Vendor Dashboard for Tesla - the better app for your Tesla

[Mattzilla]

Hmm. Appears that ticking "enable charge stopping" remedied the issue.

 

[SG57]

@Mattzilla , yikes that's not good. @agw reported similar strange unticking behavior recently as well. Can you reproduce the unticking? Did you restart your device or anything interesting? If a smart charging location is unchecked, then it has either A) been disabled by the user manually unchecking it or B) the Smart charging service is not currently scheduled to run. Most likely the problem is with the latter.

I can look into this to see if I can find a condition that would prevent smart charging from being scheduled or rescheduling itself.

...actually as writing that, a condition popped up. I recently added a security mechanism around unlockable features and refunds. This "feature" is to disable any active or scheduled background services for users that don't have that particular feature unlocked. The reason for this is when a user gets a refund, they can no longer interact with the feature to disable it as it's obscured intentionally by a view instructing them to unlock it. For now, a workaround for this edge case is to simply let that background service fire then disable it/turn it off from the notification button.

Why this could be causing the problem is simply Google's Billing service not being completely reliable when returning all purchased products on your account.

Anyway, I'll remove this and get an update out right now - 1.19.12. Sorry for the inconvenience!

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And sorry for the relative radio silence lately, but I've been able to make leaps and bounds on Wear support. I look forward to sharing it with you guys soon

 

[KidDoc]

I have been using this app for a few weeks now and it is absolutely amazing. The programmed AC works perfectly. The Cabin Temperature protection is awesome for running multiple errands and keeping the cabin nice & cool. I also find the widget very helpful and useful. I was hesitant to dump the $20 + dollars but it is money well spent.

 

[SG57]

@KidDoc , thanks for the support and kind words!

Stay tuned, I'm actively adding some cool stuff for the next big release:

• Widget Themes - customize the look and feel of the widgets to better suit your home screen
  
  
• Wear Support - the complete Dashboard for Tesla experience for controlling and monitoring your vehicle, but on any Android Wear device
  
  
• UI improvements - adding support for background data refreshing and caching latest vehicle data, this provides instant access to your vehicle on app launch without waiting on a load screen

I don't know which one I'm more excited about, so they're all getting equal love and attention.

 

[Drone Flyer]

iOS ready yet?

 

[scottf200]

iOS ready yet?

Maybe faster for you to ask this Apple developer to add the features you want -- Remote S -- Remote S for Tesla on the App Store

 

[SG57]

@Drone Flyer, no iOS love yet unfortunately. I plan to expand once I'm happy with the state of the app on Android.

 

[baxster]

@BerTX , apologies but I've had it on my list to improve the implementation of Cabin Temperature Protection for awhile now. As is, what you're experiencing is likely an artifact (read: problem) introduced from the many iterations and improvements made to the background services over the course of developing smart charging and later re-implementing Camper Mode.

I am happy to fix it up ASAP, but I'd like your guys' input if you'd be so kind to come to the ideal implementation as there is a tricky situation I'm not sure how to handle.

If you ignore the fact it might not be working at the moment, the current implementation of cabin temperature protection works as follows:

• Every 3 minutes check the vehicle's climate state's inside temperature, then...
  • If the inside temp is not provided due to temperature sensors being off, we start the HVAC. This is required to wake up the temperature sensors in order to get an inside temperature reading, it cannot be avoided unfortunately.
    
    
  • If the inside temp is within range of the min and max temperature settings, do nothing.
    
    
  • If the inside temp is out of range of the min and max temperature settings, then...
    • Calculate the target temperature
      • If we need heating, the target temp is the min temp setting + 3.0* C
        (we move this up a bit because the HVAC is not that precise and we should avoid edge cases)
      • If we need cooling, the target temp is the max temp setting - 3.0* C.
    • If the HVAC temperatures are not already set to the target temperature, then set the HVAC temperatures to the target temperature.
      
      
    • If the HVAC is not already started, then start the HVAC

That's it. Does that seem acceptable? I feel like the frequency should be longer, maybe 7.5 minutes instead?

As for the tricky situation, I used to actually stop the HVAC when the inside temp is within range of the min and max temperature settings. The problem I ran into was the HVAC was constantly starting and stopping every 3 minutes because when it's 100 degrees out, 3 minutes will heat the car higher than 3* C. So the HVAC would start to cool the car down, then shut off just to have the car's temperature rise outside the range again and start up again in 3 minutes. Is this frequent starting and stopping and temperature fluctuating acceptable?

