Remote S: Tesla app for Apple Watch, iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch

[SabrToothSqrl]

Ok, thank you. I like the features of it, but wonder if you could offload camp mode to another server, so it could continue to run without the phone. Or even an advanced set like "Run for 2 hours". or something. Just throwing out ideas.

I would like to use Touch ID to start the car, but my parking spot is in a basement, with limited cell connectivity, so I can't really trust it vs. carrying the 'key'.

 

[AllenWong]

Ok, thank you. I like the features of it, but wonder if you could offload camp mode to another server, so it could continue to run without the phone. Or even an advanced set like "Run for 2 hours". or something. Just throwing out ideas.

I would like to use Touch ID to start the car, but my parking spot is in a basement, with limited cell connectivity, so I can't really trust it vs. carrying the 'key'.

Yea, I do have plans on off loading scheduled tasks onto my server. I'm going to have to give it some thought, because if I send all commands from the same server, then there's a possibility that Tesla's servers might see too many commands sent from the same IP address and start blocking my server's IP address. The alternative is to have my server send the command to your device and your device commands the car, and thus uses your own device's IP address like it's supposed to. There are also some other possibilities, but I'll have to test them out first.

 

[SabrToothSqrl]

Interesting keep us posted. I like how many of the non OEM apps show inside and outside temps. I like that.

I'll tell you the one thing I'd really like to freaking do from my phone, but I'm going to assume we can't due to a Tesla API limitation.

My car plugs in at 40 amps, then mysteriously drops to 30 amps (long story).

Two things I'd like to get from this:

1. Notify me when the charge rate drops so I can scream at my power company
2. Allow me, from the app to set it back up to 40 amps. (or just automate it).

**This isn't a discussion about wiring/power supply, etc, I've talked to PP&L several times, my wiring is good, and they tell me it's all within spec. I've had two contractors AND PP&L monitor it for a week.

I'm just trying to not have to walk out to my car, jiggle the handle, and get back to the 40 amp charge rate...

I'll see if I can't think of any other features.

 

[Trev Page]

It's going to get *really* interesting with the Apple Watch later this year once native apps start coming out for it. Apple's developer conference is next month and we're expecting the full Watch SDK to be available for testing.

This is akin to the first iPhone in 2007: web apps at first, then a full SDK about 10 months later. However this time Apple announced a full SDK for it was coming instead of waiting 6 months then telling us they would allow full apps on it.

 

[mfrey]

@regoapps I love the app and very nice work. My concern is that you are using an undocumented API that Tesla could revoke at any moment rendering the app useless. Has there been any attempt to contact Tesla to make this an official app?

 

[AllenWong]

Interesting keep us posted. I like how many of the non OEM apps show inside and outside temps. I like that.

I'll tell you the one thing I'd really like to freaking do from my phone, but I'm going to assume we can't due to a Tesla API limitation.

My car plugs in at 40 amps, then mysteriously drops to 30 amps (long story).

Two things I'd like to get from this:

1. Notify me when the charge rate drops so I can scream at my power company
2. Allow me, from the app to set it back up to 40 amps. (or just automate it).

**This isn't a discussion about wiring/power supply, etc, I've talked to PP&L several times, my wiring is good, and they tell me it's all within spec. I've had two contractors AND PP&L monitor it for a week.

I'm just trying to not have to walk out to my car, jiggle the handle, and get back to the 40 amp charge rate...

I'll see if I can't think of any other features.

1. Push notification is something I'm going to look into. This coincides with scheduling as well.
2. Changing the Amps isn't one of the API commands accepted by Tesla, yet.

 

[jvonbokel]

Distance to nearest SC would require me to have an active list of supercharger coordinates. Is there one available?

Yup. http://www.teslamotors.com/all-locations

 

[ChriZ]

Just bought the app and can't login. Says Connection failed check your internet connection. Anyone else get this?

 

[AllenWong]

@regoapps I love the app and very nice work. My concern is that you are using an undocumented API that Tesla could revoke at any moment rendering the app useless. Has there been any attempt to contact Tesla to make this an official app?

If Tesla revokes their API, it will break their official phone apps and third party apps. My app mimics the calls from a phone app, so their servers can't tell the difference. So Tesla is going to have to do something else to stop me. I hope that they don't, because there's a mutual benefit here. As the #1 lifestyle app, I'm giving Tesla free advertising for their cars as iOS users are looking at what this new app is. If they see what the car is capable of doing through an app, it might turn them into potential customers. I certainly didn't know what the app could do prior to buying a Tesla. In fact, I didn't even know that they had an app, because their app is not in any of the top charts. And finally, my app doesn't harm their company. I play nice and limit/cache the API calls to their servers. This is similar to what VisibleTesla is doing, and their app has been working for many months now with no signs of it stop working any time soon.

 

[MarcG]

If Tesla revokes their API, it will break their official phone apps and third party apps. My app mimics the calls from a phone app, so their servers can't tell the difference. So Tesla is going to have to do something else to stop me. I hope that they don't, because there's a mutual benefit here. As the #1 lifestyle app, I'm giving Tesla free advertising for their cars as iOS users are looking at what this new app is. If they see what the car is capable of doing through an app, it might turn them into potential customers. I certainly didn't know what the app could do prior to buying a Tesla. In fact, I didn't even know that they had an app, because their app is not in any of the top charts. And finally, my app doesn't harm their company. I play nice and limit/cache the API calls to their servers. This is similar to what VisibleTesla is doing, and their app has been working for many months now with no signs of it stop working any time soon.

