Tesla Owners, Let's Talk: Touchscreen vs. Physical Buttons - What's Your Take?

[sleepydoc]

You can‘t find anything positive, so buy another make/model car if your Tesla is so unsatisfactory. Most of your complaints are exceptions or nits to many of us, but keep hammering over and over and over to no avail. For most of us the positives far outweigh the negatives, and we’ve never owned a perfect car.

who says I can't find anything positive? This is a discussion about touch screen vs physical controls, and I've even said touch screen controls work well for many things, just not mission-critical controls. If you have a rational counterpoint, be my guest.

 

[sleepydoc]

er .. you can turn that off using the left stalk.

Tried that. It didn't work - just reactivates.

Ok, I tried deactivating it with the stalk again this morning and it seemed to work this time. Yesterday it would turn off then just reactivate but it didn't do that today. Either way, being able to use the stalk is far better.

 

[zroger73]

Ok, I tried deactivating it with the stalk again this morning and it seemed to work this time. Yesterday it would turn off then just reactivate but it didn't do that today. Either way, being able to use the stalk is far better.

Perhaps it was because of this...?

Note
Auto High Beam is automatically enabled when Autosteer is engaged. To switch to low beam headlights, push the turn signal stalk forward and release. Auto High Beam is re-enabled every time Autosteer is activated.

 

[sleepydoc]

Perhaps it was because of this...?

Note
Auto High Beam is automatically enabled when Autosteer is engaged. To switch to low beam headlights, push the turn signal stalk forward and release. Auto High Beam is re-enabled every time Autosteer is activated.

Yeah-auto high beams is always on in my car because I use FSD so much but the weather's been poor with a lot of fog the last couple of days so I haven't been using it so that wasn't the issue.

 

[laservet]

Are the fog lights on? Does that change its behavior in FSD?

 

[sleepydoc]

er .. you can turn that off using the left stalk.

ok - I played around with disabling the auto-brights some more. It appears you can usually disable them by pushing the left stalk away from you, but not always. About ⅓ of the time they will randomly reengage after a minute or two. So I wasn’t going crazy - it’s just another..er…’quirk’ of Tesla’s interface. Confusingly the display still shows that they are on, too. I also haven’t been able to discern any pattern for when/why they reactivate.

Are the fog lights on? Does that change its behavior in FSD?

Not that I can tell.

 

[B757]

Hey Tesla enthusiasts! We all love the sleek touchscreen of our Teslas, but do you ever miss the good old physical buttons? You know, the kind that gives you that satisfying click feedback. Sometimes, while I'm driving, I find myself longing for the simplicity of a button I can press without taking my eyes off the road.

What about you guys? When you're cruising in your Tesla, do you prefer the high-tech vibe of the touchscreen, or do you sometimes wish for the tactile feel of physical buttons? And what if there was something that could strike the perfect balance between the two?

I'm excited to hear your thoughts and experiences on this! Maybe together we can figure out what makes the ultimate driving experience.

*The 3/Y touchscreen design needs improvement to be more user friendly and safer. 1) The autopilot visualization serves no useful purpose, is distracting, and takes up screen space closest to driver's eyes where useful info should be displayed. 2)the left 2/5 of the screen space housing the visualization should appear below 10mph to assist in parking, etc, and disappear except for the left margin with status icons, the top and bottom portions with speed, "chill" , etc and radio, trip, tire pressure on bottom. 3)the map center should be moved about 4 inches closer to driver's eyes once the left part of the screen is hidden above 10mph. Map menu with supercharger location, satellite view should be moved to left side of map
closer to driver..easier to reach.
*The map is grey and white with grey street lettering which would be easier to see at a glance if street labels were black.
*Steering wheel heat icon needs to be twice as big and red indicator lines need to be replaced with parallel circles where the outside of the steering wheel image is now. The first tap for seat/steering wheel heat is now high, then medium, low, off....first tap should be low, then med, then high the way knob controls normally work

 

[kpanda17]

*The 3/Y touchscreen design needs improvement to be more user friendly and safer. 1) The autopilot visualization serves no useful purpose, is distracting, and takes up screen space closest to driver's eyes where useful info should be displayed. 2)the left 2/5 of the screen space housing the visualization should appear below 10mph to assist in parking, etc, and disappear except for the left margin with status icons, the top and bottom portions with speed, "chill" , etc and radio, trip, tire pressure on bottom. 3)the map center should be moved about 4 inches closer to driver's eyes once the left part of the screen is hidden above 10mph. Map menu with supercharger location, satellite view should be moved to left side of map
closer to driver..easier to reach.
*The map is grey and white with grey street lettering which would be easier to see at a glance if street labels were black.
*Steering wheel heat icon needs to be twice as big and red indicator lines need to be replaced with parallel circles where the outside of the steering wheel image is now. The first tap for seat/steering wheel heat is now high, then medium, low, off....first tap should be low, then med, then high the way knob controls normally work

You should draw your suggestions and send to Tesla

 

[EVer Hopeful]

The first tap for seat/steering wheel heat is now high, then medium, low, off....first tap should be low, then med, then high the way knob controls normally work

. . . apart from ceiling fans


but most of the stuff you mentioned I'd agree with ... and why a monochrome Nav screen? It's so much easier to use Nav when it's in colour WITH street names easily visible. You know like ALL THE OTHER manufacturers do

Yes I'd like to get rid of the visualization pane as it's unnecessary and just a gimmick really - and stupid, childish things like farting and the rainbow road. Make those things add on extras with a price and then they'd see how many people really wanted them

 

[phxazcraig]

Biggest issue I have with all the controls on the screen tends to be hitting the right control while driving, especially if the road is bumpy. I have my arm stretched out trying to hit a tiny target on the move. It's annoying and somewhat dangerous as I inevitably have to look away from the road to figure out why I'm not hitting the button. If the targets were bigger on the screen, it would be a lot better.

