Firmware Version 9

[Shygar]

I personally like having Android Auto in my Pacifica Hybrid, especially a dedicated button on my steering wheel for "OK Google". However, I don't think I would ever use it in my Model 3. Maps navigation will be better in v9 than what Google can provide (and forget Apple Maps, it's worthless). At least that's my understanding.

As far as the other apps, having a native integration would be nice, but I think it breaks the whole UI experience that they would go for. I definitely wouldn't say no to it, but I wouldn't really use it if I had it.

 

[Eno Deb]

Every hour of development time they waste with stupid games is an hour they could have spent developing CarPlay or some other mirroring protocol.
Then you can put whatever game or whatever on your phone and mirror it on the car display. And other people can put whatever they want was well.
There is no way Tesla has the resources to make every app that someone may want on the car, so why not just make a way for your phone to take up the slack? Then you have the entire app store available to you, with all the third-party developers that can make apps Tesla would never have thought of.

I agree with the sentiment, but Carplay actually doesn't work like that. Apps need to be specifically adapted to support Carplay, and Apple only allows certain classes of apps. I think there are currently only about two dozen Carplay apps. I'd love to have it on my Model 3 nonetheless, mostly for the Audiobooks and Podcasts apps, as well as Apple Music and email and messaging with Siri support. It doesn't really make sense to create separate Tesla apps for these things IMO, since I want to have them available whether I'm in the car or not.

 

[chillaban]

Not to mention Apple has to approve your CarPlay platform (there's two way qualification)… and I'm not at all convinced that Tesla and Apple are very friendly with each other.

Plus I highly doubt the types of engineers working on Atari games would be the teams that work on adding support for the CarPlay protocol stack.

 

[usofrob]

As a SW engineer for in-vehicle-infotainment systems, I can tell you it's rather difficult to implement the specific requirements for CarPlay. And very difficult to get them to approve it. Also, it's likely that because Tesla implements their own SW, that they wouldn't be able to re-use someone else's implementation (such as what's already in Android), adding to the difficulty.
All that said, I think the reason they haven't done it is more likely because they want to control their own interface and don't want to let Apple and Android redefine it.

 

[run-the-joules]

they want to control their own interface and don't want to let Apple and Android redefine it.

What's the risk, they might make it worse for media, communications or navigation? Fat chance

 

[Interferon]

I agree with the sentiment, but Carplay actually doesn't work like that. Apps need to be specifically adapted to support Carplay, and Apple only allows certain classes of apps. I think there are currently only about two dozen Carplay apps. I'd love to have it on my Model 3 nonetheless, mostly for the Audiobooks and Podcasts apps, as well as Apple Music and email and messaging with Siri support. It doesn't really make sense to create separate Tesla apps for these things IMO, since I want to have them available whether I'm in the car or not.

Sorry, I actually was thinking more along the lines of Android Auto.

I have Android, and actually don't like Apple much. If Apple is going to be like that, they can shove off as far as I am concerned.

But there is no stability risk or need to give up control of the UI with Android Auto, so why not do it.

 

[daniel]

I couldn't care less about CarPlay; and the media player, while rather poor, is not a big deal to me. I want the safety feature of showing cars behind me in adjacent lanes on the screen. Showing cars in adjacent lanes in front of me is stupid and serves no purpose whatsoever. I can already see them. What the F do I need them on the screen for??? But showing the ones behind me would be really helpful. They have rear-facing cameras, and even though those are supposedly not activated except in FSD cars, Tesla has always said (and made good on it!) that all safety features would always be standard.

This is the best car on the road. Showing cars in the blind spots would make it enormously better.

 

[Eno Deb]

Sorry, I actually was thinking more along the lines of Android Auto.

I have Android, and actually don't like Apple much. If Apple is going to be like that, they can shove off as far as I am concerned.

I actually like that Apple is more strict about which apps get approved for Carplay. If any app is allowed into the car without design review, there is a risk that they are badly designed, distracting and thus a danger to the driver and others on the road. Besides, Android apps also need to be specifically adapted to support Android Auto, so it's not like it can just mirror any app from the app store on the vehicle screen.

But there is no stability risk or need to give up control of the UI with Android Auto, so why not do it.

Yes, neither Android Auto nor Carplay should pose a stability/security risk, since the actual apps are still running on the phone. As to giving up control, I think the fact that most of the other manufacturers support Carplay/Android Auto shows that the market has decided ...

 

[golfpilot]

Wow, I absolutely despise Carplay. I hope they spend time on things other than that. Carplay would be ok if it seemlessly worked with apps and stuff, but its just something apple strung together real quick to make using the phones somewhat legally compliant, and they rarely if ever update it, and it really bugs me.

 

[TT97]

Wow, I absolutely despise Carplay. I hope they spend time on things other than that. Carplay would be ok if it seemlessly worked with apps and stuff, but its just something apple strung together real quick to make using the phones somewhat legally compliant, and they rarely if ever update it, and it really bugs me.

Carplay is perfect for rental cars. When I am renting a car for a couple days, it is nice being able to plug in my phone and have a familiar layout as well as my history. When it comes to my personal car, I would prefer infotainment that is much better integrated with the car.

I would love to see Tesla have its own app store and they can have third party apps on the car while maintain complete control (the Apple model). I would pay money to have Pocket Casts or Pandora directly on my 3.

