What would you like to see from the Lucid mobile app?

[njg-agt]

iPhone works perfectly…. Just sayin’

Oh yes, Lucid app dev can't do a working Android app in over a year, so time for all its clients to become Apple droids... good call!

 

[elusive7]

I would like to have the app actually unlock the car when the app is not open... yes, I must open the app before my phone and the car will agree that I am present and that it should unlock. All of my other BT devices that are paired with the phone work just fine, the only problem is the app... the app and car worked better back in Oct (then the car went to the shop until Friday)... now, with the latest app version it no longer works in the background. I suspect that the app may be incompatible with Android 13 and/or Samsung S22 (both my S22+ and my wif's S22 have the same problem). Yes, I've reported this to Customer Support, so far crickets from them on the matter. No problems with the fob, just the app. I also tried tossing the existing mobile key and creating a new one, no change in characteristics. The current version of the app (1.31.0) also crashes a lot (right after you open it, it often immediately closes). And I've had Android 13 complain that it is "using too much resource in the background querying BT". And I have had it just plain hang (non-responsive to any interaction with it)... When it gets upset, it can even survive that state through a phone reboot... eventually it decides it is ok and resumes responding to user input (but still not running in the background). Of course, it would also be nice is CS were to take this a bit more seriously rather than crickets.

Honestly, I have the exact same issue on android, I'm wondering if its a Pixel 7 Pro issue as this phone is plagued with a million other issues. I've also tried re-setting up everything too with no luck. The fob works perfectly for me though!

 

[njg-agt]

Honestly, I have the exact same issue on android, I'm wondering if its a Pixel 7 Pro issue as this phone is plagued with a million other issues. I've also tried re-setting up everything too with no luck. The fob works perfectly for me though!

Thank you. This indicates it is not a Pixel or Samsung issue, but more likely Android wide. Yes, our fobs also work. All the world is not Apple. Lucid, own up that you have an Android issue and fix it!

 

[joec]

Thank you. This indicates it is not a Pixel or Samsung issue, but more likely Android wide. Yes, our fobs also work. All the world is not Apple. Lucid, own up that you have an Android issue and fix it!

I’ve been going without the fob for the past few days, and the iPhone has been hit or miss for me, too. It’s not only an Android thing. They just haven’t quite nailed this yet.

 

[njg-agt]

If you review all of the OTA updates, you will see that the Lucid engineering team has released multiple updates to improve the locking and unlocking. I agree that there is still more work to do but your characterization that customer care does not take it seriously is not fair.

This is not a car issue, it is the app... if the app is open (nothing more) it unlocks. I have reported this multiple times and there isn't really even ack of the problem, which is a problem.

 

[borski]

This is not a car issue, it is the app... if the app is open (nothing more) it unlocks. I have reported this multiple times and there isn't really even ack of the problem, which is a problem.

Again: they care, and know about the problem, they just haven't fixed it for you yet. Those are separate things. Implying they don't care is absurd, as they have clearly tried to improve it multiple times. Clearly, for you and others, there is still an issue. But that doesn't mean they aren't taking it seriously.

Have a nice day.

 

[idiot900]

Again: they care, and know about the problem, they just haven't fixed it for you yet. Those are separate things. Implying they don't care is absurd, as they have clearly tried to improve it multiple times. Clearly, for you and others, there is still an issue. But that doesn't mean they aren't taking it seriously.

Have a nice day.

I have the same issue, but does iOS even provide for remote key while the app is not at least open in the background?

In an ideal world the mobile key would be added to Apple Wallet. And whatever the Android analog is.

 

[Bobby]

I have the same issue, but does iOS even provide for remote key while the app is not at least open in the background?

In an ideal world the mobile key would be added to Apple Wallet. And whatever the Android analog is.

Yes, the app does not need to be open or in the background. What would adding the key to wallet improve?

 

[idiot900]

I’m not familiar with how iOS manages this. Anecdotally I’ve observed that sometimes the car won’t respond until I open the app (actually interacting any further doesn’t seem to be necessary). This suggests that the app needs to have a “background app refresh” task running in the background. But iOS can kill them at will to preserve battery. So I’m wondering whether Lucid uses their own ad hoc BT thing to talk to the car which would be affected by this. Or the CCC Digital Key standard - which can include UWB and NFC in addition to BT.

