My Tailwind Vehicle Sensor / Vehicle Bluetooth auto-open / auto-close is not working

Sorry to hear things aren’t working quite right. We can help you with that.

Generally when the auto-open / auto-close is not working as expected it can be resolved by one of the following steps. This help article is broken into the following sections:

General

iPhone settings to check

Android settings to check

Vehicle sensor related checks

Diagnostic Tool

General

One of the more common reasons auto-open / close does not work is a simple misunderstanding of how the system works. The Tailwind vehicle sensor does not open / close your door, nor does the vehicle bluetooth connection. The Tailwind app on your phone determines which vehicle you are currently driving by detecting either a vehicle sensor or, in the case of Android, the vehicle bluetooth connection. The actual auto-open / close commands are sent from the Tailwind app. If you are using a vehicle sensor there is no need to stick it to your windshield because the only device it communicates with is your mobile phone - not the controller in your garage. The Tailwind vehicle sensor is not a garage remote control. A much better place to put it is in the center console because it will probably be closer to your phone while driving, and you can hide it out of sight.

You must have your phone with you and it must have internet access while driving. You must be the Tailwind device owner or have been granted shared access to open the door / gate. You must have the vehicle configured in your Tailwind app. Each person needs to configure vehicles separately as everyone sets their own preferences for auto-open / close. You must be logged into the Tailwind app on your phone but you do not need to have the app open and running.

The auto-open feature is designed to work when driving a vehicle, motorcycle, or riding a bicycle. It will not work if you're walking.

Make sure you have the latest version of the Tailwind app installed from the Google Playstore or Apple App Store. Phone operating systems are updated on a regular basis. If your Tailwind app is not current, it won't have the latest updates to make it work properly with your phone's OS updates, and can easily cause auto-open to stop functioning.

Restart your phone and then launch the Tailwind app at least once after a restart. This is especially important after a phone OS update or a Tailwind app update.

You cannot "kill" or "stop" the Tailwind app and then restart it while the vehicle sensor / vehicle Bluetooth is connected. This may disable the auto-open / close feature until the next time the sensor / vehicle reconnects.

You may not be going far enough away from your garage. Here is an article regarding the auto-close distance, and why it can take longer to close your garage door than you may expect.

The auto-open feature is designed to detect you arriving home. By definition this means you must travel a certain distance AWAY from home before turning around and driving home to test it. Generally we advise that users drive at least 2,500 feet away from home, and waiting 60 seconds before turning around and driving back to test the auto-open.

Be sure you've watched, and carefully followed the steps in our Vehicle Sensor Setup video. You must follow this procedure for every user because the system assumes different users will have different preferences for auto-open / close.

Make sure Bluetooth is turned on and stays on in your phone settings, and you are not regularly turning it off/on.

Make sure WiFi is turned on. Smartphones use WiFi as a key technology to establish location. Turning off WiFi will definitely impact auto-open / close features.

The sensor or vehicle bluetooth might not be detected by your phone immediately after setting it up in the Tailwind app. You may need to move away from the Tailwind vehicle sensor or your vehicle bluetooth (Android only) at least 20 feet for 2 minutes before trying to use auto-open.

Location tracking is not accurate if your phone cannot receive decent GPS signals. Modern phones are fairly good at establishing location, but there are limits. If you put your phone in the pocket below the infotainment system, or in some cases even on a wireless charger, you may be placing it in a location that blocks or interferes with GPS signals. Try putting your phone in a location that has less obstructions between it and the sky, such as in a dash mount or wherever you would place the phone if you were going to use it for navigation. If you use a wireless charger, try placing your phone somewhere else to see if the charger is interfering with the GPS signal. The Diagnostic Tool described at the end of this article will show you the location accuracy in real-time as a guide.

Make sure you turned on and configured the auto-open / close features for the vehicle you're driving:

1. Open the Tailwind app.
2. Go to the door control screen.
3. Tap the 3 bars on the bottom right corner.
4. Tap "Vehicle List".
5. Tap the gear icon beside the vehicle you are driving.
6. Make sure the auto-open / close are turned on and a distance is set for each (if you want both features on). Remember, this needs to be set up for each user on their account / phone.

