8 ms·
App is getting 500 server error. Cant connect
- baybal2 5y agoSoon I bet, we will see the time, having your car stolen will mean seeing 404
- abdabab 5y agoIsn’t the title misleading? They cannot unlock through phone app but they can still unlock using the card.
- detaro 5y agoI'm totally not up to speed on Tesla details, but weren't those only added later for the higher-end models, so people that bought before might not have those? (+ of course you can bet that a pile of people doesn't carry them because the phone method "always" worked)
- breser 5y agoThere are 4 ways to unlock a Tesla. * Via Bluetooth from your phone. Model 3 and Y used this as the primary way of unlocking. This does not require a Tesla server. It's just local communication between the car and the phone. The car and the phone are paired. * Via a key card. Model 3 and Y use this as the method when you get the car until you pair it with the phone and what you use if you want to give someone temporary access to the car (e.g service, valets). * Via a key fob. Model S and X used this in the past (not sure if the latest refresh changed this but older S and X vehicles didn't support Bluetooth or Key cards) as the primary method. * Remotely via the phone app. As in you make an API call to Tesla with your Tesla credentials and Tesla sends a remote command to the car. This requires Internet access for the device making the request and to the car in order to receive the command. This last bit is what's broken. Given the requirements this has never been very reliable and nobody would want to use this on a day to day basis. So I seriously doubt very many people are locked out of their cars. I am able to get into my 2015 Model S via the key fob and my 2018 Model 3 via Bluetooth from my phone.
- ajross 5y agoFWIW: my understanding is that the current generation of fobs are just bluetooth devices speaking the same protocol as the app.
- breser 5y agoCould be. I don't believe the old fobs were bluetooth. For what it's worth I also didn't mention that at least the old fobs also had an RFID in them that if the battery was dead you could just hold them up to certain spots on the car to open/drive it.
- anonymousiam 5y agoIf you read through the posts, some are saying they cannot get into their car at all. Others are saying you can call Roadside Assistance for a remote unlock, but I wonder what the hold times are there right now...
- petee 5y agoIt sounds like from the forum that some people rely on only the app, and Tesla markets this as an option. Seems like a big issue to push that feature and then for it to be down for hours.
- markdown 5y agoWho the hell doesn't take their key with them? What if the phone battery dies?
- petee 5y agoWho makes an app to unlock the car when you're carrying the key? You could also run out of car charge, but youre not worried about that, both you can just look at the gauge. My phone battery lasts all day, and the internet is rarely down; but servers on the other hand...
- markdown 5y agoBecause people lose keys, and they lose phones, but the chances of losing both at the same time are quite low. An app is a great backup to have.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- fiddlerwoaroof 5y agoYeah, when I took delivery the Tesla employee said something like “make sure you always have the keycard with you”
- gs17 5y agoSome people are just like that. I have a friend who drives a different brand that has a similar feature, and he uses the app almost exclusively, even though getting to it and waiting for it to go through takes far longer than me using my fob. He just really likes doing it the "high tech" way and only using one gadget for everything.
- mkl95 5y agoGreat example of why you shouldn't deploy critical stuff later in the week. Some team at Tesla is going to have a hell of a weekend.
- ravenstine 5y agoIf I ran a company, I'd just outright ban Friday deploys for anything besides critical bugs.
- notreallyserio 5y agoI'd just ban deployments all week long. There's no good time for some systems to go offline.
- cptskippy 5y agoDepends on the business. Our Apps primarily support employees so our release window has always been Thursday evenings or weekends for infrastructure. They're ok with employees losing productivity on Friday but more than a day is unacceptable.
- MisterPea 5y agoTrue, but might be infra/hardware related
- ratww 5y agoSo the car requires a remote connection to work? It took me long as heck to find a quality non-smart TV because I didn't want the lack of control, programmed obsolescence and shitty-ness of smart TV software. I wonder if I won't be able to have a proper quality car really owned and controlled by me in the future. EDIT: Ok, so it seems it supports a Keyfob. Then all is good.
- jmisavage 5y agoWhy can’t you buy a smart TV and not connect it to the Internet?
- ipaddr 5y agoBecause the tv will look for internet connections.
- ratww 5y agoJust voting with my wallet. I simply don't want to pay for wasteful, insecure, low-quality software that I consider detrimental to me (and for the hardware needed to run such software). I would be ok with optional/uninstallable software.