 

[ℬête Noire]

Carplay is perfect for rental cars. When I am renting a car for a couple days, it is nice being able to plug in my phone and have a familiar layout as well as my history. When it comes to my personal car, I would prefer infotainment that is much better integrated with the car.

I would love to see Tesla have its own app store and they can have third party apps on the car while maintain complete control (the Apple model). I would pay money to have Pocket Casts or Pandora directly on my 3.

Being able to run Waze (coming to CarPlay, already supported by Android Auto) would be nice, if it could be integrated well with the native UI via PIP. That's a pretty tall order, though. I know there is expectation that the native navigation will greatly improve with 9.0 but Waze underlying live traffic data source is going to be superior for some time so it'll be tough competition.

 

[RedModel3]

Being able to run Waze (coming to CarPlay, already supported by Android Auto) would be nice, if it could be integrated well with the native UI via PIP. That's a pretty tall order, though. I know there is expectation that the native navigation will greatly improve with 9.0 but Waze underlying live traffic data source is going to be superior for some time so it'll be tough competition.

I second this! I'm tired of the traffic not updating, even when I've been out of the car. I realize now I have to "refresh" by hitting the traffic button a couple of times, but I shouldn't have to do this.

Also, how about real time weather radar? Please please please.

 

[GoodOmens]

Ha - after driving through a series of really bad storms I was thinking the same thing. A weather radar layer would be amusing!

 

[TT97]

I second this! I'm tired of the traffic not updating, even when I've been out of the car. I realize now I have to "refresh" by hitting the traffic button a couple of times, but I shouldn't have to do this.

Also, how about real time weather radar? Please please please.

I second (or third?) the weather overlay.

I am not a fan of Waze ever since it took me off the freeway and tried to make me cross Sunset Blvd at a stop sign during rush hour only to put me back on the same freeway a mile down the road (naturally, the freeway was crawling along but much more relaxing doing that with EAP than dealing with L.A. surface roads). Another time it tried to reroute me 35 miles farther coming from San Diego to save less than 10 minutes.

I didn't realize traffic updating is a feature request. If so, I vote for that feature to be implemented.

 

[daniel]

How will we know when v. 9 arrives? Will there be some kind of different version numbering system? Or will they just make an announcement, like, "Firmware version 2018.xy.z is version 9"?

 

[TT97]

How will we know when v. 9 arrives? Will there be some kind of different version numbering system? Or will they just make an announcement, like, "Firmware version 2018.xy.z is version 9"?

The car shows the version. If you tap on the Tesla logo, the bottom left shows:

v8.1 (2018.xx.x...

 

[insaneoctane]

How will we know when v. 9 arrives? Will there be some kind of different version numbering system? Or will they just make an announcement, like, "Firmware version 2018.xy.z is version 9"?

I image that is all you will be hearing about here and EV news outlets once it arrives

 

[woodisgood]

I mean, if it gets its own version, this has to be pretty big, right? Otherwise they'd just make it 8.2 I'm guessing.

Hopefully it won't just be a big let-down with a few games, a subpar blind spot monitoring implementation, and rear seat heating controls in-app, right?? Right???

Apple has an event Sept. 12 for new iPhones, Watch, etc. Would be sweet if they brought Elon on-stage to announce CarPlay on Tesla vehicles.

 

[ChrisPDX]

I don't think we'll ever see CarPlay or AndroidAuto ever for one single reason: loss of revenue for Tesla. Remember, Tesla will now start charging for data connectivity. If you had either of those, would you pay the $100 per year for traffic aware GPS or music streaming? I wouldn't and I'm sure Tesla knows this. So why spend money developing an interface that would only take away revenue?

As for new features, I would love to see Slacker replaced with well, pretty much any other streaming service. But I think that is more dependent on their current contract with Slacker then anything else. For now I'll take blind spot warning, better USB playback and (even if minor) a FSD feature.

 

[woodisgood]

I don't think we'll ever see CarPlay or AndroidAuto ever for one single reason: loss of revenue for Tesla. Remember, Tesla will now start charging for data connectivity. If you had either of those, would you pay the $100 per year for traffic aware GPS or music streaming? I wouldn't and I'm sure Tesla knows this. So why spend money developing an interface that would only take away revenue?

As for new features, I would love to see Slacker replaced with well, pretty much any other streaming service. But I think that is more dependent on their current contract with Slacker then anything else. For now I'll take blind spot warning, better USB playback and (even if minor) a FSD feature.

Yeah, I get that they want it to be a revenue stream, but I'd like to think (and hope) Elon is a little smarter than trying to get people to pay for something that someone else does better. There's a reason why almost every major car manufacturer is turning to CarPlay or Android Auto for media/connectivity. There's just no sense in trying to create your own media ecosystem. The smartphones function as people's central hub for all of that.

Tesla's strategy will hopefully be to try to get customers to pay for NEW connectivity features that only they can offer. Example: a cloud-based dash cam feature for security. Remote view your car's cams from anywhere. Will I pay $8/mo for that? Heck yeah I will. For Slacker radio and traffic? No.

Even Elon has an iPhone. He's got to see there's no point in re-inventing the wheel on that. Let us use the phone(s) we love more fully with the vehicle we love.