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Apple Music Users - UI Limitations

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Wireless Carplay uses Wifi (Bluetooth is used to establish the session, but doesn't have the bandwidth for screen mirroring). I have no doubt that Tesla's hardware is easily capable of handling both wired and wireless Carplay.
USB 2.0 datarate is plenty for Carplay.
It could be just another V9 app, or a pull-up window like the current music player. Other automakers run it in a windows as well, no problem.
That's because Apple didn't allow 3rd party navigation apps to support Carplay until recently. At least Tesla's navigation was always a viable alternative.
But they are not offering any good alternative for music and many other apps. Maybe sometime in the future there will be enough cars out there running the Tesla platform to make a rich app store economically viable for 3rd party developers. But in the present we keep fumbling around awkwardly with our phones while driving.

Yeah I knew Wi-Fi was used after Bluetooth, but regardless, only BMW supports that, there's gotta be a reason.

I agree they COULD make it work, but trust me, it'd be a signifcant UI rework. The current media player was designed around everything else, the split screen that exists, with CarPlay, they'd be forced into a much more vertical 8:3, 16:9, 5:3 type display which would make the rest of the UI (existing Nav, Car Menu, etc.) have to be reworked.

I agree on the Waze/CarPlay, I was blaming Apple solely on being slow. It took WAY too long for that to happen. As such, I've lost a lot of hope for Apple developing features out in a timely fashion, and with such limited third party apps, CarPlay just helps with some basic phone functions which most cars already do (not Tesla though).

My basic point which I should've summarized better is that outside of Waze, the rest of the apps are pretty non-worthwhile and the reason everyone wants CarPlay on Tesla is to basically allow most basic controls for music playing, text messages, etc. All of that is easily supported without CarPlay and wouldn't be as disjointed. I find my Cadillac and Volvo user experience for text messaging, etc. over BlueTooth to be better and more streamlined than CarPlay's, so I'd rather see Tesla do it right than CarPlay, my honest opinion. I agree entirely that they're not providing the alternatives, but I humbly do not think CarPlay is as good as developing the alternatives and frankly providing the most basic controls that exist in other cars (namely: iPod controls, text messaging, etc.). My 2011 Audi S4 did all of that perfectly fine.
 
Yeah I knew Wi-Fi was used after Bluetooth, but regardless, only BMW supports that, there's gotta be a reason.
Recent Mercedes cars with the MBUX system support it too. There are also some aftermarket radios. But personally I'd be perfectly happy with wired Carplay, which is supported by dozens of automakers and thus apparently not hard to implement,
I agree they COULD make it work, but trust me, it'd be a signifcant UI rework. The current media player was designed around everything else, the split screen that exists, with CarPlay, they'd be forced into a much more vertical 8:3, 16:9, 5:3 type display which would make the rest of the UI (existing Nav, Car Menu, etc.) have to be reworked.
Sorry, I think you're making a mountain out of a mole hill. Many others have done it, it's not wizardry. If anything, the real estate on Tesla's big touch screen should make it easier for them.
I agree on the Waze/CarPlay, I was blaming Apple solely on being slow. It took WAY too long for that to happen. As such, I've lost a lot of hope for Apple developing features out in a timely fashion, and with such limited third party apps, CarPlay just helps with some basic phone functions which most cars already do (not Tesla though).
This has nothing to do with feature development. It's a policy. Android Auto is much more liberal in that sense (at the cost of a sometimes less consistent UI experience).
My basic point which I should've summarized better is that outside of Waze, the rest of the apps are pretty non-worthwhile
I couldn't disagree more. For example, I listen to podcasts or audiobooks all the time when driving and it's a real pain in the Tesla currently.
and the reason everyone wants CarPlay on Tesla is to basically allow most basic controls for music playing, text messages, etc. All of that is easily supported without CarPlay and wouldn't be as disjointed.
Unless you happen to be an Apple Music subscriber like the OP ...
 
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I couldn't disagree more. For example, I listen to podcasts or audiobooks all the time when driving and it's a real pain in the Tesla currently.
..

Podcasts kind of fell into the basic Apple functionality I eluded to, but I admit, I don't use the Podcast app, and I admit that is a worthwhile use case. We'll agree to disagree on a few things, but I'm not making excuses, I was just sharing my opinion that having used CarPlay since 2015, I don't think it's been that great and hasn't shown improvement over time to make me think it's worth it (thankfully Waze no. I also think you're over-simplifying the UI experience. Most cars just give up the entire central NAV display to CarPlay, but those cars ALSO have instrument panel and basic controls for headlights/wipers/etc. While not a function issue, I also think the current Tesla display looks elegant and intuitive, throwing a random CarPlay display in one of the corners won't look visually appealing, and I think that's important and chief to Tesla's overall design goals. Additionally, I don't think CarPlay is incredibly intuitive in any deployment now, particularly around how it interacts with other car systems and how it doesn't respawn to apps.