If you set your auto-open distance to a small number such as 70 feet, sometimes the auto-open may not function. The GPS position error of the phone can be larger, or the actual garage location learned during setup could be slightly inaccurate. If your auto-open is inconsistent and you have a small distance set, please try increasing the auto-open distance and / or re-learning your garage location in the device settings screen.

Try deleting the vehicle and then adding it back again.

iPhone settings to check

iPhone users must be running iOS 13.0 or higher

Make sure you are not in "Low Power" mode

Make sure WiFi and Bluetooth are both turned on

Grant "Always" location permission. You probably already granted this permission, but please check again. There are many posts online about iOS randomly switching location permission without the user's consent or knowledge. You can find this permission under Settings -> Privacy -> Location. Make sure Tailwind is set to "Always" and "Precise Location" is turned ON. This allows auto-open to work while your phone is locked. The app does NOT "always" track location, and the location data does NOT leave the phone. Location tracking is ONLY done at high accuracy when you are approaching / leaving home and is ONLY done for the sole purpose of auto-open / close.

Grant "Motion & Physical Activity" permission. This permission allows the Tailwind app to know when you are driving a vehicle or riding a bicycle. You can find this permission under Settings -> Privacy -> Motion & Fitness. Make sure Tailwind is shown and turned on. If you don't see Tailwind shown there, please delete the app. Reinstall it, log back in, and grant all requested permissions.

Grant "Background App Refresh" permission. This permission helps the Tailwind app receive various updates when you are driving a vehicle. You can find this permission on iPhones under Settings -> General -> Background App Refresh. Make sure Tailwind is shown and Background App Refresh is turned on for both WiFi & Cellular Data. You can find the WiFi & Cellular Data option under "Background App Refresh" at the top of the screen. It will say "ON", but there are additional settings. Tap on it to be sure both WiFi & Cellular Data are selected.

This one is going to sound odd, but if you're laying your iPhone down flat while driving or keeping it in your pocket (which results in it being substantially horizontal), try putting it in a holder or somewhere that holds it in a more upright position. iOS can sometimes fail to detect driving for some users if the iPhone lays down flat. Hopefully Apple fixes this in the near future. We have reported this bug to them.

Android settings to check

NOTE: Due to the variations of the Android operating system and device manufacturer implementations of Android, your settings may vary and you may not have all of these settings.

NOTE: Generally only one Android phone will connect to the vehicle when you're driving. If you notice that your auto-open / close feature fails when someone else is travelling in the vehicle with you, it could be that their phone is connecting to the vehicle, not yours. The solution would be to have their Tailwind account set up to also auto-open / close when connected to that vehicle, or simply make sure YOUR phone is the one that's connected to the vehicle, not theirs.

If suddenly one day your auto-open / close feature stops functioning, please check your phone settings as outlined below. The Android operating system on some phones will occasionally RESET some or all of the settings without notifying you, especially after an Android update.

Grant "Always" location permission. On Android phones it depends on the phone manufacturer and Android version, but you can generally find it by long tapping (tapping and holding) on the Tailwind app icon -> App Info -> Permissions -> Location Permission -> Set to "Allow all the time" and make sure "Precise location" is turned ON. This allows auto-open to work while your phone is locked. The app does NOT "always" track location, and the location data does NOT leave the phone. Location tracking is ONLY done at high accuracy when you are approaching / leaving home and is ONLY done for the sole purpose of auto-open / close.

Grant "Motion & Physical Activity" permission. This permission helps the Tailwind app confirm when you are driving a vehicle or riding a bicycle. You can find this permission by long tapping (tapping and holding) on the Tailwind app icon -> App Info -> Permissions -> Physical Activity -> Set to "Allow".

Grant "Unrestricted" battery permission. This permission helps the Tailwind app keep functioning when you are driving a vehicle. You can find this permission by long tapping (tapping and holding) on the Tailwind app icon -> App Info -> Permissions -> Battery usage -> Set to "Unrestricted".

Make sure "Do Not Disturb" is OFF.

Make sure WiFi and Bluetooth are both turned on.

Check the "unused apps" permission removals. You can find this permission by long tapping (tapping and holding) on the Tailwind app icon -> App Info. Scroll to the bottom to "Unused apps" and make sure the "Remove permissions and free up space" option is turned OFF.

