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What are your top 5 likes and dislikes about the model 3 User Interface?
- Thread starter Vetteb_96
- Start date
I've got a bit over 10,000 miles, and I can't say I have any dislikes - it's an adaptation. Our individual perception of that adjustment is subjective.
I've heard those who dislike that everything is controlled with the center screen and require you to reach over and deal with it there, but I suspect eventually every function will have the option of being voice-controlled. "Open the glovebox Hal".
I've heard those who dislike that everything is controlled with the center screen and require you to reach over and deal with it there, but I suspect eventually every function will have the option of being voice-controlled. "Open the glovebox Hal".
Top likes: the touchscreen and steering wheel controls
Top dislike: the touchscreen windshield wiper controls.
For the latter, you must interact with the screen twice to adjust the wipers. First to bring up the whisper control “card,” then again to adjust the speed. I am getting used to it, but it still is my least favorite UI on the car.
When my 3 was new the wiper control card would be persistent when first selected. That was much better when driving in the rain, but was changed in a software update. The auto setting is not aggressive enough to provide adequate forward vision.
GSP
Top dislike: the touchscreen windshield wiper controls.
For the latter, you must interact with the screen twice to adjust the wipers. First to bring up the whisper control “card,” then again to adjust the speed. I am getting used to it, but it still is my least favorite UI on the car.
When my 3 was new the wiper control card would be persistent when first selected. That was much better when driving in the rain, but was changed in a software update. The auto setting is not aggressive enough to provide adequate forward vision.
GSP
Hard for me to come up with a "like" list, as I do not think there is any one thing that Tesla does better than expected.
- Nav is better with a larger screen
- Satellite view in Nav is sometimes interesting.
- Opening trunk from within the car is more intuitive than many ICE cars
Dislikes:
- Wiper control is dumb, dumb, dumb. There is literally no reason this cannot be on a control stalk, like every other car.
- Similarly, adjusting mirrors is harder than it should be, although it's more of a one time thing
- Needs quick buttons to switch audio between Phone (Bluetooth) and e.g. Spotify. The way these functions are buried under a second layer in Audio is not great.
- I do not like the little resize frame indent on overlapping windows. Discrete buttons are needed.
- For nav, the most important stats are miles to destination, minutes to destination and arrival time. This is displayed in a small font, smaller than less useful information like upcoming turns. I do not wear bifocals while driving, therefore my near vision is not great while wearing my distance sunglasses. Font on this needs to be bigger. I would be happier having this data snap to the bottom of the display, like the Audio pane.
- Button to open door is ridiculous. Normal handle, please. My guests always use the emergency handle.
- I would prefer a discrete button to tell AS that I'm still awake, rather than tug on the wheel or scroll the volume
- If you only have one entry for Homelink, the Homelink button should not expand to a list with only one entry. It should just select the single entry for you.
- I want to dial in a specific charge goal in % using scroll wheels, it is clumsy to use the touchscreen and hard to set a specific %.
- The 3-state left pane is clumsy. I want a button for tire pressure and a button for trip computer. I am constantly swiping the wrong direction right and left. Or voice control to bring up these displays.
- Backup camera freezes black often, with a 5-10 second delay.
- Nav needs to offer alternate routes. It often sends me on 1-minute short cuts on secondary roads that I know will be slower, because specific intersections back up due to short light timing.
- Nav is better with a larger screen
- Satellite view in Nav is sometimes interesting.
- Opening trunk from within the car is more intuitive than many ICE cars
Dislikes:
- Wiper control is dumb, dumb, dumb. There is literally no reason this cannot be on a control stalk, like every other car.
- Similarly, adjusting mirrors is harder than it should be, although it's more of a one time thing
- Needs quick buttons to switch audio between Phone (Bluetooth) and e.g. Spotify. The way these functions are buried under a second layer in Audio is not great.
- I do not like the little resize frame indent on overlapping windows. Discrete buttons are needed.
- For nav, the most important stats are miles to destination, minutes to destination and arrival time. This is displayed in a small font, smaller than less useful information like upcoming turns. I do not wear bifocals while driving, therefore my near vision is not great while wearing my distance sunglasses. Font on this needs to be bigger. I would be happier having this data snap to the bottom of the display, like the Audio pane.
