In my previous post, I commented based on hearsay. I was still waiting on the update.
Now I have it and need to make amend humbly, as I find the new interface well thought.
What I discovered, and this was not reported in what I had read yesterday and the days before, is that opening the climate menu is very easy, and does not require looking at the screen at all, so very safe. No need for a tap, which indeed does require to look where you tap.
You can simply swipe up, starting from anywhere in the bottom bar, and it will open the climate menu.
So I just reach with my hand, feel the bottom bezel and swipe up on the screen from there.
And again, your fingers can be anywhere at the bottom.
Once it is open, it is actually easier to touch the seat heater (or defrost functions), as they are larger than they used to be.
Same for “keep climate on”: it used to be tricky for me to touch exactly the climate icon. Now a simple swipe up, again, from anywhere in the bottom row, and voilà.
One can argue it is an additional move, and indeed it is. But it is not that bad, and in those months (6+ here) where you don’t need them, well they are indeed out of the way.
Ymmv