Tesla App on Android

[Canuck]

Another android user here.

Also, note:

Phone App: iPhone/Android app - Page 74

 

[chuckd]

As a developer of both IOS and Android apps, I can tell you it's no big deal to add push notifications to an Android app. This is simply due to nobody thinking this has a high enough priority at Tesla.

Literally, it's a two man day effort, at the very worst case scenario!

 

[preilly44]

We should all email Tesla to request it at the same time. Maybe that will get their attention. What email address do we email?

As a developer of both IOS and Android apps, I can tell you it's no big deal to add push notifications to an Android app. This is simply due to nobody thinking this has a high enough priority at Tesla.

Literally, it's a two man day effort, at the very worst case scenario!

 

[Kbra]

Android app just updated today. No obvious changes

Yeah they just added some language support, new colors for production, and "fixed minor bugs"

 

[strengthcoach4]

I uninstalled and went back to previous version since the charging screen on latest update is messed up.

 

[FlasherZ]

When you're plugged in at a supercharger, it now says "Supercharging" instead of just "Charging".

 

[AC1K]

Same reason Tesla doesn't do Windows or Blackberry. User base too small to make it worth the expense. While there are many Android phones out there, I doubt that user base intersects with Tesla ownership much.

android is 80% of the market and iOS is less than 14%

iOS is only really popular in the US and no where else, on the other side of the world people dont like being locked into things which is why you never find a locked phone over seas, only in north america.

 

[liuping]

android is 80% of the market and iOS is less than 14%

iOS is only really popular in the US and no where else, on the other side of the world people dont like being locked into things which is why you never find a locked phone over seas, only in north america.

iOS is more popular with the demographics that also buys relatively expensive EVs.

The 80% market number is based on a huge number of cheap Android phones available and is meaningless to Tesla.

 

[beeeerock]

That's actually not true, at least from my perspective as a contract developer. I've been on probably a little over a dozen mobile projects in the last 3-4 years, doing both Android and iOS work. Typically, the Android guy points out his work at the same rate as the iOS guy and the delivery time is the same - whether I'm the Android guy or the iOS guy.

Since you're a developer, maybe you can comment on the Android-BlackBerry situation? My understanding is that the Android emulator in the BlackBerry is quite robust and apps don't require much tweaking - perhaps no more than what you see across the various Android phones. BlackBerry also supposedly offers a service that lets a developer test their app and get feedback on whether modifications are needed and where. But in spite of that, I don't see much interest in getting the apps 'ported' to the BlackBerry Android list.

I recognize BlackBerry isn't in vogue any longer and likely never will be again, but it does exist and there are users who want the apps. Given the apparent simplicity of porting across, it would seem to me (as a guy who has no idea of what really goes into an app!) that doing a couple of minor tweaks to include BlackBerry would gain users with little incremental development cost. Seemingly a no-brainer, but it's not happening. Why?

I'm not trolling for an OS war, just wondering what the thinking is on the developer's side of the fence!

 

[green1]

iOS is more popular with the demographics that also buys relatively expensive EVs.

The 80% market number is based on a huge number of cheap Android phones available and is meaningless to Tesla.

People say that all the time, however I have never seen anyone provide any proof whatsoever. The argument seems to boil down to rabid fanboism rather than any statistics or even common sense.

Android outsells iphone more than 4 to 1, androids are more powerful, and far more likely to be used by tech savvy early adopters.

I find it sad that companies prioritize the iphone despite it's tiny market share.

 

[liuping]

People say that all the time, however I have never seen anyone provide any proof whatsoever. The argument seems to boil down to rabid fanboism rather than any statistics or even common sense.

Android outsells iphone more than 4 to 1, androids are more powerful, and far more likely to be used by tech savvy early adopters.

I find it sad that companies prioritize the iphone despite it's tiny market share.

There have been several studies showing iPhone adoption vs Android based on income levels. Tesla owners are not just early adopters, they are generally high income earners. So the phone that sells better to that group gets priority.

Companies generally prioritize iOS development because they make more money on iPhone app sales. iPhone users consistently buy more apps than android users.

Also, Android is on a ton of junk phones, as well as some really good ones. Among the best (and best selling) of the Android phones are the Samsung Galaxy phones which sell about the same or slight less than the iPhones.

 

[dasRad]

iOS is only really popular in the US and no where else, on the other side of the world people dont like being locked into things which is why you never find a locked phone over seas, only in north america.

I suspect that you haven't been to Amsterdam recently. Nowhere else have I seen such market dominance by Apple (including North America). Virtually every phone I saw in public was an iPhone. At first I thought it was coincidence so I started actively looking at phones and it was disconcerting how few phones weren't iPhones. Having said that, I was relieved to see that in Den Hague, the majority of phones were Android (or non-smart), much like the rest of Europe.

 

[MartinAustin]

Even if Tesla actually knew the breakdown of Android vs iOS users around the world (don't forget... this isn't just about what is going on in the USA), no-one there said "We're only going to support the platform that has sold the most so far." They intend to support all that are major platforms. They support Android and iOS, period. They are both important enough to support... both have hundreds of millions of users around the world and billions of app downloads. Those two jostle back and forth for #1 position, in various ways, depending on how you break down the sales data for phones and apps.