- Button to open door is ridiculous. Normal handle, please. My guests always use the emergency handle.
- I would prefer a discrete button to tell AS that I'm still awake, rather than tug on the wheel or scroll the volume
- If you only have one entry for Homelink, the Homelink button should not expand to a list with only one entry. It should just select the single entry for you.
- I want to dial in a specific charge goal in % using scroll wheels, it is clumsy to use the touchscreen and hard to set a specific %.
- The 3-state left pane is clumsy. I want a button for tire pressure and a button for trip computer. I am constantly swiping the wrong direction right and left. Or voice control to bring up these displays.
- Backup camera freezes black often, with a 5-10 second delay.
- Nav needs to offer alternate routes. It often sends me on 1-minute short cuts on secondary roads that I know will be slower, because specific intersections back up due to short light timing.
youngmcdonald
Member
Overall, the media player is okay and navigation aspect of the user interface is great.
Biggest usability issue is the absence of feedback for most other settings since a precise location and touch is required for the touch screen which isn’t ideal when driving. The feature that suffers the most is the absence of full windshield wiper controls on the stalk lever.
The potential for the voice commands however is abundant. Literally everything can be achieved with voice. I just don’t understand why it’s currently so limited.
Biggest usability issue is the absence of feedback for most other settings since a precise location and touch is required for the touch screen which isn’t ideal when driving. The feature that suffers the most is the absence of full windshield wiper controls on the stalk lever.
The potential for the voice commands however is abundant. Literally everything can be achieved with voice. I just don’t understand why it’s currently so limited.
Dislikes
- manual wiper control. I do find I need it far less then before which does help. When I received the car the software wasn't even available for wiper control so I'm somewhat forgiving.
-lack of voice controls
-cannot disable airflow for passenger or driver. In an ICE care my wife just closed the vent.
-open glovebox should be on the main screen
-Summon: ability to set the path the car should travel
- manual wiper control. I do find I need it far less then before which does help. When I received the car the software wasn't even available for wiper control so I'm somewhat forgiving.
-lack of voice controls
-cannot disable airflow for passenger or driver. In an ICE care my wife just closed the vent.
-open glovebox should be on the main screen
-Summon: ability to set the path the car should travel
One major dislike is that I can’t customize ANY of the standard UI, like the bottom row of buttons, or the some of the actions for swipes. It shouldn’t be too hard to do some of that. Especially the media browser ribbon along the bottom or even some of the primary lower menu on the screen.
We’ll see.
We’ll see.
Wado
Member
Largely a fan of the interface but with version 10 I can no longer launch music with voice commands and I’d like to see that rectified. I could see expanding voice controls in a number of ways.
Love most everything. Media center is great, Nav is great, large screen works so well!
Dislike:
Defrost (either 100% blast of heat or ineffective) ; needs a LOW Hi type setting.
Agree with above Voice Command for specific song no longer works with V10 update as it did
Charging screen should have numbers 70/80/90/100 etc... that I can set the car to instead of a slider that does not work well and too vague
Navigation: would like waypoints added
Not a fan of the wiper control access but the auto wipers work better for me than most apparently.
I think in the future Telsa will have more voice control features and also improve upon some of my dislikes which makes me smile.
Dislike:
Defrost (either 100% blast of heat or ineffective) ; needs a LOW Hi type setting.
Agree with above Voice Command for specific song no longer works with V10 update as it did
Charging screen should have numbers 70/80/90/100 etc... that I can set the car to instead of a slider that does not work well and too vague
Navigation: would like waypoints added
Not a fan of the wiper control access but the auto wipers work better for me than most apparently.
I think in the future Telsa will have more voice control features and also improve upon some of my dislikes which makes me smile.
I used to drive a 2015 Honda so my observations are relative based on what I used to drive:
Likes:
- The ability to leave the rear cam on while I'm driving - especially if someone behind me appears too close.
- The ability to see the tire pressure without getting out to measure it. (My previous 2015 Honda didn't have tire sensors that did that).
- I really like that I can connect multiple phones through Bluetooth and choose which one I want to use (I have a separate work phone and personal phone and often take work calls on my commute). I wish it was a little easier to choose (maybe a drop down like the driver profile instead of popping up a new window).