If the latter, adding to Wallet would imply that iOS itself manages the key and we don’t have to worry about the app having a task running. Plus maybe we could use the driver side door NFC reader with our phones.

 

[joec]

I’m not familiar with how iOS manages this. Anecdotally I’ve observed that sometimes the car won’t respond until I open the app (actually interacting any further doesn’t seem to be necessary). This suggests that the app needs to have a “background app refresh” task running in the background. But iOS can kill them at will to preserve battery. So I’m wondering whether Lucid uses their own ad hoc BT thing to talk to the car which would be affected by this. Or the CCC Digital Key standard - which can include UWB and NFC in addition to BT.

If the latter, adding to Wallet would imply that iOS itself manages the key and we don’t have to worry about the app having a task running. Plus maybe we could use the driver side door NFC reader with our phones.

Third-party apps get a maximum of about 30 seconds to perform a background app refresh. The app can’t constantly be running in the background. (This is why it makes no sense to “force quit” apps using the swipe that I see a lot of people doing regularly. Those apps aren’t “running”. They are frozen in a cached state until they come back to the foreground.)

In order to perform a background refresh, an app has to ask the system “Hey, can I have some resources every now and then so I can do a quick download, or perform some other function?” And then the system takes a look at everything else it’s doing, the state of battery, etc, and decides whether or not to grant that permission. For, like I said, about 30 seconds max. If the app doesn’t finish up by then, the system violently quits the app without notice.

Since the app can’t know when you want to drive, it can’t ask for permission to wake up at just the right moment. And it may be denied, anyway. So having the app in the background has no effect on its ability to perform the unlock function.

This is iOS. I have no idea how Android handles this.

The Bluetooth connection for the mobile key is different. It runs constantly as a separate process, independent of the app, at very low power. I’m not sure exactly how it works, but my guess is it simply tells the car “yes, an authorized key is nearby” and then the car does the unlocking. This is why it works even without an internet connection. Whereas the app needs to talk to the cloud to get the car to do anything.

So perhaps opening the app sends a wake up call to the mobile key process, or perhaps the car itself? I have no idea why opening the app would help, honestly. Could be a placebo. Could just be that an “awake” car is more likely to see the Bluetooth connection. Though that should not be the case.

I’ve found walking around to the front of the car, or simply taking my phone out of my pocket and waving it around a bit seems to work just as well as actually opening the app.

 

[joec]

And just to address the wallet thing; most items in your wallet are not actively doing anything. They usually contain a bar code, or can send an NFT signal, if you open up the wallet app and bring that card to the forefront.

A few wallet items, such as transit passes, can activate NFT while the phone is still locked. (You can wave your phone to get on a subway in DC or New York, for instance, without unlocking your phone.) But these are special circumstances. And they only work via NFT.

Apple has a product called Apple Car Key that works similarly. It sits in your wallet, and you can just bring your phone up to the pillar of the car to activate it without unlocking. I believe only some limited models of BMW have adopted this so far. I certainly haven’t heard of many cars having it.

Whether Lucid included the hardware needed for this function or not is anyone’s guess. There is an NFT reader in the B pillar of the Air, but I don’t know if that’s enough. And in any case, it would still likely require you to take your phone out and wave it at the pillar, similar to what we do with our valet cards. Nice as a backup, but I think most car companies figure actually unlocking via Bluetooth would be more convenient. If they can make it consistent, that is.

I’m confident Lucid will nail this eventually. I only hope it’s a matter of software, not hardware. Sometimes I get the feeling the Bluetooth antenna in the Air is the issue. I hope not.

 

[idiot900]

Is there a specific API to start the BT process? Is it allowed to be forked by the app? If so it seems like iOS wouldn’t want to give those free rein to run as they like and so I subscribe to your theory. It still seems like using Wallet and letting the system manage it is the way to go…but I’m not a Lucid engineer

I “force quit” the Lucid app all the time to get it to reset its state and decide to wake up the car. Sometimes it won’t otherwise. My overall guess is it’s not the car’s fault when it doesn’t work, it’s phone OS vagaries.

Haven’t had the same luck with waving the phone around but I haven’t done a rigorous experiment.