Actually, the first iterations of VisibleTesla (VT) did not work for new Model S owners since December 2014 (including myself) because Tesla changed the way their servers work, so we had to way a couple of months until Joe Pasqua (author of VT) created a new version of VT that completely changed the backend interface to Tesla's APIs in order to connect again. There's no telling if or when Tesla might do this again and move to a new API setup (and updated mobile apps), so we're not completely shielded from getting "shutdown". Of course, you could reverse engineer the new APIs and recompile your app again, but in the meantime we'd be down - just like what happened with VT.

 

[AllenWong]

Just bought the app and can't login. Says Connection failed check your internet connection. Anyone else get this?

Tested the login just now and it's still working for me. Sorry to hear that you're having issues. Have you tried a different internet connection (i.e. switching between WiFi to Cellular data)? Have you tried logging out of the official app and logging in to see if there's an issue with your connection to Teslas servers?

- - - Updated - - -

Actually, the first iterations of VisibleTesla (VT) did not work for new Model S owners since December 2014 (including myself) because Tesla changed the way their servers work, so we had to way a couple of months until Joe Pasqua (author of VT) created a new version of VT that completely changed the backend interface to Tesla's APIs in order to connect again. There's no telling if or when Tesla might do this again and move to a new API setup (and updated mobile apps), so we're not completely shielded from getting "shutdown". Of course, you could reverse engineer the new APIs and recompile your app again, but in the meantime we'd be down - just like what happened with VT.

Well, what I meant was that if the app is working for people now, it's going to keep working. If the API changes, it only affects new Tesla owners, and at which point, I'll try to figure out what their new API is.

 

[MarcG]

Well, what I meant was that if the app is working for people now, it's going to keep working. If the API changes, it only affects new Tesla owners, and at which point, I'll try to figure out what their new API is.

I hope you're right, but there were existing owners (who were using VT fine before the change) who could no longer login after Tesla made the changed because they were moved to the new servers. So some of those who were able to use VT for a while we hosed for a long while until Joe released the new version of VT that could communicate with the new method.

Anyway, until this happens I'll be happily using the watch app - thanks for putting it out quickly!

 

[ruby110]

Quote:

If it's charging, the "charge" label turns green and says "charging" instead. Also, a message like "0 hr 15 minutes remaining" appears to let you know when the charging will be complete. And finally the "Charge On" button will now say "Charge Off". That's counter-intuitive, but in version 1.1, it'll say "Start Charge" and "Stop Charge" instead.[/QUOTE]

Rego, I'm looking for an indication that it is plugged in even if it's not charging. Then I can tell if I forgot to plug in for a scheduled charge in the evening, e.g.

Thanks.

 

[ChriZ]

Tested the login just now and it's still working for me. Sorry to hear that you're having issues. Have you tried a different internet connection (i.e. switching between WiFi to Cellular data)? Have you tried logging out of the official app and logging in to see if there's an issue with your connection to Teslas servers?

Good advice. I tried the tesla app and it said my account was locked out. I reset my password on mytesla and it works now. Maybe detect the error message from tesla Apis and relay it to the app?

 

[AllenWong]

Good advice. I tried the tesla app and it said my account was locked out. I reset my password on mytesla and it works now. Maybe detect the error message from tesla Apis and relay it to the app?

Will do. Thanks for letting me know what the problem was. I never had my account locked out before, that's why I never tested for this case.

 

[wayner]

Not a problem, but you might want to invest in a $5 suction cup and phone holder. I stick mine between the tablet and glove compartment. I feel safer looking down and to the right a bit rather than turning 90 degrees to look at my cup holder.

i use a RAM mounts suction cup holder mounted to the dash just left of the screen. The trim in the dash is smooth enough that the suction cup has very good grip. It has only fallen once in four months.

- - - Updated - - -

3. I think because the button is very small. I have the same issues. I'm going to change the size of the button in a future version.

I use an app called Golfshot on my phone&watch that has very similar (or the same) buttons for recording your score and it has the EXACT same issues.

 

[efusco]

Good on you for adding the Camp mode. Nice looking app and I appreciate your receptiveness to suggested improvements. I look forward to seeing just how far this goes after such a stellar start.

 

[SteveW25561]

Loving the app. More notes:

1. In Celsius, the temp only adjusts in full 1 degree increments, while in the car we can do 0.5 degree changes.

2. I know you documented the car can report very accurate odometer readings, but for the sake of clean interface and true applicability, I'd suggest truncating the odometer reading to 1 decimal place. I doubt it matters to most that they can travel a few centimeters more or less.

 

[mfrey]

@regoapps Can you speak to how the app keeps / allows the car to go back to sleep? In the official Tesla app as well as Visible Tesla it is very clear when the car is sleeping and being waked up. It is hard to tell from Remote S the current state of the car.

 

[PatD]

Haven't downloaded the app yet (JUST found out about it via this thread.) Looks really nice though.

In several of the posts here, I keep seeing "limited real estate" or similar in regards to the iPhone screen. If you do a major redesign, I would consider mimicking the official Model S app in that there are different screens. Dedicate one to HVAC, another to controls, etc. Doesn't have to be an exact copy, but instead of forcing everything on to one screen . . .