I removed this because the way I figured, if the ambient temperatures outside are causing the inside temperatures to reside outside the min and max temperature settings, then the HVAC simply needs to run at all times if you want to keep the temperatures within range.

Anyway, your thoughts would be appreciated. I'll fix the service to actually work again in the meantime.

@SG57

I'm thinking that maybe the thought process here is flawed. But there may be a limitation in API capabilities.

I agree with check cabin temperature reach x minutes (3, 7, whatever).

But why not just set a target temp instead of range. So I'd say 75. You can +/- 3 degrees from that for your trigger.

If temp >78 or temp <72, turn on HVAC Auto mode at 75.

I'd assume Auto mode will control great a/c and fan speed so that we don't way overshot target.

When you check again in x minutes the cycle would repeat.

 

[sku100]

@SG57 the app is great and the steady improvements are even better! Much faster than Tesla updates.
I wonder if the the cabin temperature protection and camper mode shouldn't just be a single setting? As I look at the two options, they really do the exact same thing for me in the summer weather. I'm still trying to figure out why I would use one control vs. the other. Is there a significant battery energy savings offered by the second (protection) mode?

 

[GarrickS]

I did the one day trial this past Saturday for the "Keep the dog alive" AC protection and it didn't work out so well. If at any point the phone looses connection then it just gives up? I tried both AC protection and Camper mode. If I, say, connect and disconnect to wifi, then the app would just fail and never retry. I need the app to try harder to keep my dog alive

I also got the warning about battery protection being enabled. Is that the problem?

 

[SG57]

@baxster , that's a good idea, but wouldn't it save battery to set your range to 65F - 80F, then if it's 90F outside it cools it down to 80F instead of a target temp of say 75 F? Perhaps the threshold setting could remedy this by giving it a +/- of 5 F in this case eh. What do you think of @sku100 's camper mode-cabin temp. protection merger? My thoughts below.

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@sku100 , thanks for the kind words! I have a lot coming up here soon as well, some really cool upgrades like Wear support, super fast load times, and all around improvements you guys will love all currently being beta tested so stay tuned.

To your point, that's a good idea and I've thought about that actually. Ultimately - Cabin Temp. Protection throttles the HVAC depending on the cabin temp and your desired settings, where as camper mode simply always runs the HVAC.

Do we think there is a way to merge these 2 ideas? Perhaps remove Cabin temp protection and replace it with an optional camper mode setting that might look like this: "Target temp. 72 F +/- 3 F" like @baxster's idea that when disabled the HVAC always runs, but when enabled it won't necessarily run the HVAC if the temperature is within the target temp and its threshold? I kind of like that actually. Would this sufficiently replace the existing cabin temp. protection feature so the functionality is still possible? Any scenarios that would break this? Let me know what you guys think, I'm happy to implement this if we like it. @agw your thoughts as well if you'd like!

Also, should we do this, I believe Cabin Temp. Protection should actually replace Camper Mode as the latter isn't as descriptive as the former and what it does. So the new feature would look like this with Camper Mode no more:

Cabin Temperature Protection

• [✓] Keep temperature at 72° F +- 5° F
• [✓] Turn on at 10:00 PM
• [✓] Turn off at 6:00 AM
• [✓] Turn off if car battery drops below 25%

So Camper Mode, AKA always running the HVAC, is possible by unchecking the "Keep temperature at XX" settings, and Cabin temp protection is possible by checking this setting, plus Cabin temp. protection would gain the other cool stuff camper mode had, like car battery percent and start/end times.

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@GarrickS , that's a valid point. I agree, Camper Mode shouldn't stop when it fails but instead try again a short while later. Sorry for the current implementation, I'm actively looking to improve it to earn your confidence, take a look at the discussion above about merging cabin temperature protection and camper mode, I'd love some more input to perfect the functionality.

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As for the battery optimizations (protection) warning you saw, yes that absolutely will cause background services to fail when your device sleeps, be it camper mode, plug-in reminder, smart charging, etc. Likely this is the reason for your bad experience earlier.

Starting with Android Marshmallow, a new feature was implemented in Android called Battery Optimizations that restricts apps from operating when the device is in deep sleep ("doze" mode) to lengthen battery life. These restrictions include preventing all network connections, so if you have Camper Mode running and your device enters deep sleep, the camper mode service will fail when it attempts to communicate with your vehicle every 15 minutes to turn the HVAC on. You can disable this battery optimization "feature" for just the Dashboard for Tesla app so background services can work properly even in deep sleep. To do so, view the Settings screen in the app and scroll down to Background Services and tap "Battery Optimizations". You'll be taken to an Android settings menu where you can find the Dashboard for Tesla app and select "Don't optimize". Despite the misleading setting, the app will only ever awake (screen off still) to do background service work then go right back to sleep so there is negligible impact on your battery life.

