Firmware 8.0

[Lightmatrix]

Brennan Boblett, Tesla's lead UI designer since 2010, left in late 2015 or early 2016 to work for Faraday Future. He left FF in May of this year to work for stealth projects at Uber. Anyone who wants to know why Tesla's software UI has gone down the toilet in recent months now know why. Boblett previously worked as a senior designer at Apple, which explains why version 6.X was so much better than anything that came after it. Someone actually used brain cells to design 6.X and thought about how the UI would be used in a vehicle where a minimum of distractions is imperative.

Today I have to interact much more with the 17" display and it does not offer me the same level of information that it used to. What previously took one touch now takes 2-3 touches. Version 8 is a big step backwards in usability for anyone who has UI design experience. I worked as a UI designer in the late 90s and have 15 years of high-level graphic design and branding experience under my belt. Version 8 does not seem to be based on any solid UI design principles.

Take a look at Boblett's own philosophies when he worked at Tesla in this article from 2013, you will see that much of this has been abandoned:

If you were to use five adjectives to describe Tesla's cockpit UX strategy going forward, what would they be?

The first word would be, “innovative.” Tesla has deliberately broken new ground with this design and we aspire to continually push the boundaries of in-car UI and UX.

“Intelligent” is another adjective that’s important because it’s not enough to just do something new for the sake of being new: it needs to be well-conceived—born out of an idea that is user-centric from the beginning and one that adapts to the user’s tastes and behaviors over time. Tesla embodies that. Our firmware platform is just as impressive and technologically advanced as the car’s exterior design language.

“Inspiring.” Good design should evoke a positive emotion. When you open the sunroof in our car from the touchscreen, it’s hard not to smile and relish in its simplicity and intuitiveness as you swipe your finger across the glass to drag the sunroof to the desired location, with precision down to the exact percentage.

“Sophisticated.” This is a premium car and, therefore, it also should have a premium user experience. That starts, first and foremost, with the vehicle being smart on your behalf and offering solutions that are likely what you need at that given moment.

“Empowering.” Nothing is compromised in a Model S, not even the UI. The software adapts to each driver’s preferences and configuration. You get to choose what “apps” you want displayed on either screen that may be beneficial for your drive, while having common controls (like climate) quickly accessible at all times.​

Maybe you need to go back to what you did before! They sure need it.

 

[glh280]

It seems that my 2 biggest issues have been addressed.

1) Slacker plays partial song after starting the car. Even if I just get out for a second and get back in.
2) Garage door closing. If I manually press the button it will still try to do the auto-close resulting in opening the door again.
The garage door sometimes tries to close as I am pulling the car in. I have had it hit the sunroof multiple times. I had to turn garage door control off on Summon. It would sometimes pull the car half way in and close the door on itself.

I hope they fix them with an OTA update soon.

 

[Racerx22b]

It seems that my 2 biggest issues have been addressed.

1) Slacker plays partial song after starting the car. Even if I just get out for a second and get back in.
2) Garage door closing. If I manually press the button it will still try to do the auto-close resulting in opening the door again.
The garage door sometimes tries to close as I am pulling the car in. I have had it hit the sunroof multiple times. I had to turn garage door control off on Summon. It would sometimes pull the car half way in and close the door on itself.

I hope they fix them with an OTA update soon.

I get the same issue with slacker skipping to next song before completion of current song. It does seem to happen after "starting" the car. Didn't really think about that before seeing this post.

 

[smilepak]

My center console goes on random reboot non-stop for a whole day. Called service center and they said it is a bug in 8.0. Been waiting for a patch release since last week Thursday. Wierd haven't seen reboot since that day.

 

[hmmm]

“Intelligent” is another adjective that’s important because it’s not enough to just do something new for the sake of being new: it needs to be well-conceived—born out of an idea that is user-centric from the beginning [...]​

8.0 UI "team", are you listening?

 

[Casavant]

Thank you for that one! I had to google it and discovered that my car is Pulchritudinous

... Something V8 isn,t... But V8.1 most certainly will be

 

[pdq]

For me, 8.0 is a disappointment in some areas for me.

Here are my gripes:

• AP is MUCH less stable. I now ping pong all the time.
• It seems to have a nervous breakdown when cresting a hill.
• I get three times more nags than before. Yes, I have been counting.
• The lane hugging makes me very nervous. Rather than moving away from large vehicles, it tries to snug up against them. Isn't that the exact opposite of what it should do? It's unnerving.
• I do not feel nearly as safe using it as I did pre 8.0 and really, from the second update. Sorry. I forget the rev #. And I have stopped trusting it to the admittedly limited degree that I did before.
  
• Yesterday my center screen rebooted three times in the span of 15 minutes. That has never happened before. Boy oh boy is that annoying. The only change I had made was to add the A and/or B trip meters to the IP. I took them off and it hasn't done it since. Looks like unstable code to me!

What I like (and don't...)

• I actually like the new media interface for everything except the USB, which just plain stinks! I mean, come on guys. Were ya thinkin' at all? Do ya really not think that users would want music to play in some sort of predictable fashion or in the way that the artist wanted when they mixed the album?
• I actually like the flat look of the climate and top row. But I really miss the pre 7 climate status that used to show. I really like the loo of the new seat heaters. Lame. I know.
• I like the look of the full screen Nav. But I find having to tap the screen to bring up the top row inconvenient. I change screens all the time while in nav. It is yet another tap that I need to make. Inefficient use of my supremely delicate index finger (poor thing).
• The swipe down to go to home or work is convenient for get started out of somewhere that I don't know. But not by much.
• The change to the A/C fan in recirc has me flummoxed. I really can't tell what it is doing. I have clearly heard it change vent settings to lord only knows what when iIactually have it in manual A/C, recirc and vent control, with auto fan. I don't know where the air is going. I only know that it is not going where I asked it to, which to the dash vents to cool my obviously hot head! Oy!

