Tesla App Gains Ultra Wideband Support to Improve Phone Keys

[MacRumors]

The latest Tesla software adds Ultra Wideband support (UWB) to improve the function of the built-in Phone Key feature in the Tesla app (via Tesla North). Tesla owners can use Phone Key to lock and unlock their vehicles without a physical key.

Ultra Wideband support provides more precise tracking capabilities than Bluetooth, which means the Phone Key feature will better recognize when an iPhone is near a vehicle to unlock/lock it at the appropriate time. From the release notes:

Ultrawide band (UWB) technology is now available for Phone Key. So your vehicle and Phone Key can communicate with greater accuracy to more responsively lock, unlock, and open Automatic Doors.

Tesla owners will need both a vehicle that supports Ultra Wideband and an iPhone with Ultra Wideband to take advantage of the new capabilities. Enabling the updated UWB key requires going to the Phone Key section of the Tesla app (which must be upgraded to version 4.29.5) and following the upgrade steps.

Article Link: Tesla App Gains Ultra Wideband Support to Improve Phone Keys

 

[Desmondhuz]

Which phones and which vehicles are compatible??

 

[xraydoc]

Looks like this only works on the new Highland Model 3 and current gen Model X for now.

 

[CrysisDeu]

How much better compared to bluetooth?
Better is always a good thing, just curious for this use case in the real life, how much is perceptible

 

[BeatCrazy]

Hey MacRumors the model you pictured is not UWB capable. You’re showing a pre-2022 Model X.

 

[tgom222]

Which phones and which vehicles are compatible??

Don't know which cars but iPhone 11 and up have UWB.

 

[Dcgod]

Looks like this only works on the new Highland Model 3 and current gen Model X for now.

And Cybertruck.

 

[OrenLindsey]

Looks like this only works on the new Highland Model 3 and current gen Model X for now.

Don't forget the cybertruck.

 

[Sorinut]

Don't forget the cybertruck.

That only works with the Vision Pro.

 

[nikaru]

For me the bluetooth has warket great always. I dont think would even notice the UWB improvement.

 

[munakib]

Yah also no issues with the existing bluetooth. Only thing that has been lagging recently is the app connecting to the car, previously it would connect to the car remotely within 5 seconds, now days its almost like 20-30 seconds, thats what they need to fix!

 

[DaveOP]

How much better compared to bluetooth?
Better is always a good thing, just curious for this use case in the real life, how much is perceptible

MASSIVE on my BMW. Had the Tesla key on two vehicles in the past, but UWB seems to wake and connect MUCH faster, more reliably, and it picks up which of my wife and I are on the drivers side of the car more accurately, which leads to the correct profile being loaded. YMMV, since I am talking across two different car brands, but if Tesla does as good a job as BMW, this should be a big upgrade.

 

[ethanwa79]

Not seeing this for my 2021 Model 3. Must be for newer cars only?

 

[mjr_kong]

MASSIVE on my BMW. Had the Tesla key on two vehicles in the past, but UWB seems to wake and connect MUCH faster, more reliably, and it picks up which of my wife and I are on the drivers side of the car more accurately, which leads to the correct profile being loaded. YMMV, since I am talking across two different car brands, but if Tesla does as good a job as BMW, this should be a big upgrade.

BMW and few others use Apple CarKeys for this, they are either NFC or UWB, and both work great. Once CarKey is placed into the Wallet, everything is handled by iOS directly. Tesla, as always has to do their own thing, so they use "background interactions" which wakes up their app in the background in order to do the "key stuff". This really is just an extension of BLE background interactions which they already used for BLE based keys.

 

[sd70mac]

Not seeing this for my 2021 Model 3. Must be for newer cars only?

That seems to be the case.

 

[zapmymac]

Ditto on the app becoming notably slower to wake/realize/activate function in the last 6 months or so.

I've deleted the key, the profile, the app, and set up everything as new, and it is not getting better.

I do not know if it is the app, the car, or ios.

 

[sirdir]

If you could use your watch as a key, that would be actually useful.

 

[sherwinzadeh]

Ditto on the app becoming notably slower to wake/realize/activate function in the last 6 months or so.

I've deleted the key, the profile, the app, and set up everything as new, and it is not getting better.

I do not know if it is the app, the car, or ios.

My trunk doesn't open when I walk up to it in the last 6 months... does yours?

 

[DocMultimedia]

Who cares. Give me CarPlay. I'm selling my Tesla when I get back from Europe in July. Just can't deal with the miserable Tesla interface. Three years without CarPlay has done me in.

We'll see what 2025 cars come out in the fall.

 

[DocMultimedia]

If you could use your watch as a key, that would be actually useful.

There used to be an app a long time ago that let you do that. Cost a lot so I never tried it. (I'm pretty sure it required a cell connection watch)

 

[bperrella]

BMW and few others use Apple CarKeys for this, they are either NFC or UWB, and both work great. Once CarKey is placed into the Wallet, everything is handled by iOS directly. Tesla, as always has to do their own thing, so they use "background interactions" which wakes up their app in the background in order to do the "key stuff". This really is just an extension of BLE background interactions which they already used for BLE based keys.

That’s technically true but to be fair Tesla was using BLE keys before Apple launched car keys in the wallet. Not like the tech was available and they just decided to do their own thing.

 

[rizzo41999]

Phone key is pretty cool but I opted for the Tesla fob. Idk, fob is a sure thing.

 

[breenmask]

How much better compared to bluetooth?
Better is always a good thing, just curious for this use case in the real life, how much is perceptible

I can tell you bluetooth is terrible. works maybe 80% of the time. the other 20% is frustrating.

 

[mjr_kong]

That’s technically true but to be fair Tesla was using BLE keys before Apple launched car keys in the wallet. Not like the tech was available and they just decided to do their own thing.

I was talking about UWB, not BLE. Apple never supported BLE "keys" in Wallet so Tesla certainly had to roll their own. Now with UWB, they had an option to implement CarKeys from the start.

 

[swm]

"need a vehicle that supports Ultra Wideband"

that's the catch, not the iphone11