- breser 5y agoNo the car does not require a remote connection to work. See my detailed explanation here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29283262 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29283262
- Diederich 5y ago> So the car requires a remote connection to work? Not at all. You can open it with a phone app (which does require connectivity for both the phone and the car) or a keyfob/proximity key card. I've operated my Tesla many times well outside of any network connectivity. EDIT: Full and accurate list of the four ways to get into a Tesla here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29283262 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29283262
- sakebomb 5y ago
- capableweb 5y agoI always assumed unlocking your Tesla with the phone would use Bluetooth, NFC, even ad-hoc but I never expected it to be dependent on a round-trip to a internet-connected server. That seems like a really crap design and ripe for security issues, especially since it seems the Tesla customer support team has the ability to unlock cars remotely too.
- Darkskiez 5y agoYes, you can unlock your car with the NFC keycards (or app via NFC), the bluetooth fobs or bluetooth phone, with no connectivity for either. The problem that happened last time was that people opened the app to do something and logged out to try and fix it, thus clearing their credentials, and then can't log back in, and cant log back in to reauthenticate their device.
- cptskippy 5y ago> The problem that happened last time was that people opened the app to do something and logged out to try and fix it They should add some friction to the logout process. Like a server API call to allow you to logout.
- nottorp 5y agoSo you can invalidate your keys (not the phone app) via your phone by mistake?
- ajross 5y agoNo, the keys are fixed to the car, not managed by the app. You can delete them only AFAIK from within the car UI. And IIRC it requires you have at least two active at all times.
- jeroenhd 5y agoThe first commenter that says they can't enter their car also said their keyfob died that morning. Bluetooth keys work but not all Tesla cars have those. Some cars unlock by phone via the app through an internet connection, it seems. I'm surprised remote unlocking is as easy as calling a number and convincing an operator that you're the owner. Another reason to avoid the brand, I suppose.
- BluSyn 5y agoUnlocking through the app requires server and phone cell signal. Phone (Blutooth) unlocking and key card unlocking do NOT require connectivity. That would be dumb, phone cell signal doesn't work everywhere. Source: I have a Model 3, and frequently park in locations with 0 cell coverage.
- goshx 5y agoYeah, the "can't get into my car" is either trolling, not near his car, or maybe the old roadster had a different way of handling this. I can't connect to Tesla from the app, but I just walked to my car and was able to open the door just fine.
- bamboozled 5y agoSimple, people probably leave the keycard at home ?
- goshx 5y agoThe phone works just fine without internet connection. That’s how I unlocked my car before I posted the comment above.
- aardvarkr 5y agoPhone unlock uses Bluetooth.
- brianwawok 5y agoYou shouldn’t it’s your plan B if your phone gets broke / stolen
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- Sohcahtoa82 5y agoI say this as a Tesla owner... Do not leave your keycard at home. Every Tesla owner should have a keycard in their wallet (You don't go driving without your wallet, do you?). You never know if your phone will die. It's the same with cars that use keyless start. In my wife's Honda CRV, the fob has a physical key that can be removed to open the door, and the Start button can read the RFID in the fob if the fob battery is dead.
- dreyfan 5y agoIf Tesla had just issued car ownership as an NFT this wouldn't have happened.
- zeusk 5y agoI want to upvote, but I'm afraid if it's not sarcastic
- Sohcahtoa82 5y agoOoof, this thread is going to quickly become a source of midunderstanding and falsehoods. I implore everyone to read this comment: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29283262 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29283262
- mike_d 5y agoThe people locked out of their cars will be so relieved to learn a random engineer on the internet thinks they just don't understand. It's an outage, you might not be impacted, but people are.
- dang 5y ago"Don't be snarky." "Please respond to the strongest plausible interpretation of what someone says, not a weaker one that's easier to criticize. Assume good faith." https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- mholt 5y agoI've been driving my car several times during the outage today with no problems. 99+% of unlocks don't require connectivity, unless you're always unlocking the car for someone else who doesn't have a key...? In general: always carry the key with you; it's a slim card that goes in your wallet. Or use your phone's Bluetooth. I've only used the remote unlock once and that was to let a family member in where I couldn't go with them. I've also only had to use the card once, and that was when my phone's BT was having trouble. If anyone is really stranded because of this (and is able to post on a forum about it), that must be some really bad luck: no fob, no Bluetooth despite a working phone, and no key.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]