CarPlay would however solve many shortcomings in Tesla's infotainment today that are inexcusable for a car of this class and tech in 2018. I'm also critical that Tesla is omitting very basic functionality/integrations with smart phones and other services. I'd take CarPlay over nothing in a heartbeat, especially if wireless, but I'd also be totally fine and would still like to have a well integrated bluetooth experience, text messaging and BT audio iPod Controls. Despite having CarPlay in both cars, I avoid it and much prefer the control interfaces of the built-in stuff. I only use it for the few things it does well (Waze and non-wireless audio streaming).
 
I found a workaround for Apple Music. Since the Tesla now has a web browser you can just go to this website - Apple Music Player and see all your playlists and should be able to play music from there. You can't search, add new music, or use radio stations on there yet. But it has a better interface than just using Bluetooth from your iPhone. I don't have a Tesla model 3 yet but plan on getting one this year. If anyone is able to try this please let me know if it works. :)
 
I found a workaround for Apple Music. Since the Tesla now has a web browser you can just go to this website - Apple Music Player and see all your playlists and should be able to play music from there. You can't search, add new music, or use radio stations on there yet. But it has a better interface than just using Bluetooth from your iPhone. I don't have a Tesla model 3 yet but plan on getting one this year. If anyone is able to try this please let me know if it works. :)


If that website somehow sends a command to your phone to play a playlist via BT to the car that might work.

If you're expecting the website to play music in the browser- it won't.
 
I found a workaround for Apple Music. Since the Tesla now has a web browser you can just go to this website - Apple Music Player and see all your playlists and should be able to play music from there. You can't search, add new music, or use radio stations on there yet. But it has a better interface than just using Bluetooth from your iPhone. I don't have a Tesla model 3 yet but plan on getting one this year. If anyone is able to try this please let me know if it works. :)

I'm guessing you've never used the Tesla browser ;)
 
I use the "Hey Siri" function of my 10s and can select music and podcasts that way. No need to hit a button or touch the phone. I do have to leave the phone uncovered in the charging area for the phone to hear me, but it seems to work just fine. Only issue is that Tesla doesn't have a 30 second skip button which I use on my phone to skip ads in podcasts.

Don't get me wrong, I would prefer CarPlay integration in the Model 3, but for now this works.
 
I agree, the charging makes quick access to the phone a pain. Like you, I’ll use the second port for TeslaCam. Has anyone found a simple single charging pad? The Nomad and Jeta are nice but way too expensive, and do yak ohone charging. There must be a cheap but reasonable enough pad that fits?

I bought the Evannex Wireless Phone Charger for $89 and it has worked great! I only plug one side in so I can use the other for dashcam occasionally. Super easy to access if I need to and it's nice to be able to have my lifeproof case on my iphone while charging wirelessly. Most people think it came with the car, that's how nice Evannex does with their design and fit! :) I tried a cheap amazon one at first and it didn't hold a charge at all, so that's why I went for a more expensive one.
 

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No I haven't, I'll have to try it the next time I'm at the Tesla store. but I'm guessing it doesn't work very well. I read somewhere else it won't even play sound. Ahh well, maybe they'll fix that.

I'm afraid the Tesla browser is extremely poor. Don't be fooled by the nice big screen and any reasonable expectations based on iPad and other decent tablets. This is a candidate for the world's worst web browsing experience! Fortunately the rest of the UI is pretty slick (excepting the media player) and the cars are amazing overall, but the web browser is a pathetic piece of dysfunctional software best avoided at all cost.
 
I bought the Evannex Wireless Phone Charger for $89 and it has worked great! I only plug one side in so I can use the other for dashcam occasionally. Super easy to access if I need to and it's nice to be able to have my lifeproof case on my iphone while charging wirelessly. Most people think it came with the car, that's how nice Evannex does with their design and fit! :) I tried a cheap amazon one at first and it didn't hold a charge at all, so that's why I went for a more expensive one.

Nice solution!
 
Well there's a few things in regards to CarPlay that might make it difficult for Tesla, and having used CarPlay for over three years, it's got it's shortcoming.

Possible Tesla Issues:
1. CarPlay requires some specific technical capabilities, I'm sure Tesla has the horsepower, but who knows since they didn't design their processing for CarPlay specifically.

2. CarPlay in almost all forms today requires cabling in. Only BMW has CarPlay over BlueTooth, not sure the technical requirements for Wireless CarPlay, but I'm astonished more manufacturers don't have it so I'm thinking there might be a technical requirement, again one that maybe Tesla didn't design in. On the wiring in part that everyone seems to support, that sounds easy and we do know the USB ports are more than just charging ports (the front ones at least) as TeslaCam and USB Audio works, but there may be other technical limitations. The datarate for USB may not be high enough, etc.
Well there's a few things in regards to CarPlay that might make it difficult for Tesla, and having used CarPlay for over three years, it's got it's shortcoming.

Possible Tesla Issues:
1. CarPlay requires some specific technical capabilities, I'm sure Tesla has the horsepower, but who knows since they didn't design their processing for CarPlay specifically.