Thought Apple Car Key was their branded implementation of the CCC Digital Key standard?

 

[idiot900]

Nice as a backup, but I think most car companies figure actually unlocking via Bluetooth would be more convenient. If they can make it consistent, that is.

I skimmed the spec for CCC Digital Key (downloadable from their website) and it uses BT, UWB, and/or NFC. So if they use that we’d have all this functionality, theoretically.

 

[joec]

Is there a specific API to start the BT process? Is it allowed to be forked by the app? If so it seems like iOS wouldn’t want to give those free rein to run as they like and so I subscribe to your theory. It still seems like using Wallet and letting the system manage it is the way to go…but I’m not a Lucid engineer

I “force quit” the Lucid app all the time to get it to reset its state and decide to wake up the car. Sometimes it won’t otherwise. My overall guess is it’s not the car’s fault when it doesn’t work, it’s phone OS vagaries.

Haven’t had the same luck with waving the phone around but I haven’t done a rigorous experiment.

Thought Apple Car Key was their branded implementation of the CCC Digital Key standard?

Yeah, force quitting the app should never be necessary. Unless the app is going very wonky. But even then, the system usually will kill it for you.

Sure, it will “force” the startup sequence again, which will make it try and talk to the car. But that’s going to happen when the app is foregrounded, anyway. So all you’re doing is wasting your phone’s battery and slowing things down.

Bluetooth processes are not given free rein to do whatever they want. They have very strict parameters under which they can function. And BLE is designed to use very little battery. Think of it as more of a beacon, sending out a little “ping” every now and then. That’s pretty much all it does. And then the car is also sending out a similar “ping.” When they hear each other, the car says “okay, time to open the doors.” The iOS app, as far as I can tell, plays no part in this interaction.

 

[joec]

I skimmed the spec for CCC Digital Key (downloadable from their website) and it uses BT, UWB, and/or NFC. So if they use that we’d have all this functionality, theoretically.

If Apple Car Key is based on CCC, then perhaps Apple have included BT in their implementation by now. I know when it first was announced, it was NFT only.

In any event, I’m fairly certain the Air does not have UWB, which is a shame. That would allow the car to know whether you were getting into the driver or passenger seat, making profiles a hell of a lot more accurate.

And any way you slice it, Lucid would have to adopt Apple Car Key. Which would be useless to Android users. So they may not think it’s worth the investment of time vs just doing the current Bluetooth thing. After all, Tesla has finally managed to make pure Bluetooth work (after years of struggle) so it’s definitely possible.

 

[idiot900]

Sure, it will “force” the startup sequence again, which will make it try and talk to the car. But that’s going to happen when the app is foregrounded, anyway. So all you’re doing is wasting your phone’s battery and slowing things down.

Sure, but mine doesn’t always. I suppose it’s a bug. Not the end of the world though.

 

[idiot900]

And any way you slice it, Lucid would have to adopt Apple Car Key. Which would be useless to Android users. So they may not think it’s worth the investment of time vs just doing the current Bluetooth thing. After all, Tesla has finally managed to make pure Bluetooth work (after years of struggle) so it’s definitely possible.

If they deposit the credential into the official albeit proprietary Wallet API, ostensibly in the long run there’s less engineering effort keeping up with however Apple decides to screw with their BLE API semantics. There can’t be that much commonality in BLE interface with Android so how much effort does it save doing it the current way? But again, I’m no expert in this area and this is a purely academic discussion for me.

 

[Adnillien]

In any event, I’m fairly certain the Air does not have UWB, which is a shame. That would allow the car to know whether you were getting into the driver or passenger seat, making profiles a hell of a lot more accurate.

The FCC compliance section of the owners manual does not list the UWB frequency band, so yes we can be sure that Lucid does not have it.

 

[Tesla2.0]

Currently Lucid mobile app can only find EA stations. Please allow some filters to other major networks like Rivian did with their mobile app. Priority is not high for this feature as there are 3rd party apps do this; but it is good have native Lucid app can eventually do 1 stop route planning with more public station network being searchable.

*** Tesla SC Network is only for Magic Dock locations only.

 

[hydbob]

Lucid app will show you other chargers, it just won't show the status. In your screenshot, you can see another charger on the left in a Grey circle.