 

[BerTX]

@baxster , that's a good idea, but wouldn't it save battery to set your range to 65F - 80F, then if it's 90F outside it cools it down to 80F instead of a target temp of say 75 F? Perhaps the threshold setting could remedy this by giving it a +/- of 5 F in this case eh. What do you think of @sku100 's camper mode-cabin temp. protection merger? My thoughts below.

-

@sku100 , thanks for the kind words! I have a lot coming up here soon as well, some really cool upgrades like Wear support, super fast load times, and all around improvements you guys will love all currently being beta tested so stay tuned.

To your point, that's a good idea and I've thought about that actually. Ultimately - Cabin Temp. Protection throttles the HVAC depending on the cabin temp and your desired settings, where as camper mode simply always runs the HVAC.

Do we think there is a way to merge these 2 ideas? Perhaps remove Cabin temp protection and replace it with an optional camper mode setting that might look like this: "Target temp. 72 F +/- 3 F" like @baxster's idea that when disabled the HVAC always runs, but when enabled it won't necessarily run the HVAC if the temperature is within the target temp and its threshold? I kind of like that actually. Would this sufficiently replace the existing cabin temp. protection feature so the functionality is still possible? Any scenarios that would break this? Let me know what you guys think, I'm happy to implement this if we like it. @agw your thoughts as well if you'd like!

Also, should we do this, I believe Cabin Temp. Protection should actually replace Camper Mode as the latter isn't as descriptive as the former and what it does. So the new feature would look like this with Camper Mode no more:

Cabin Temperature Protection

• [✓] Keep temperature at 72° F +- 5° F
• [✓] Turn on at 10:00 PM
• [✓] Turn off at 6:00 AM
• [✓] Turn off if car battery drops below 25%

So Camper Mode, AKA always running the HVAC, is possible by unchecking the "Keep temperature at XX" settings, and Cabin temp protection is possible by checking this setting, plus Cabin temp. protection would gain the other cool stuff camper mode had, like car battery percent and start/end times.

-

@GarrickS , that's a valid point. I agree, Camper Mode shouldn't stop when it fails but instead try again a short while later. Sorry for the current implementation, I'm actively looking to improve it to earn your confidence, take a look at the discussion above about merging cabin temperature protection and camper mode, I'd love some more input to perfect the functionality.

-

As for the battery optimizations (protection) warning you saw, yes that absolutely will cause background services to fail when your device sleeps, be it camper mode, plug-in reminder, smart charging, etc. Likely this is the reason for your bad experience earlier.

Starting with Android Marshmallow, a new feature was implemented in Android called Battery Optimizations that restricts apps from operating when the device is in deep sleep ("doze" mode) to lengthen battery life. These restrictions include preventing all network connections, so if you have Camper Mode running and your device enters deep sleep, the camper mode service will fail when it attempts to communicate with your vehicle every 15 minutes to turn the HVAC on. You can disable this battery optimization "feature" for just the Dashboard for Tesla app so background services can work properly even in deep sleep. To do so, view the Settings screen in the app and scroll down to Background Services and tap "Battery Optimizations". You'll be taken to an Android settings menu where you can find the Dashboard for Tesla app and select "Don't optimize". Despite the misleading setting, the app will only ever awake (screen off still) to do background service work then go right back to sleep so there is negligible impact on your battery life.

I like the idea of merging the cabin temp protection and camper mode, except for a couple of things:

Some people are looking specifically for something called camper mode. If you merge the two, you should still keep the term in there somewhere i.e. "Cabin Temperature Protection / Camper mode"

I am not too sure about the +/- aspect of the cabin temp in actual use. I would use it when outside temps are extreme in one direction or the other. If it is hot outside, I don't want the inside of the car to get too hot. I really don't care if it gets too cold for some reason, and I don't want the heater coming on to warm it up.

Mostly I just want it to work

 

[SG57]

@BerTX , those are both fair points. I do agree it'd be nice to keep Camper Mode as its name is iconic to Tesla owners, I'll come up with a solution for this no problem.

You also have a point that people generally will set their target temp to exactly where they want the cabin temperature to be and can adjust accordingly to how much battery they want to use when running the HVAC colder/hotter in opposite weathers.