In newer Android versions this can be found in the same screen (app info) and is shown as "Remove Permission if App is Unused". Please make sure this is turned OFF as Android turns it ON by default! This "feature" also deletes temporary files for the app and can cause a lot of problems. In fact, you may want to check this setting for your other apps. If you have any apps that you don't use frequently, Android is automatically going to revoke their permissions and delete files that may be critical for that app to function. With modern smart home products, many people don't open the native device app and rely on a platform such as Apple Home, Google Home, etc. In the case of Tailwind, if you don't open the app once in a while and this "feature" of Android is turned on, your auto-open will stop working and possibly the entire app will also stop working / start experiencing problems.

Make sure your "Allow background data" and "Allow app while Data saver on" settings are turned on for Tailwind. You can find this permission by long tapping (tapping and holding) on the Tailwind app icon -> App Info -> Mobile Data and Wi-Fi. Turn on "Background data" and also "Unrestricted data usage".

Be sure to check the dontkillmyapp website for specific settings that may be causing the Tailwind app to be terminated in the background on your phone. Android phone manufacturers are always competing to claim the longest battery life, and they do it at the expense of user experience.

The steps below are specific to Samsung phones

Samsung is the worst offender for stopping apps that need to run in the background. Even health apps that need to track sensor data are being shut down.

Below is our list of recommendations, but again, we recommend visiting dontkillmyapp to keep your Android phone from putting your favourite apps to sleep when you need them to work in the background.

Sleeping App Settings

1. Go to Settings on your phone
2. Tap Battery & Device Care, then tap Battery
3. Tap Background usage limits
4. Disable Put unused apps to sleep
5. Tap Sleeping Apps: make sure Tailwind is not there
6. Tap Deep sleeping apps: Tap More options (three vertical dots) and tap Remove apps 

 

Battery Saving Mode Settings

1. Go to Settings on your device 
2. Tap on Battery and Device care, then Battery
3. Disable Power saving mode

Optimize battery usage

1. Go to Settings on your device > Apps 
2. Tap on the three dots menu (⁝), then Special Access
3. Open Optimize battery usage
4. Expand the list to All apps from the drop-down filter 
5. Make sure that the toggle for the Tailwind app is switched OFF

 

Auto-optimize daily 

1. Go to Settings on your device 
2. Tap on Battery and Device care
3. Tap on the three dots menu (⁝), then Automation
4. Make sure that Auto optimize daily is disabled

Vehicle Sensor Related Checks

If you are using a Tailwind vehicle sensor, DO NOT pair it in your Bluetooth settings. This will cause problems. If you paired with the Tailwind vehicle sensor in your Bluetooth settings, please "unpair" it.

Make sure your vehicle sensor is turned on (press and hold power button for 2-3 seconds - if the LED flickers, the sensor just turned on. If the LED gives one solid flash, it just turned off). If you don't see a red LED flicker or flash under the top surface of the vehicle sensor when you press and hold the power button for 3-5 seconds, it generally means the battery is dead and needs replacing. You can find instructions on how to replace the battery here. The cheapest place we found to buy the CR2477 batteries is on Amazon. We've found these work well https://amzn.to/3f5roJR

Make sure your vehicle sensor is within range (less than 5 feet), and there is no metal between the sensor and your phone. The sensor signal also does not pass through the human body very well, so please make sure your body is not between the sensor and your phone. You can check the signal strength of your Tailwind vehicle sensor by going into the "Vehicle List" menu, and then to the specific vehicle associated with the sensor (tap the gear icon to the right of the vehicle). At the bottom of the screen you will find a button "Sensor Diagnostics" that will allow you to see the real-time signal strength of the sensor. In Sensor Diagnostics you will also see a button "Update Sensor Settings" that will allow you to adjust the range of the vehicle sensor if you find you're getting a weak signal. Keep in mind that the vehicle sensor is designed to be short range - just a few feet is typically all that is required.

Make sure your vehicle sensor firmware is up to date. You can find instructions on updating your vehicle sensor firmware here.

Diagnostic Tool

We've created a tool right in the Tailwind app to help you diagnose auto-open / auto-close issues. You'll find it in the main menu under "Diagnostic Tool". Here is a quick introductory video to that tool:

If the steps above all check out, try restarting your phone. This can often cause things to start working again, ESPECIALLY if your phone has recently updated the operating system.

If you've checked everything above and you're still not having success, please contact us at [e-mail] and one of our team members will help get things working for you.