The end of third party Tesla iOS apps is nigh!

[wayner]

This is mentioned in a thread on the Remote S in this forum but the issue is broader than just one app. For all of us iPhone users there will soon be no Tesla apps other than the one from Tesla. Of course any apps installed on your phone will stay there.

See Allen Wong's post here: The end of 3rd party Tesla apps for Apple devices | Tesla

 

[kort677]

I've removed all the third party apps because of the constant polling of the car by those apps, what they offer to me and my low usage of those apps made the choice easy

 

[sdorn]

This is unfortunate. I use Remote S pretty much every day.

 

[bmah]

This situation is pretty sucky. I'm somewhat surprised by the lack of outrage / protest here, compared to some other issues (admittedly some of those have to do with core vehicle functionality, such as DC charge throttling, power output, and so on).

Is it that there aren't a lot of people who care about third-party iOS apps? Or they don't what to do (who to provide feedback / protest to? Tesla?)? Or they think that "resistance is futile"?

FWIW I've used Remote S for quite awhile because it's just more functional than the "official" Tesla iOS app.

I'd gladly write a letter if I knew where to send it (I did write some feedback many months ago suggesting the REST API be officially supported for third-party apps).

Sorry if I'm just clueless about the issues and dynamics here.

Bruce.

 

[⚡️ELECTROMAN⚡️]

If the Tesla app had camping mode, I wouldn't care at this point. When is Tesla going to add more features to their app?

 

[⚡️ELECTROMAN⚡️]

This is mentioned in a thread on the Remote S in this forum but the issue is broader than just one app. For all of us iPhone users there will soon be no Tesla apps other than the one from Tesla. Of course any apps installed on your phone will stay there.

See Allen Wong's post here: The end of 3rd party Tesla apps for Apple devices | Tesla

If that's true then we should buy the app before Apple gets rid of it. At least if we want camping mode at some point.

 

[rxlawdude]

If that's true then we should buy the app before Apple gets rid of it. At least if we want camping mode at some point.

I think the question is, will the app continue to work as Tesla modifies its API to account for the M3.

 

[bmah]

If the Tesla app had camping mode, I wouldn't care at this point. When is Tesla going to add more features to their app?

Not sure about that. Ironically I just got a new update for the Tesla app on iOS (3.1.4). I suspect (with zero evidence) that this might have to do with Model 3 support. In a couple minutes I wasn't able to tell any difference in functionality from the prior 3.1.3.

Here's the thing...suppose that the impending ban/removal on Tesla apps in the iOS app store was the result of someone at Tesla contacting Apple and saying (basically) "stop letting iOS apps from using our unsupported API!" It's not much of a stretch to go from there to "we shouldn't allow any applications, regardless of platform, to access our API, which can only be used by the official apps". That thinking could lead to blocking of all third party apps. There's a lot of speculation in those sentences, but if I were working on software that touched the Tesla API, I'd be kind of worried about this happening. And as someone who uses several pieces of software like this (on iOS and otherwise) I am worried.

Bruce.

 

[wayner]

You would think if they really wanted to block others from using the API then they would have already done so.

If you read all of the comments to the thread linked to in post 1 you will see that a developer that wrote one of the third-party apps is now working for Tesla and there is speculation that he may be behind this recent crackdown.

I am also very disappointed as I far prefer Remote S to the native iOS app and I also have written some of my own code in Python that hits the Tesla API. So far that appears to be working but it could stop if they change the authentication process. Don't forget that they did change the whole authentication about 2.5 years ago that broke all of the existing third party tools at that time.

 

[ecarfan]

I am not a software security expert but could this upcoming action by Tesla be due to security concerns with 3rd party apps potentially making the cars or the future Tesla Network more vulnerable to bad actors?

 

[f-stop]

This is unfortunate news, Remote S is a great app I use every day, and unlike the official app it supports Apple Watch. Allen is very responsive to bug reports and other requests and I found the purchase of the app well worthwhile. To me it sounds like Tesla complained to Apple about 3rd party apps using their API.