As for why the Android version doesn't push notifications about OS updates (and as an Android user I would definitely like that), I am sure it's an oversight, as the chap said above it is not a large amount of work. IMO it's likely the software team inside Tesla is the one developing these apps (versus an outside house), and their work tasks are prioritized in some huge database. This tweak to the Android phone app is almost certainly in there... it's just getting prioritised under the other tasks for software inside the car like 7.0 and so on.

As for why Windows hasn't been supported yet, I think they just haven't gotten around to it yet. They surely will. Might be something to do with expertise among the existing software team (in addition to numbers of Windows phones sold so far)

Personally, I would also like an option to receive a push notification when the car stops charging.

 

[Andyw2100]

We can continue debating whether there are more android users or iPhone users in the Tesla owner group and why. But as far as I'm concerned, and as far as Tesla should be concerned, it shouldn't matter. Even if iPhone users outnumber android users four to one in this group, what Tesla is currently doing is treating 20% of their customers as second class citizens when it comes to app usage. Tesla, by not allocating the two apps equivalent resources and priority, is telling some not insignificant portion of its customers--customers who spent $50,000-$140,000 give or take on a car--that they don't care enough about them to spend a little more time and effort developing a phone app so that it is the equivalent of the other phone app available. Does it really matter if the percentage of customers we are talking about is 20%, 30%, 50%, or even 60%? We're talking about thousands and thousands of people, who have spent hundreds of millions of dollars. Tesla should be embarrassed.

 

[aviators99]

There have been several studies showing iPhone adoption vs Android based on income levels. Tesla owners are not just early adopters, they are generally high income earners. So the phone that sells better to that group gets priority.

Companies generally prioritize iOS development because they make more money on iPhone app sales. iPhone users consistently buy more apps than android users.

Also, Android is on a ton of junk phones, as well as some really good ones. Among the best (and best selling) of the Android phones are the Samsung Galaxy phones which sell about the same or slight less than the iPhones.

There is much flawed logic in your implied conclusion here. Basically, you are implying that since high income earners (generally) buy more iPhones and Tesla owners are (generally) high income earners, therefore Tesla owners are (generally) iPhone buyers. If that's your conclusion, I don't agree that you can reach it.

- - - Updated - - -

Yes there are a lot more Android devices sold than iPhone, but the typical Android user doesn't use apps. There is a reason why developers make 4x more profit on iPhone than Android.

That reason isn't because they "don't use apps". It's because there are more free apps on Android. People who buy iDevices, by definition, are willing to pay more for the same stuff they can get cheaper elsewhere. So that's why developers make 4x more profit on iPhone. (Which is completely irrelevant for the Tesla app).

To get back to the main topic, I believe they are using a common framework that is known to have a problem with push notification for Android (for now).

 

[bob_p]

Tesla may be stuck in the "develop on iPhone and then port to Android" mode - guaranteeing that Android will always lag behind the iPhone for Tesla.

I've had my P85 for over two years - and the Android app is still labelled as "Beta" in the Android app store.

One way out of this dilemma could be to change the architecture of their app. Since app relies on Internet connectivity to even work, instead of having the app run on the smartphone, they could run the app on the server side and push the user interface down to the phone, along with whatever connectivity was needed inside the phone (such as notifications or access to the personal calendar).

If they did this, not only could they more easily keep the iPhone and Android apps in sync - it would be much easier to add the app to lower volume platforms (such as Windows Phone) and provide similar desktop apps for Apple and Windows (and Linux?) desktops.

Based on the slow pace of releases (at least for the Android app), it may be (past) time for Tesla to re-evaluate their strategy for their app - and change the design to make it easier to run on multiple platforms.

 

[eco5280]

I suspect that you haven't been to Amsterdam recently. Nowhere else have I seen such market dominance by Apple (including North America). Virtually every phone I saw in public was an iPhone. At first I thought it was coincidence so I started actively looking at phones and it was disconcerting how few phones weren't iPhones. Having said that, I was relieved to see that in Den Hague, the majority of phones were Android (or non-smart), much like the rest of Europe.

Anecdotal evidence is usually worth what you've paid for it. Amsterdam has nearly a million residents and another 4 million tourists/yr. How many phones did you survey? Unless it was in the thousands, your conclusions may have been limited to the coffeeshop that was unknowingly next to the Apple store

 

[DEinspanjer]

I don't think that Tesla would necessarily be depending on difficult to interpret market demographics and research for iOS vs Android. The fact is they do have an app out on both platforms, and their drivers are highly incentivized to use the app if it is available for their phone. That means that it would be trivial and expected for someone at Tesla to be keeping track of the number of active users on each platform.

While I am an Android user as well, and I am right up there with others complaining about the second-class citizen status, I have to imagine that it is actually because they don't see enough active users to prioritize it over iOS..

 

[liuping]

There is much flawed logic in your implied conclusion here. Basically, you are implying that since high income earners (generally) buy more iPhones and Tesla owners are (generally) high income earners, therefore Tesla owners are (generally) iPhone buyers. If that's your conclusion, I don't agree that you can reach it.

I agree, it's not very solid conclusion.

There is also this very unscientific poll: Do You Have a Smartphone? - Page 2

And the number of iPhones, I see at Tesla gatherings, etc.

All antidotal, but I've seen enough to be quite certain that it is no where near 80% Android to 15% iOS among Tesla Owner.

In the end it does not matter, Tesla supports both. even if the updates are not always 100% parity, they will be soon enough to not worry about it much.

 

[eco5280]

OKAY FOLKS. Let's do a new poll, even if just for fun.

2015 Poll for all owners - Android or iPhone?