Tesla Apple CarPlay Hack Updated to Work With Any Tesla Model

[norbinhouston]

I'll use what apple hater use. Tesla is just making a money grab. So that people are forced to use their connective services. I think its $10/month. If they allowed apple carplay, maybe people wouldn't pay for those services.

 

[ddurkee]

As a Tesla owner who recently rented a car and used CarPlay for the first time in a while, there are things I like better about Apple's navigation than Tesla's. I'd also love to have Apple's Music app through CarPlay. It's a shame Elon, while criticizing Apple's walled garden, insists on maintaining one of his own.

 

[xraydoc]

I drive a Tesla Model 3. I wouldn't mind native CarPlay integration, but the Tesla UI really doesn't need it. If Tesla comes up with their own app store, CarPlay will be completely superfluous.

If someone were to make these dual Raspberry Pi gizmos pre-configured and put them up for sale, I might consider it.

What I do plan on doing, though, is bringing my iPad mini 6 with its cellular modem on my next long multi-state road trip as a backup for navigation (mostly to run A Better Route Planner, for those who are familiar with it).

 

[wallinbl]

I get the allure of CarPlay and AA, I really do, but I think we need to remember why they were first made: to help bring some control to your phone / media in vehicles that otherwise have terrible infotainment systems.

Tesla building their own cars with 15-17” displays and full touch UIs are different than traditional vehicles in that regard. They have a full interface that they update consistently.

I think in a way, what Tesla is doing, is similar to what Apple would do. ‘This is our product, we’re designing the interface, and we don’t want other companies having any control over it.’

I’m not saying CarPlay shouldn’t exist or that Tesla should never allow it. Maybe it could operate as a window within the Tesla UI somewhere? I dunno. But the original goal of CarPlay wasn’t for Teslas with 15-17” screens. And even the new CarPlay that takes over the entire vehicle / large displays, no chance Tesla is going to give up their entire UI to Apple.

Having driven a Tesla for some time, what I think I’d prefer (personal opinion), is a small App Store of sorts for media apps. That’s what I find I miss the most - Music, podcasts apps, etc.

Maybe an App Store solves it, and that's a fine solution.

But, not having SiriusXM, Waze, and Apple Music are all significant downsides to my Model 3. I love most things about it, but those really bug me.

 

[Stromos]

I also don't get all these people clammoring for CarPlay.

Previous car was BMW where its iDrive was widely recognized as best infotainment system in the business. To enter a POI, or god forbid, an address, took about endless taps (Home, Nav, Search, Country, City, Zip, Street Name, Intersection, etc). On Tesla it's direct search with auto-complete, engine seems identical to google, traffic-based routing, etc.

Media navigation is also incomparable. It's like using Windows CE on a phone vs todays Android/iOS.

On other cars ive tried, CarPlay and Android Apple were an improvement on the factory system, but even then the graphics and scaling were pretty terrible.

Don't understand what people find lacking with Tesla's UI, but everyone has an opinion.

I pay for Amazon Music it works fine on CarPlay and Android Auto. When Tesla supports all services then you can start a discussion until then you have zero ground to stand on. I’m not changing providers for a car. Most companies understand that and have been moving to cross compatibility. Sad that Tesla thinks people will put time and effort into catering to their choices.

 

[randyhudson]

having 1 side of a vent turned off by default is not a normal tesla mode of operation

Tesla rolls out ‘Passenger Face Vent’ feature for improved efficiency

Tesla has begun the wide rollout of a new “Passenger Face Vent” feature in the latest 2020.28.5 over-the-air software update that aims to improve energy efficiency and increase range. The wide rollout, initially to Tesla Model Y vehicles only, will limit climate control to only the driver when a...

www.teslarati.com

 

[icwhatudidthere]

I drive a Tesla Model 3. I wouldn't mind native CarPlay integration, but the Tesla UI really doesn't need it. If Tesla comes up with their own app store, CarPlay will be completely superfluous.

If someone were to make these dual Raspberry Pi gizmos pre-configured and put them up for sale, I might consider it.

What I do plan on doing, though, is bringing my iPad mini 6 with its cellular modem on my next long multi-state road trip as a backup for navigation (mostly to run A Better Route Planner, for those who are familiar with it).

The Tesla UI is great, I don't think anyone's complaining about that. The complaints are about the lack of support for third party services. Your need for an iPad to run ABRP is an example of that. ABRP actually supports CarPlay and would have great integration...if only Tesla supported CarPlay.