 

[f-stop]

just noticed some updated news from the developer regoapps over on the Tesla forum, go read his Aug 1/17 update there.
Sounds like he has hope for 3rd party apps like his to remain on the app store. everyone keep your fingers crossed...

 

[depeche]

Oddball question here:

Have any of these (complaining) 3rd party developers contacted Tesla about becoming either 'official' or selling their IP to Tesla to to add functionality to the official app?

 

[heffneil]

I use the "Stats" program and really like it. It shows me my realistic mileage not the BS tesla range. It also alerts me if a door stays open. Kinda sad if that stops working!

 

[kort677]

I use the "Stats" program and really like it. It shows me my realistic mileage not the BS tesla range. It also alerts me if a door stays open. Kinda sad if that stops working!

BS tesla range? please elaborate, my car is fairly accurate calculating the range.

 

[heffneil]

I don't know my car says 252 miles at 90% but the stats program tells me 161 and I believe that one much better. I barely made it to Clearwater from Naples and I charged 100% on my P100D Model X with 22" wheels on a COLD day where I hardly used AC. My wife and I were scared to death we would not make it! Since then we haven't taken a trip outside of town and probably never will!

 

[kort677]

I don't know my car says 252 miles at 90% but the stats program tells me 161 and I believe that one much better. I barely made it to Clearwater from Naples and I charged 100% on my P100D Model X with 22" wheels on a COLD day where I hardly used AC. My wife and I were scared to death we would not make it! Since then we haven't taken a trip outside of town and probably never will!

I haven't a clue what the stats program is but I do know that the car is very accurate with it's range calculations.
in your part of the world the biggest problems with using more range than being shown is excessive speed and climatic issues such as winds and rain.
there is no reason why the trip you mentioned should be a problem on your car with a 100% charge and if you are concerned about the range there are superchargers along the way where you charge.

the more familiar you get with your car the less the range anxiety will be.

for your next long road trip my suggestion would be to get on your computer, find the mapping/charging programs and plan your route noting the options for an emergency charge along the way. I do that for every trip and I have never had to make an unplanned emergency stop for a charge.

 

[bonnie]

I haven't a clue what the stats program is but I do know that the car is very accurate with it's range calculations.
in your part of the world the biggest problems with using more range than being shown is excessive speed and climatic issues such as winds and rain.
there is no reason why the trip you mentioned should be a problem on your car with a 100% charge and if you are concerned about the range there are superchargers along the way where you charge.

the more familiar you get with your car the less the range anxiety will be.

for your next long road trip my suggestion would be to get on your computer, find the mapping/charging programs and plan your route noting the options for an emergency charge along the way. I do that for every trip and I have never had to make an unplanned emergency stop for a charge.

Really spot-on advice. While charging options have grown by several orders of magnitude (really) since I first started driving electric about 7 years ago, the habit of 'always know your charging options' has never left me. Everyone should also have the plugshare app on their phone & carry appropriate adapters (minimally J1772, CHAdeMo if you have it, 14-50, 14-30 maybe) on any roadtrip.

My X range calculations have been surprisingly accurate (compared to old-school Roadster). The battery % number is usually off, at most, by 1 or 2 points in either direction. If I'm dealing with challenging terrain/wind/whatever, I watch that number and make adjustments to my driving IF I was cutting it close to begin with. Usually I'm not.

 

[ohmman]

My S and X range calculations are quite close as well. Though, I tend to consume pretty close to rated consumption (~295 on the S and ~330 on the X). I realize many people have higher consumption due to different climate, driving style, etc.

I tell all EV drivers to slow down if they're worried about range. 5 mph slower on the highway makes a dramatic difference in range and a tiny difference in travel time. "Go slow to get there faster" has always stayed with me as a mantra.

 

[Rossy]

I'm a pilot. FYI it's against Federal Regulation for me to run out of gas while flying my airplane. My neighbor is also a pilot. He had traded his Midel S for a Model X owner. My first chat with him was to exclaim "Hey I just test drive one of those last week!" Then we launched into how great they were and as pilots the concept of planning fuel stops was as natural as breathing.(something like that..not verbatium).