 

[patmurphey]

...*Steering wheel heat icon needs to be twice as big and red indicator lines need to be replaced with parallel circles where the outside of the steering wheel image is now. The first tap for seat/steering wheel heat is now high, then medium, low, off....first tap should be low, then med, then high the way knob controls normally work

Have you tried automatic? I can't believe anyone would worry about steering wheel heat controls anymore.

BTW, I don't agree with your proposed changes, especially since conflicting traffic shows red now.

 

[EVer Hopeful]

Doesn't show red in my mirror, or looking over my shoulder. It just looks BIG . . . and that's generally enough for me

 

[kpanda17]

Has anyone jumped into a new and modern ICEv lately, for my Tesla brain, its overwhelming, screen(s) across the entire dashboard, buttons everywhere, its crazy
I am a big fan of how Tesla is engineering the interior for auto wherever possible and then on the UI display, minimalization
For those still addicted to buttons, the S3XY button company has released The Commander, an amzaing knob for the center console to control alot, similar to the BMW iDrive, The Commander

 

[kpanda17]

.my bad, its called the S3XY Knob

 

[shahryaran]

Has anyone jumped into a new and modern ICEv lately, for my Tesla brain, its overwhelming, screen(s) across the entire dashboard, buttons everywhere, its crazy
I am a big fan of how Tesla is engineering the interior for auto wherever possible and then on the UI display, minimalization
For those still addicted to buttons, the S3XY button company has released The Commander, an amzaing knob for the center console to control alot, similar to the BMW iDrive, The Commander

We should have and could have had what Tesla envisioned today in 90s.
90s was a decade when electric technology could have picked up dramatically with GM ev1.

But corporate greed of oil profit and lack of policy management completely ruined the progress.

Yes. All cars should have no buttons and just a screen.

 

[dgpcolorado]

It's been mentioned before by others as well as myself, but I prefer to just use voice commands to buttons, whether physical or touch screen.

"Set steering wheel heater at low." "Turn steering wheel heater off." "Set driver's seat heater at medium." "Set wipers at 2." "Turn climate off." "Passenger's feet are cold." And, my favorite and most used in winter, with melting snow on the floor mats and cold outside temperatures: "Defogger on." When driving steep mountain hairpin curves, voice commands are a lot easier than fussing with buttons.

So far as map color goes, I always use satellite view, in part because it is so pretty where I live, and in part because I want to see actual buildings and parking lots when trying to find Supercharger Stations on a road trips. It is quite colorful around here: green forests, snow-capped mountains, red deserts, and so forth. The extra $100 a year for connectivity is worth it to me.

 

[kpanda17]

It's been mentioned before by others as well as myself, but I prefer to just use voice commands to buttons, whether physical or touch screen.

"Set steering wheel heater at low." "Turn steering wheel heater off." "Set driver's seat heater at medium." "Set wipers at 2." "Turn climate off." "Passenger's feet are cold." And, my favorite and most used in winter, with melting snow on the floor mats and cold outside temperatures: "Defogger on."

So far as map color goes, I always use satellite view, in part because it is so pretty where I live, and in part because I want to see actual buildings and parking lots when trying to find Supercharger Stations on a road trips. It is quite colorful around here: green forests, snow-capped mountains, red deserts, and so forth. The extra $100 a year for connectivity is worth it to me.

good point, auto and even speech recog can handle most functions
im in tech and only think of speech 5% of the time, I should use it more
can't wait for Tesla to add Grok to our Tesla UI

 

[SDRick]

Yes. All cars should have no buttons and just a screen.

Really?

I for one would not be comfortable using the screen while driving for certain important functions. Voice is often slow in a pinch and not 100%.

Turn signals or the horn would not be screen friendly. Scrolling while driving on a smooth, much less a bumpy road is way better with a wheel or knob.

 

[sleepydoc]

Have you tried automatic? I can't believe anyone would worry about steering wheel heat controls anymore.

BTW, I don't agree with your proposed changes, especially since conflicting traffic shows red now.

I've tried automatic and it works about 30% of the time for me. The problem is I very often don't want the seat heater on and turn it off to save energy.

The Auto seat heater setting is pretty good but most often I find that the 'auto' settings are only good at setting stuff to what the programmer who wrote the algorithm thinks you would want.

Has anyone jumped into a new and modern ICEv lately, for my Tesla brain, its overwhelming, screen(s) across the entire dashboard, buttons everywhere, its crazy
I am a big fan of how Tesla is engineering the interior for auto wherever possible and then on the UI display, minimalization
For those still addicted to buttons, the S3XY button company has released The Commander, an amzaing knob for the center console to control alot, similar to the BMW iDrive, The Commander

simple minds need simplicity?

I like the interior aesthetic of my MY but the lack of any physical controls takes it too far, IMO. Example - I was driving a rental car a few weeks ago and after spending 5 minutes looking over the controls I was able to reach down and adjust the fan speed without taking my eyes off of the road. I still can't do that in my Tesla.

 

[kpanda17]

I've tried automatic and it works about 30% of the time for me. The problem is I very often don't want the seat heater on and turn it off to save energy.

The Auto seat heater setting is pretty good but most often I find that the 'auto' settings are only good at setting stuff to what the programmer who wrote the algorithm thinks you would want.

simple minds need simplicity?

I like the interior aesthetic of my MY but the lack of any physical controls takes it too far, IMO. Example - I was driving a rental car a few weeks ago and after spending 5 minutes looking over the controls I was able to reach down and adjust the fan speed without taking my eyes off of the road. I still can't do that in my Tesla.

First Principle is similar to simplicity
KISS
makes sense repeatably