 3.5.0.
that makes sense...but for some reason it seems that if you flip bluetooth off and back on after exiting the car (not saying you were doing this), it reconnects the bluetooth to the car. i know because i've seen it happen...i would try to play stuff on my phone and had to sit and figure out why it wasn't playing. it's because it was playing over bluetooth to the car...
I personally really like it, my employees and friends often send screenshots to each other if we find something funny online, so I love seeing the T in all of them now.
I usually have a ton of notifications up though so it doesn't bother me, but maybe an option as a widget or something might be better.
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