Verkada Pass App Troubleshooting

Check these if your Verkada Pass app isn't working as expected. 

Table of Contents

• Pass App not Reliably Opening Doors/Gates
• Pass App Draining Battery

Pass App not Reliably Opening Doors/Gates

iOS

1. Enable Permissions: Ensure Bluetooth is on and Location Services are set to Always On in your iOS Settings.
2. NFC / Apple Wallet Interference: If you are receiving "keycard denied" events, your phone's NFC chip is likely being read by the Verkada hardware. Disable NFC on your phone while accessing doors.
3. Toggle Bluetooth: Turn Bluetooth off in your iOS settings, wait 10 seconds, and turn it back on, or uninstall and reinstall the app from the App store.
4. If Bluetooth unlock is still not working use the in-app manual unlock button.

Android

1. Restart your Phone: Android devices may require a full reboot after app installation to initialize Bluetooth unlock.
2. NFC / Google Wallet Interference: If you are receiving "keycard denied" events, your phone's NFC chip is likely being read by the Verkada hardware. Disable NFC on your phone while accessing doors.
3. Toggle Bluetooth: Turn Bluetooth off in your settings, wait 10 seconds, and turn it back on, or uninstall and reinstall the app from the App store
4. Proximity: Bluetooth can occasionally be slow; hold your phone closer to the reader for 2 to 3 seconds.
5. If Bluetooth unlock is still not working use the in-app manual unlock button.

Pass App Draining Battery

iOS

• Downgrade location permission if you don't need hands-free Bluetooth unlock. Go to Settings → Privacy & Security → Location Services → Verkada Pass. If you're fine tapping the app open before you unlock a door, switch from "Always" to "While Using the App." You lose walk-up/background unlocking, but you eliminate the constant background location + beacon scanning that's likely your biggest drain.
• Turn off Background App Refresh for Verkada Pass (Settings → General → Background App Refresh), if you're okay opening the app manually each time you need to unlock or check intercom calls.
• Disable Bluetooth unlock in the app itself and rely on the Nearby Doors feature— this avoids continuous BLE scanning.
• Check Settings → Battery to confirm how much background activity is actually attributed to the app before/after changes, so you can see if it's working.

Android

• Don't exempt it from battery optimization. Ironically, letting Android's standard battery management restrict the app's background activity (rather than adding it to an "unrestricted"/battery-saver exception list) will reduce drain — you'll just have some added delay when the app needs to wake up.
• Turn off Bluetooth when you don't anticipate needing door access (or use a Quick Settings toggle/automation to enable Bluetooth only during commute/work hours), since Bluetooth unlock is the feature driving most of the background radio use.
• Reduce Bluetooth scan frequency indirectly by limiting the app's background data/battery usage in Android's per-app battery settings (usually under "Unrestricted / Optimized / Restricted" — set to "Optimized").

If the app continues to negatively affect your battery, you may just have to fully quit the app when not in use. That will save your battery, but the trade-off is you'll need to manually launch the app when you want to unlock a door or gate.