- The ability to have multiple driver profiles (and Easy Entry) that can easily be switched to based on who's driving the car. Also love the valet mode as I have to valet my car at work everyday.
Dislikes:
- I really wish Apple Car Play was integrated with the screen. Especially if you're parked or at a charging station, it would be nice to be able to leverage phone capabilities on the larger screen.
- It would be nice if you could "program" common features to a single preset buttons. Sometimes it's hard while driving to navigate the screen to control air flow or turn the windshield wipers on etc.
- Would like to be able to set the charge limit a little more easily. I can never get the slider button to move quite right and always end up going to far and have to try multiple times.
- When looking at your car in relation to other cars around you, the jitter of the other cars and lanes gives me a headache. Even at a stoplight I see the cars moving in all sorts of directions when it's really just at a stop right next to me. It used to freak me out initially.
- Wish I could pull up the favorite contacts from my phone for easy access / easy dialing instead of having to go to the call menu and scrolling through or searching contacts.
Likes:
- The ability to leave the rear cam on while I'm driving - especially if someone behind me appears too close.
- The ability to see the tire pressure without getting out to measure it. (My previous 2015 Honda didn't have tire sensors that did that).
- I really like that I can connect multiple phones through Bluetooth and choose which one I want to use (I have a separate work phone and personal phone and often take work calls on my commute). I wish it was a little easier to choose (maybe a drop down like the driver profile instead of popping up a new window).
- The ability to have multiple driver profiles (and Easy Entry) that can easily be switched to based on who's driving the car. Also love the valet mode as I have to valet my car at work everyday.
Dislikes:
- I really wish Apple Car Play was integrated with the screen. Especially if you're parked or at a charging station, it would be nice to be able to leverage phone capabilities on the larger screen.
- It would be nice if you could "program" common features to a single preset buttons. Sometimes it's hard while driving to navigate the screen to control air flow or turn the windshield wipers on etc.
- Would like to be able to set the charge limit a little more easily. I can never get the slider button to move quite right and always end up going to far and have to try multiple times.
- When looking at your car in relation to other cars around you, the jitter of the other cars and lanes gives me a headache. Even at a stoplight I see the cars moving in all sorts of directions when it's really just at a stop right next to me. It used to freak me out initially.
- Wish I could pull up the favorite contacts from my phone for easy access / easy dialing instead of having to go to the call menu and scrolling through or searching contacts.
Top 5 Likes:
1) Integration of all systems via single touchscreen control system - incredibly risky, brave, and brilliantly pulled off - sets industry standard for integrated OS.
2) Amount of well organized information on screen, without it being overwhelming
3) 'Tabbed' and indented 'pane' control (being able to slide audio system up for example to get more information) - brilliant!
4) superb nav system with ease of destination input and control, plus automatic integration of SC destinations on all longer trips, plus integrated traffic info
5) Excellent audio menu system with ease of at least two streaming options, favorite stations, etc - but see Con #3.
Top 5 Issues:
1) Lack of user control over or customization of content of left-most section dealing with driving status and info
2) glare off glossy screen (although aftermarket matte cover is available)
3 lack of decent or even just industry-standard control interface and options within the USB drive music system - i.e., can't return to artists selected without going back to start of painfully long alphabetized list for example, and again lack of customizable views, lack of playlist functionality, firmware regression in 2018 in OS prior ability to read several types of lossless files to only reading FLAC, endless duplication within list structures, etc., etc., etc NEEDS MAJOR REDO/RETHINK!! It's a major downer to deal with this given such a great audio system!
4) occasional funkiness of BT phone connectivity making entry and driving a fumbling business some of the time.
5) inability to view sentry files and easily delete within OS, requiring external connection to separate computer! Ridiculous!!
Backpacker42
Member
After 12,000 miles of driving
Top Likes:
- Large touchscreen in center. Rock solid construction, location keeps clutter out of direct vision at night. I've wanted exactly this for a long time
- No dials or buttons. Thought I'd hate this, but again love the clutter free design
- Vent vectoring control. Very cool and intuitive to use
Top Dislikes (in order):
- Wiper controls buried too deep - a safety hazard. Requires instant access even when concentrating on road ahead in poor conditions. Auto wiper mode is totally useless. Did not come on when it started suddenly raining so hard visibility dropped to zero (because wipers didn't come on), but it came on under drizzle so light I wasn't considering wiper use later that same trip. It needs to come on 100% of the time I need it, and not irritate me when it is not needed.
