Hands-On With the Apple Music App for Tesla

[MacRumors]

Car manufacturer Tesla last week rolled out a holiday software update that added Apple Music support to Tesla vehicles, so we thought we'd check it out for those who are interested in a hands-on demo of how Apple's streaming music service works on the Tesla platform.

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Apple Music support for Tesla cars is something that Tesla owners have long been waiting for, as the electric car company has previously only worked with streaming services like Spotify.

The experience works as you might expect, and the full Apple Music service is available. The navigation experience is superior compared to Spotify, such as options for tapping into songs from a playlist to get to the entire album along with better interface interactions.

Navigation is also straightforward, though it's worth noting that it does not appear that iTunes Match content is available for access. Lossless and Dolby Atmos also do not appear to be available at this time in Teslas, and it is not clear if that functionality is going to be enabled at a later date.

If you're a Tesla owner, you will need the 2022.44.25 Tesla Holiday Update to access Apple Music, which has been rolling out over the last seven days.

Article Link: Hands-On With the Apple Music App for Tesla

 

[Realityck]

They mentioned online, the annual holiday software update is available for all users, but there is a small catch:
Note: A Premium Connectivity subscription is required to stream Apple Music over a cellular connection. You see that if you click on the Apple Music portion of this twitter post. (upper left)

https://twitter.com/x/status/1602725058291474432

 

[DocMultimedia]

Finally. Best software update in ages. Sooooo much nicer than the other streaming options on Tesla.

 

[cubedweller]

Apple Music is also only available in the United States (and not worldwide even if the Apple Music service is typically available in your country).

 

[Benjamin Nabulsi]

Thanks for walking us through this, I've just updated today but didn't get the chance to set it up yet.
For the high-def streaming, it's now on Apple to update Musickit for the web to support lossless as I don't see Apple and Tesla working together like Mercedes and Apple native musickit integration to Apple music that featured Atmos

 

[jonnysods]

Can't believe how big the screen is in that car, so awesome.

 

[neilw]

I just updated my car and will be setting this up. Greatly looking forward to it.

 

[benroberts3]

Unless I am crazy and have totally missed this, navigating around the Apple Music app for Carplay is awful. So for Dan to comment on how great AM is for Telsa vs Spotify it's slightly annoying how Apple can't make Carplay the best version of itself before it puts its streaming platform into other 3rd party sources.

 

[LukasValine]

They mentioned online, the annual holiday software update is available for all users, but there is a small catch:
Note: A Premium Connectivity subscription is required to stream Apple Music over a cellular connection. You see that if you click on the Apple Music portion of this twitter post. (upper left)

https://twitter.com/x/status/1602725058291474432

Obviously premium connectivity is needed for cellular. If you want to stream for “free” you can connect your car to your phones hotspot.

Tesla charges less for data than most cell carriers fyi.

 

[Taldric2022]

It's active in my Model 3, but not in my (almost 7 year old) Model S. I hope they still bring it to the older cars, but perhaps that is too much to ask. Does any car maker update the entertainment system for 6 (nearly 7) year old cars to include entirely new streaming services?

It sounds great though. And all my most recently played songs are listed, as are my playlists. I am very pleased to get this new service built into my car. No longer need to use my phone and bluetooth.

 

[jayinla]

One MAJOR issue with the app in the Tesla is if your playlist is over 100 songs, it separates the playlist into pages of 100 songs each. You can't play the whole playlist...only the page you select. Oh, and it won't play your smart playlists.. The playlist implementation is a dealbreaker for me.

 

[page3]

Apple Music is also only available in the United States (and not worldwide even if the Apple Music service is typically available in your country).

It works fine in the UK and is actually pretty good, despite me usually preferring Spotify.

 

[Taldric2022]

One MAJOR issue with the app in the Tesla is if your playlist is over 100 songs, it separates the playlist into pages of 100 songs each. You can't play the whole playlist...only the page you select. Oh, and it won't play your smart playlists.. The playlist implementation is a dealbreaker for me.

Deal breaker? What deal? You received a free upgrade to support a new streaming service, and you are upset it doesn't support all the features YOU feel are critical? Hm...

 

[BeatCrazy]

Can't believe how big the screen is in that car, so awesome.

One thing I can tell you after having a Tesla for 3 years... having a HUGE screen never gets old. Any other car I get into, the screen just feels tiny and cramped.

 

[luigi408]

A lot of bugs still when using it. When you first start up your car to drive it won’t load Apple Music back again, it tells you to select a source unlike with Spotify or other sources, it doesn’t start automatically.

Playlist is limited to 100 songs.

You can’t sort a playlist or your song list to most recent.

No smart playlist.

Your playlist cover art doesn’t show up in the playlist list so it looks ugly.

The app sucks right now. I don’t get how Apple and Tesla can’t make a fully functional music app unlike Spotify. Spotify just works with every device I use the same way. Sticking with Spotify in the meantime.

 

[BeatCrazy]

If you're a Tesla owner, you will need the 2022.44.25 Tesla Holiday Update to access Apple Music, which has been rolling out over the last seven days.

Probably should note - if you're using FSD beta software, you don't have/get this update with Apple Music, yet. The FSD folks are on a different branch.

