Turn off the Tesla app’s Bluetooth key

Keep the official Tesla app. Keep its key enrolled. Just take away its Bluetooth.

TeslaKee asks you to do this once, right after you set up your own key. It takes about 30 seconds.

Why this matters

Your car accepts every enrolled phone key. If the official Tesla app is still acting as a Bluetooth key on the same phone, the car will talk to whichever key answers first — and that is often the Tesla app.

The official phone key has no relay protection. It answers the car whenever the car asks, no matter where you are. That is exactly what a relay attack (and the BlueBait variant of it) exploits: one attacker stands near your car, another near you — in a restaurant, an office, your hallway — and the two of them forward the Bluetooth conversation between car and phone. The car believes you are standing next to it, unlocks, and lets the thief drive off.

TeslaKee refuses to answer under those conditions: it checks motion, distance, signal strength, geofence and time before it lets your key respond. But that protection only holds if your phone has one Bluetooth key, not two. As long as the Tesla app can still answer over Bluetooth, an attacker will simply use that one instead — and TeslaKee’s policies never even come into play.

Two keys on one phone also interfere with each other in plain everyday use: both apps compete for the same Bluetooth link to the car, which makes unlocking slower and less reliable for both.

What keeps working

Turning off Nearby devices only removes the Tesla app’s Bluetooth access. Everything the app does over the internet is untouched:

Lock and unlock from the app
Climate, charging, charge limit, scheduled departure
Vehicle location, status, range, software updates
Sentry Mode, Dog Mode, Camp Mode
Service appointments, deliveries, account settings
Your enrolled key stays in the car’s key list as a backup

What stops working

Only the things that need a direct Bluetooth link between the Tesla app and the car:

Walk-up unlock through the official app (this is now TeslaKee’s job)
Summon / Actually Smart Summon
Adding a new phone key from this phone
The occasional service or diagnostics flow that asks for proximity

If you ever need one of those, switch the permission back on for a few minutes and off again afterwards. The steps below work in both directions.

Step by step — Android

Open the Settings app on your phone.
Tap Apps (on some phones: Apps & notifications), then See all apps.
Pick Tesla from the list.
Tap Permissions.
Tap Nearby devices.
Choose Don’t allow.

That’s it. Do not remove the app, do not sign out, and do not delete the key in the car.

Shortcut: long-press the Tesla app icon → App info → Permissions → Nearby devices → Don’t allow.

Samsung (One UI): Settings → Apps → Tesla → Permissions → Nearby devices → Don’t allow.

Older Android (11 and below): there is no Nearby devices permission. Turn off Location for the Tesla app instead — Bluetooth scanning needs it there.

Check that it worked

Open the Tesla app. If it now asks you for the Nearby devices permission, the permission is off — tap outside the prompt or deny it.
The Tesla app may show something like “Phone key not connected” or offer to set up a phone key. That is expected and harmless.
In the car, under Controls → Locks, your Tesla app key is still listed. Leave it there — it is your backup, and it cannot be used by anyone as long as the app has no Bluetooth.
TeslaKee should keep connecting and unlocking as before — usually a little faster than before, because nothing competes with it any more.

Step by step — iPhone

Open Settings.
Scroll down and tap Tesla.
Turn Bluetooth off.

Same effect: the app keeps all its internet features and stops being a Bluetooth key.

How to undo it

Same path, opposite switch: Settings → Apps → Tesla → Permissions → Nearby devices → Allow, or on iPhone Settings → Tesla → Bluetooth on. The key is still enrolled, so it starts working again immediately — no re-pairing needed.

Should I delete the Tesla app key instead?

You can, and it is equally safe against relay attacks. We recommend not deleting it: an enrolled key you can re-activate in seconds is a useful fallback if you ever lose access to TeslaKee — a broken phone, a reinstall, an empty battery. A key that cannot speak Bluetooth is not a risk.

Still stuck?

Write to contact@toothr.com and tell us your phone model and Android version — the menu names differ a little between manufacturers.