Musk Says Access to V9 Software is Weeks Away

Tesla’s highly-anticipated Software Version 9 is “not right yet,” according to Chief Executive Elon Musk, who tweeted that he’s been running the update in his own car.

Still, “advanced early access users” are expected to receive the new software “in a week or two,” then the release will be “more broadly” available by the end of the month, he said.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1037205636021411841

It seems the company may be slightly behind on the goal Musk stated during Tesla’s Q2 2018 earnings call to deliver to early access users in late-August or early-September, then a wide rollout in September. It’s not apparent in Musk’s tweet how “not right” the software is and exactly how broadly the software will be made available.

Speaking during the Q2 earnings call, Musk said:

“We’re hoping to get that out to early access program in about four weeks and then broadly in September. That’s the hardcore focus right now, and that will certainly include some significant advancements in autonomy. And then once that’s out and stable, I think that could be a good time to work on the coast-to-coast drive.”

Software Version 9 is an important release, the most significant overhaul in years. It will introduce the first features of Tesla’s Full Self-Driving system. The UI for the Model S and Model X is also expected to be updated.

TMC Member Jason Hughes (wk057) has been able to tinker with an alpha dev build of Version 9 and has shared a few details this week, including a mysterious “Drive On Nav” feature related to Autopilot.

Hughes also confirmed a fun new feature from the software update – the addition of classic Atari games like Asteroids and Pole Position that can be played on the car’s screen.

 

[SpudLime]

Change is hard for a lot of people.

 

[timvracer]

Change is hard for a lot of people.

Tell me how this UI change is better for Model S owners. True that change in general can be a challenge, but change for the worse is just always bad.

 

[SpudLime]

Tell me how this UI change is better for Model S owners. True that change in general can be a challenge, but change for the worse is just always bad.

But that is your opinion. Not that it is wrong. But this change for you is difficult as you don’t like it.

I don’t have an opinion until I get the upgrade.

 

[APotatoGod]

I feel like this UI change is sort of analogous to when iOS 7 first came out. Lots of people hated the change at first, but over time everyone got used to it, and often grew to prefer it. Now when I look at a pre-iOS 7 device it look so old and childish.

As a current model 3 owner, I won’t be dramatically affected by the UI changes, but I’m perfectly happy with the model 3’s UI, and when I look at the screen of a model S/X in the service center they seem very old and childish too, just like iOS 6 devices do now. In practice I doubt most people will mind the change for very long; perhaps complain for a couple weeks, then get used to it and not mind at all. Just my 2¢, your mileage may vary.

 

[AnxietyRanger]

FWIW, I still miss 6.2 from my 2014 Model S. By this time I feel it isn't because not adapting to change, it is because the change by Tesla simply was for the worse. While its looks were indeed old-fashioned, the amount of information it displayed remains superior to the current version and functionality had less issues.

Arguably on pre-AP cars 7.x and 8.x have simply been worse, compared to 6.2, because there was no AP to compensate and the IC indeed was implemented poorly. Still is. But I still miss 6.2 even on my AP2 Model X. Of course the AP2 features are new and improving compared, but beyond that 6.2 was simply superior.

The distorted logic of how the two sides of the MCU UI are operated is inferior to 6.2 (I still mess up using it), the information displayed on the IC is inferior to 6.2 (date, total mileage etc., having to go to extra trouble to see data that used to be so easily visible) and MCU nowadays hides stuff also (e.g. date is hidden with map). There were also less issues with things like media player controls in 6.2.

Besides AP, I am hard-pressed to think what is better in post-6.2 - I guess adjusting the headrest height independently and the easy entry profile have been useful additions. The AP suite of features of course overall makes a difference, and I do like the flat design of the latest version, but usability-wise I'd prefer 6.2 style.

We shall see about 9.0, but I think there is more to this than just change being hard - the difference completely depends on the whether the change is perceived as bad or good subjectively (and sometimes perhaps even objectively). Overall I'm an early-adopter type and like updates and change usually. I do not like Tesla's 7.x and 8.x, compared to 6.2 usability-wise.

 

[Buggle]

Bottom line -- the interface needs to be harmonized, and Tesla thinks the newer one is better. End of story as far as I'm concerned, I'm sure they have their reasons.

 

[JayyyDeee]

But that is your opinion. Not that it is wrong. But this change for you is difficult as you don’t like it.

I don’t have an opinion until I get the upgrade.

Actually you can measure the change to some degree. The number 1 principle of human computer interface design is least clicks to achieve the a goal. If Tesla introduces an interface that requires more clicks to produce the same outcome then it is worse. (like they did with the model 3 vs S and X)

 

[APotatoGod]

...The number 1 principle of human computer interface design is least clicks to achieve the a goal. If Tesla introduces an interface that requires more clicks to produce the same outcome then it is worse. (like they did with the model 3 vs S and X)

It’ not quite that simple. If it were, then surely the optimal interface would have every button for every single function onscreen simultaneously, as then every single outcome would only need a single click? Imagine the clutter that would result in. One button for setting the heat to 73° Fahrenheit, another to change unit from Fahrenheit to Celsius, another to change steering wheel modes, and another to tune to 100.031 on the FM radio. The car would be unusable, far from ideal.

Clearly that is an extreme example, and is clearly not the ideal solution, and no one is requesting that UI change. I agree that number of clicks to achieve common tasks is definitely a factor in the UI design, but it’s far from a comprehensive metric on it’s own.

I personally don’t have enough experience with the S/X UI to judge how major the difference in steps required for common tasks is, but wanted to point out that it’s not as simple as you describe, where fewer clicks to achieve a task necessarily always means better.

 

[AnxietyRanger]

Personally I have a fairly simple metric for what I find worse. If, even after time, I find that some common action that used to be simple and easy becomes hard, then I find the new design inferior. If this experience is shared by a lot of people, then it probably means the change was to the worse in this regard. In theory that negative change may have certainly allowed some other positive change, perhaps for some other group of users, but that is not always so - sometimes these changes are simply not so well thought out and the change to the worse is an unintended side-effect. Sometimes it is of course a conscious priority change that left some users on the flip-side.

I still have a hard time finding the date, time and total mileage on Model S/X screens, when all these used to be dead simple on 6.2. Now they depend on whether you're charging (especially on pre-AP, if you need to record your mileage after a drive this is often the situation - on AP it of course hides this all the time... still hides time when charging on AP too...), you have the nav on top date is hidden too etc... they are just harder to find than on 6.2. 6.2 also displayed remaining range much more clearly on pre-AP cars than it unnecessarily does now.

I also mess up selecting the correct two apps, as the window which they open to is not something seems to come naturally to me (only with effort), which used to be dead simple before 8.0 when all selected apps opened to the top window by default...

 

[MP3Mike]

In response to a question about V9: Elon Musk on Twitter

Elon Musk ‏Verified account @elonmusk 23m23 minutes ago

Replying to @neveryb

Going over final tweaks tonight. Hopefully in wide release end of week.

 

[BigNick]

V9 is here.

Software Update 2018.39.5 a1c2332 (first 9.0 release)