I'm in this situation and the wait is rather painful Maybe next week?

 

[_Spinn_]

Looks nice. Now if we can get CarPlay support.

 

[page3]

A lot of bugs still when using it. When you first start up your car to drive it won’t load Apple Music back again, it tells you to select a source unlike with Spotify or other sources, it doesn’t start automatically.

Playlist is limited to 100 songs.

You can’t sort a playlist or your song list to most recent.

No smart playlist.

Your playlist cover art doesn’t show up in the playlist list so it looks ugly.

The app sucks right now. I don’t get how Apple and Tesla can’t make a fully functional music app unlike Spotify. Spotify just works with every device I use the same way. Sticking with Spotify in the meantime.

Yes it has bugs, the greatest for me is that random only mixes the current page of results, not the actual whole playlist.

Despite the bugs it’s pretty decent and very useable.

In true Tesla tradition there are already two bug fix releases out (25.2 and 25.3). No doubt many more will follow.

 

[imola.zhp]

They mentioned online, the annual holiday software update is available for all users, but there is a small catch:
Note: A Premium Connectivity subscription is required to stream Apple Music over a cellular connection. You see that if you click on the Apple Music portion of this twitter post. (upper left)

Pretty sad this has to be explained, an update that includes a new streaming service must have the ability to bring in the stream from the internet. The internet source is not free, much like the other streaming services in the vehicle whether its Spotify or Netflix.

Unless I am crazy and have totally missed this, navigating around the Apple Music app for Carplay is awful. So for Dan to comment on how great AM is for Telsa vs Spotify it's slightly annoying how Apple can't make Carplay the best version of itself before it puts its streaming platform into other 3rd party sources.

Yeah, Tesla's UI is great, CarPlay looks like a foreign made children's tablet when compared to Tesla.

Probably should note - if you're using FSD beta software, you don't have/get this update with Apple Music, yet. The FSD folks are on a different branch.

I'm in this situation and the wait is rather painful Maybe next week?

"Two weeks"

 

[mkelly]

Apple Music is also only available in the United States (and not worldwide even if the Apple Music service is typically available in your country).

Huh. Weird. Last I checked my Tesla and I are definitely located in Canada. Just got Apple Music set up and running on my Model Y today 😃

 

[ps3zocker]

Apple Music is also only available in the United States (and not worldwide even if the Apple Music service is typically available in your country).

That's incorrect. It's available worldwide.

 

[dontwalkhand]

Obviously premium connectivity is needed for cellular. If you want to stream for “free” you can connect your car to your phones hotspot.

Tesla charges less for data than most cell carriers fyi.

This depends. Sometimes hotspot is just included in most cell plans. That being said…SAT MAP VIEW is worth the money.

 

[roar08]

A lot of bugs still when using it. When you first start up your car to drive it won’t load Apple Music back again, it tells you to select a source unlike with Spotify or other sources, it doesn’t start automatically.

Playlist is limited to 100 songs.

You can’t sort a playlist or your song list to most recent.

No smart playlist.

Your playlist cover art doesn’t show up in the playlist list so it looks ugly.

The app sucks right now. I don’t get how Apple and Tesla can’t make a fully functional music app unlike Spotify. Spotify just works with every device I use the same way. Sticking with Spotify in the meantime.

I've had this in my Model S for almost a week.

TL;DR I was very excited but less so after living with it. I don't hate it, nor do I love it.

I don't know if there are actual "bugs" per se, but the UI/UX is a little clunky. It's software so it can (will?) improve over time. To name a few, you can't sort playlists and they sort with numerically ordered playlists last (vs. desktop where they're first). There really needs to be some kind of macro search/filter alphabetically when looking at artists/songs/albums. I have a huge library and a notable amount of the implementation isn't practically usable because you have to sort through dozens (or more) of screens. I actually prefer Apple Music to Spotify in general, but the Tesla Spotify implementation is pretty good and — in my opinion so far — superior to the Apple Music implementation. Again, it's software and all this can change/improve (my bet is it will).

 

[profets]

Apple Music is also only available in the United States (and not worldwide even if the Apple Music service is typically available in your country).

I'm using it in Canada right now...

It's active in my Model 3, but not in my (almost 7 year old) Model S. I hope they still bring it to the older cars, but perhaps that is too much to ask. Does any car maker update the entertainment system for 6 (nearly 7) year old cars to include entirely new streaming services?

It sounds great though. And all my most recently played songs are listed, as are my playlists. I am very pleased to get this new service built into my car. No longer need to use my phone and bluetooth.

I think older S/X on the original MCU / infotainment computer hasn't had feature updates since 2022.8.X. Could possibly do an MCU upgrade and keep getting updates.

Probably should note - if you're using FSD beta software, you don't have/get this update with Apple Music, yet. The FSD folks are on a different branch.

I'm in this situation and the wait is rather painful Maybe next week?

2022.44.25.5 currently installing on my Y that was previously on an FSD build!

 

[zapmymac]

It’s nice to have my Apple Music playlists finally. Model 3 owner. G/f uses Spotify, so now we can argue who has the better playlist 🤣. The UI is acceptable to me, it’s not laggy, so I’m all set. Nice addition, long time in the waiting though 🤫