- Map display always on. Takes up 2/3 of screen and I almost never use it. It's constant updating is a distraction
- Fonts not controllable. Like the majority over 50 and almost everyone over 60 I have presbyopia, making it almost impossible to read anything but the speed indicator with the font sizes chosen.
- Lack of user ability to customize placement of controls (apps/program launch icons). Hello - every modern OS has that ability. The half dozen controls I access all the time are buried too deep to safely access in heavy traffic, and I don't need most of the icons that are actually displayed while I am driving - and I have a lot of unused screen real estate
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Top Likes:
- Large touchscreen in center. Rock solid construction, location keeps clutter out of direct vision at night. I've wanted exactly this for a long time
- No dials or buttons. Thought I'd hate this, but again love the clutter free design
- Vent vectoring control. Very cool and intuitive to use
Top Dislikes (in order):
- Wiper controls buried too deep - a safety hazard. Requires instant access even when concentrating on road ahead in poor conditions. Auto wiper mode is totally useless. Did not come on when it started suddenly raining so hard visibility dropped to zero (because wipers didn't come on), but it came on under drizzle so light I wasn't considering wiper use later that same trip. It needs to come on 100% of the time I need it, and not irritate me when it is not needed.
- Map display always on. Takes up 2/3 of screen and I almost never use it. It's constant updating is a distraction
- Fonts not controllable. Like the majority over 50 and almost everyone over 60 I have presbyopia, making it almost impossible to read anything but the speed indicator with the font sizes chosen.
- Lack of user ability to customize placement of controls (apps/program launch icons). Hello - every modern OS has that ability. The half dozen controls I access all the time are buried too deep to safely access in heavy traffic, and I don't need most of the icons that are actually displayed while I am driving - and I have a lot of unused screen real estate
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640k
Member
Personally, I like most everything about the concept of the interface. It was one of the biggest hang-ups for me coming in to this car and I was pleasantly surprised by how intuitive and easy it was to learn and use. It made me nervous to get rid of a lot of the traditional controls that would typically be available in a legacy vehicle, but it didn't take me long to adopt them.
there are a lot of things that I like about the interface, but there are some obvious improvements...
- One thing not listed here is how the wiper control was switched from the right side to the left side. Most legacy vehicles have the wiper control where the gear selection stick is, but what's the most frustrating part is that I'll often forget that the PARK button is not the same thing as the "window spray" button.
- We need more refined controls of the HVAC. Heat on/off. Vent without fan. On/Off by passenger/driver...
- Some things should be controllable based on where they appear. Like drive mode. You should be able to push/hold the speed limit area to change the drive mode. Traction control and auto-pilot features should be controllable by touching the screen in those areas, etc.
- The search is too hard to use and a distraction. I like being able to search for songs/artists, etc., but it brings up too many options and is often not relevant to what I was searching for.
- The source/selection and favorites need a better organization system. I kind of miss the way it was before I had streaming. I could cycle through the radio stations like a traditional source would. But now that I have streaming, anything that's on my favorites gets cycled through, including Caraoke songs.
there are a lot of things that I like about the interface, but there are some obvious improvements...
- One thing not listed here is how the wiper control was switched from the right side to the left side. Most legacy vehicles have the wiper control where the gear selection stick is, but what's the most frustrating part is that I'll often forget that the PARK button is not the same thing as the "window spray" button.
- We need more refined controls of the HVAC. Heat on/off. Vent without fan. On/Off by passenger/driver...
- Some things should be controllable based on where they appear. Like drive mode. You should be able to push/hold the speed limit area to change the drive mode. Traction control and auto-pilot features should be controllable by touching the screen in those areas, etc.
- The search is too hard to use and a distraction. I like being able to search for songs/artists, etc., but it brings up too many options and is often not relevant to what I was searching for.
- The source/selection and favorites need a better organization system. I kind of miss the way it was before I had streaming. I could cycle through the radio stations like a traditional source would. But now that I have streaming, anything that's on my favorites gets cycled through, including Caraoke songs.
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