2. CarPlay in almost all forms today requires cabling in. Only BMW has CarPlay over BlueTooth, not sure the technical requirements for Wireless CarPlay, but I'm astonished more manufacturers don't have it so I'm thinking there might be a technical requirement, again one that maybe Tesla didn't design in. On the wiring in part that everyone seems to support, that sounds easy and we do know the USB ports are more than just charging ports (the front ones at least) as TeslaCam and USB Audio works, but there may be other technical limitations. The datarate for USB may not be high enough, etc.

While I agree on CarPlay, why can't we at least have good-old basic iPod compatibility? So I can plug in my phone and stream music etc via USB. Sheesh, even my daughters 7 year old Honda has THAT.

I confess I don't get Teslas logic here. Everyone raves about the audio quality of the sound system, but iPhone use with Tesla sucks:

1. Bluetooth streaming from iPhone is pretty awful, since iPhone doesn't support AptX, so the car+phone negotiate down to the crummy basic BT codec.
2. I can't plug my phone in, since there is no iPod support on Tesla.
3. I CAN use USB, but the UI is pretty bad, and I have to convert my ENTIRE music collection from ALAC (which Tesla can't read, apparently).

So I have a great audio system in my car, but it does its best to NOT let me stream good quality audio. Android users seem better off since at least they have AptX support. The whole thing seem illogical:

-- Charging: Wired USB only, no wireless built-in
-- Streaming: Wireless BT only, no wired built-in.
-- Wait ... what?

--Tim
 
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While I agree on CarPlay, why can't we at least have good-old basic iPod compatibility? So I can plug in my phone and stream music etc via USB. Sheesh, even my daughters 7 year old Honda has THAT.

I confess I don't get Teslas logic here. Everyone raves about the audio quality of the sound system, but iPhone use with Tesla sucks:

1. Bluetooth streaming from iPhone is pretty awful, since iPhone doesn't support AptX, so the car+phone negotiate down to the crummy basic BT codec.
2. I can't plug my phone in, since there is no iPod support on Tesla.
3. I CAN use USB, but the UI is pretty bad, and I have to convert my ENTIRE music collection from ALAC (which Tesla can't read, apparently).

So I have a great audio system in my car, but it does its best to NOT let me stream good quality audio. Android users seem better off since at least they have AptX support. The whole thing seem illogical:

-- Charging: Wired USB only, no wireless built-in
-- Streaming: Wireless BT only, no wired built-in.
-- Wait ... what?

--Tim

Completely agree on your criticisms. The issues you mention are long term and it's clear that Tesla isn't interested in changing despite plenty of feedback from customers. It wouldn't be a big deal to allow the USB plugs to charge and transmit data from the phone and have an interface on the display to access the music on the phone. Clearly they can feed data from the USB port and clearly they can feed it to the USB port since USB sticks can be read and written to.

Mentioning CarPlay seems to be a recipe for starting a spirited pissing match on TMC...the reality is that if Tesla provided functionality that did most of the basic stuff that CarPlay (and Android Auto) gets you I think that most people would be highly satisfied with that. Most of us aren't fixated on CarPlay itself but rather having the integration that it gets you.

For the wireless charging take a look at this thread: Review: Magnetic Power 2 XVIDA Qi Charger - The perfect Model 3 mount?

I bought one of the devices and it gets me wireless charging as well as a nice mounting solution for my phone. In part because of Tesla's sketchy integration with my phone I need the phone to be visible and this gets it done. I'm sure there are other options out there with similar functionality other than this specific product so it is worth poking around and perhaps finding something even better. If you do please share it back to the rest of us!
 
Brand new owner, my car is now getting tint, chrome delete and others so can't play around with it. During my limited 1 hour with it today, I struggled to get Bluetooth audio to give me enough controls to imagine using Apple Music regularly. On the contrary, I was quite happy with the audio quality and selection of Slacker as far as radio, so I can probably live with that. However, many questions for those who regularly use Apple Music and/or Bluetooth with an iPhone...

I was able to easily play my last played/current playlist. Album art and moving between songs in the playlist worked. That's about where it ended. Seemingly missing were:

1. No way to put random play mode on
2. No way to navigate through playlists
3. No list mode to quickly find a song in the playlist
4. No search option
5. No ability to switch playlists
6. No ability to switch to Apple Music Radio from Playlist

I realize I can do all of this on the phone, but that's quite distracting and requires FaceID, grabbing the phone from the cubby, etc. I imagine I might be able to Siri some of that stuff, but I find that more stressful than grabbing the phone. My Volvo and Cadillac provide pretty comprehensive access to change playlists, look for songs, etc. through both on-screen UIs and steering wheel controls, I couldn't find anything similar. Am I missing anything, I find it barely usable except to start a playlist before driving and just live with it and maybe skip a song or two.

Any tips for a new user?

Thanks
2 words, "Hey Siri". I do everything using the steering wheel right button to go to the next song or voice commands while driving. I talk directly to the iPhone to all of the above.