I'll see if I can get something put together today. I won't wait to bundle this change with the new release.

 

[scottf200]

Cabin Temperature Protection

• [✓] Keep temperature at 72° F +- 0° F <-- set to 0 for exact temp?
• [✓] Turn on at 10:00 PM
• [✓] Turn off at 6:00 AM
• [✓] Turn off if car battery drops below 25%

You also have a point that people generally will set their target temp to exactly where they want the cabin temperature to be and can adjust accordingly to how much battery they want to use when running the HVAC colder/hotter in opposite weathers. I'll see if I can get something put together today. I won't wait to bundle this change with the new release.

For exact temp wouldn't "+-0" work in your example.

 

[GarrickS]

I just scrolled down the payments tab. I didn't realize you are nickel-and-diming each feature! Forget it, I'm out.

 

[scottf200]

I just scrolled down the payments tab. I didn't realize you are nickel-and-diming each feature! Forget it, I'm out.

Most I've paid for any Android app ... BUT worth every nickle and much more. I use it everyday. Heck I spent way more than the cost of it on a very modest meal last night with my wife and son. Spent way more than the cost of it for some drinks and snacks for our upcoming roadtrip ... which this app will take a hand in charging my car to 100% right at my designated departure time (and have the HVAC running just before I leave). It is a ridiculous good deal for the features it has AND the responsiveness of the author.

 

[sku100]

For exact temp wouldn't "+-0" work in your example.

I agree that +-0 would solve the exact temp issue. Maybe there could be a check box for Camper mode which eliminates the +- option to target an exact temperature; i.e. when Camper mode is checked the +- option grays out.

 

[sku100]

I just scrolled down the payments tab. I didn't realize you are nickel-and-diming each feature! Forget it, I'm out.

It's a good app with GREAT developer support. And, it does appear to be evolving more rapidly than Tesla updates. It's worth the cost to me.

 

[BerTX]

I just scrolled down the payments tab. I didn't realize you are nickel-and-diming each feature! Forget it, I'm out.

This is just so much the opposite of the way I feel about this. I am delighted that I don't have to pay for functions I for which have absolutely no use.

 

[SG57]

I understand cost can be daunting for an app, but it's the nature of any specialized, niche app to ask you pay more to subsidize for a limited audience size, also they may ask you pay more if the supply is limited (no competition) but the demand is high. Honestly I feel it is the nature of any paid app to price things with respect to their expected audience and the current supply and demand.

In this case, there are many limiting factors on the expected audience size - you must own a Tesla, you must own an Android, you must know a Tesla app(s) even exist, you must be willing to trust a 3rd party, and you must be willing to pay. Run the general population through all these filters and you wind up with a very small slice of customers to support your development & operating costs compared to what a generic app or game could expect.

The extra feature packages were implemented as a way to help you avoid paying for the features you otherwise don/tcan/t use as @BerTX has said, and offering these as extra packages help support development & operating costs of these extra features for future sustainability. This system also creates an incentive for me to develop cool new features that come up, even if they're niche, knowing only those that wish to use it end up paying for the development costs. Had these extra feature packages not been a thing and I lumped it all into a single access purchase, the price for access would slowly grow higher to help subsidize for the development of these extra features and only the new customers would be paying for it which doesn't seem fair. An alternative to the package based add-ons would be a subscription so development and operating costs are covered for future sustainability, and the app actually started with this payment model but the backlash was too great and I migrated to a pay-for-what-you-want model. I'm actually bringing the subscription model back in this next release while preserving the existing payment model so users can opt to purchase whatever they like. The subscription grants you full access to everything present and future so long as you have a subscription. For some, it may be more cost effective to do a subscription if you only plan to have the app for a few months but want all the extra features in the mean time.

For example, Smart Charging took a solid few months from December to February to develop and iron out all the kinks until it became a reliable useful feature viable for release. Currently, Wear Support has proved to be a huge undertaking as expected as it's literally a completely separate standalone app being developed that interfaces with the companion app. The expected customer base for this feature extends the existing filters, and then filters once again to only those that have bought the companion app and have a Wear device(s). I absolutely think those with Wear devices will love the addition, it's incredibly fast, convenient and useful. As is, you can think of the Standard Access purchase as granting all the same features as the official Tesla app plus home-screen Widgets as a free add-on.

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Speaking of widgets, just finishing up Widget settings that allow you to configure the look-and-feel of the widgets, check it out:

The text color is configurable, but black and white made the change stand out. Gonna finish this up then get started on the Camper Mode/Cabin Temp Protection merger.