As Bugs would say, "that's all folks!"

CHG-ON
I agree with your gripes, especially autopilot -- it seems worse; I can not find a single perceptible improvement.

Let me add a few:
-- now, when I open my door my radio comes off mute, and starts playing. Given I rarely use the radio, this is annoying
-- now, if I use the phone, when I hang up, the radio also comes off mute -- annoying
-- in getting V.8, various control settings were changed. I've seen this before to the point that I now go back and check everything. In V.8, it disabled my auto high beam setting, and it also muted the voice controls in NAV
-- the HVAC seems to have no auto sensing function. When I want to be at an interior temp of 70F, I have to set it 5 to 6F +/- to get to the interior temperature I'm seeking. I reported this recently to my SC while the car was in for its annual inspection and the response from the technician was to ignore the numbers displayed, and set the temperature wherever needed to be comfortable. Great answer.
-- while I'm not sure if this is related to V.8 or a very recent one, I now have a random problem where I put my car in reverse and as expected the back-up camera is activated. However when I then put it in Drive, the backup camera stays on. I have to cycle it a few times before it goes out and returns to the normal screen. I reported this to the SC and they came back saying they couldn't find the problem. It happened to me the next day and I sent them pictures clearly showing the car in Drive, with the back-up camera still on.

 

[Cyclone]

while I'm not sure if this is related to V.8 or a very recent one, I now have a random problem where I put my car in reverse and as expected the back-up camera is activated. However when I then put it in Drive, the backup camera stays on. I have to cycle it a few times before it goes out and returns to the normal screen.

Any particular reason why you don't just pick a different app rather than cycle the car?

 

[Max*]

The backup camera stays on when it assumes you're still parking (I'm not sure how it makes that determination, this behavior was there prior to v8). After you drive a certain speed (maybe 5-7mph?) it goes away.

It's actually pretty convenient when you're parking to not have to wait when you hit reverse for the backup camera to show up.

 

[pdq]

Max:

I'm not still parked. I've already backed out of my garage or a parking space, and shift into Drive. Up until very recently it would immediately change from the back-up camera to the regular screen as soon as it went into Drive -- no delay.

Cyclone:

I'd have to drag down 2 apps as being in reverse occupies both panels -- not even sure I can get to icons with the car thinking it's in back-up more -- whatever -- cycling the shift stalk seems more direct.

 

[thegruf]

I note that the latest software build has stuck on 2.40.21 since release on 10/07.

By Tesla standards that quite a long time between minor builds.

I am hoping that this means
a) the software is quite stable - I certainly haven't had to reboot mine so far
b) they are collating feedback from users (and quite probably from the threads here on TMC) with a view to filling in some of the holes

 

[jgs]

now, if I use the phone, when I hang up, the radio also comes off mute -- annoying

So your phone audio is working? You're one up on me. The last few times I've entered the car while on the phone, the car has grabbed the phone audio and routed it to /dev/null. At least the call comes back when I disconnect Bluetooth.

 

[Cyclone]

cycling the shift stalk seems more direct.

Ahh, cycling the stalk. I thought you mean power cycling/rebooting the car. Gotcha!

 

[AWDtsla]

Here's another new one in 8.0 for me. AP can actually read the concrete "sidewalk" on the left-most lane of the bay bridge as a proper lane, and stays further to the right - just as I would if I were steering myself:

That is not an 8.0 feature. In fact, the ultrasound sensors were always better at reading curbs than things like other cars, I think somewhat unfortunately.

 

[evp]

This addresses a problem I've been complaining about for two years, but just seems to get worse with every build:

Popular design guides are responsible for plague of grey type

 

[tezzla]

I note that the latest software build has stuck on 2.40.21 since release on 10/07.

By Tesla standards that quite a long time between minor builds.
...

How soon they forget:
I got 7.0 on October 15th, the next update I got was 7.1 on January 12th 2016 (no "bug" fixes for me anyways).

 

[BertL]

For those interested in yet another attempt at decoding what does and does not work with Media Player 8.0 2.38.19 USB support, I've posted a summary here: https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/posts/1788054/

 

[TexasEV]

This addresses a problem I've been complaining about for two years, but just seems to get worse with every build:

Popular design guides are responsible for plague of grey type

Very interesting. Even if it's marginally ok on a tablet, why would anyone think it's ok to use a low contrast grey type on a screen that you glance at while driving? Have any of the designers tested this with over age 40 eyes while driving?

 

[BertL]

Very interesting. Even if it's marginally ok on a tablet, why would anyone think it's ok to use a low contrast grey type on a screen that you glance at while driving? Have any of the designers tested this with over age 40 eyes while driving?

Right. I had a horrible time seeing street names with 7.1 at night because of the very close contrast between the street name text itself and the bubble surrounding it. I find 8.0 slightly improved in that regard because there is a bit more contrast, but it's one of the primary reasons I still use "line mode" vs the sexier Google Hybrid view, because I can pick up on street names and the physical roads themselves stand out more to my eyes (with glasses and all the fancy available coatings to reduce nighttime glare, etc.)

 

[pdq]

This addresses a problem I've been complaining about for two years, but just seems to get worse with every build:

Popular design guides are responsible for plague of grey type

Absolutely agree. Many magazines I get are going to gray print, which even in good light are difficult to read. At times I've reverted to a head-mounted flashlight. In Tesla's case, it's the hands of the clock, medium gray against dark gray.