An app store might help but there are multiple orders of magnitude more iPhones than there are Teslas on the road. There will always be better app support for CarPlay than for any Tesla app store.

 

[6787872]

What exactly is buggy about the infotainment system? I've had a Model 3 SR+ for nearly a year now, and buggy has not been my experience. However, Tesla changing up the UI and screwing up ergonomics (I'm looking at you, December 2021 update) -- that'd I'd agree with.

that same update introduced a horrible backup camera lag. even after all this time, it's still not as smooth as it used to be. then there's the dashcam bug which causes constant disconnects. spotify songs randomly skip. the navigation system is incredibly barebones and lacking many basic features. i could go on and on.

people love to point to the large fancy touchscreen and then assume that automatically means it's "better." it's not.

 

[sigurros]

Still can't believe Telsa doesn't use CarPlay. Its main reason they are not on my EV list....like many others.

Years ago Honda was the same way and the dealer couldn't believe I wouldn't consider them because of that. Years later, Honda changed their tune, although I do not think Tesla will....

 

[diamond.g]

Tesla rolls out ‘Passenger Face Vent’ feature for improved efficiency

Tesla has begun the wide rollout of a new “Passenger Face Vent” feature in the latest 2020.28.5 over-the-air software update that aims to improve energy efficiency and increase range. The wide rollout, initially to Tesla Model Y vehicles only, will limit climate control to only the driver when a...

www.teslarati.com

To be fair pre-heat pump cars don't get that feature (I am not sure if there are heat pump 3's with out it but I know PTC heater folks don't get it).

 

[Chateaunole-du-Pape]

I pay for Amazon Music it works fine on CarPlay and Android Auto. When Tesla supports all services then you can start a discussion until then you have zero ground to stand on. I’m not changing providers for a car. Most companies understand that and have been moving to cross compatibility. Sad that Tesla thinks people will put time and effort into catering to their choices.

There's a flip side to that: I'm not changing cars because of music sources and maps.

 

[page3]

Nope. The Tesla UI is miles better than CarPlay. It's really not even close.

I love my Tesla, i really do but let’s not kid ourselves the UI is any good.

More important though is the functionality, which is miles behind Apple.

 

[page3]

I get the allure of CarPlay and AA, I really do, but I think we need to remember why they were first made: to help bring some control to your phone / media in vehicles that otherwise have terrible infotainment systems.

Tesla building their own cars with 15-17” displays and full touch UIs are different than traditional vehicles in that regard. They have a full interface that they update consistently.

I think in a way, what Tesla is doing, is similar to what Apple would do. ‘This is our product, we’re designing the interface, and we don’t want other companies having any control over it.’

I’m not saying CarPlay shouldn’t exist or that Tesla should never allow it. Maybe it could operate as a window within the Tesla UI somewhere? I dunno. But the original goal of CarPlay wasn’t for Teslas with 15-17” screens. And even the new CarPlay that takes over the entire vehicle / large displays, no chance Tesla is going to give up their entire UI to Apple.

Having driven a Tesla for some time, what I think I’d prefer (personal opinion), is a small App Store of sorts for media apps. That’s what I find I miss the most - Music, podcasts apps, etc.

Don’t you come here with your rational and well thought out comments.

 

[webkit]

Years ago Honda was the same way and the dealer couldn't believe I wouldn't consider them because of that. Years later, Honda changed their tune, although I do not think Tesla will....

I don't think it was a "change of tune" with Honda as they were early adopters of CarPlay, starting with the Accord and Civic in 2016. CarPlay support continued to be added to other Hondas as part of model updates/redesigns e.g., CR-V, Pilot and Ridgeline in 2017, Odyssey in 2018, etc.

 

[kingtj1971]

The lack of CarPlay, especially the future version of it, is probably the main reason I'm not looking at Tesla when replacing my current EV next year. Polestar, BMW or Mustang are all more likely candidates.

Wow! Is this even a serious comment?

I mean, I'm a fan of Apple CarPlay, but truthfully? It's been more of a band-aid fix for the lack of a decent media center in most vehicles, vs a "must have" in its own right.

I do sympathize with the people who paid for "Apple Music" subscriptions and are angry they can't use them in cars like Teslas. But I dumped Apple Music years ago when I had issues with it trashing songs in my personal music library (would tend to sync Apple's content over the top of my saved songs which were alternate versions of the tracks). And it completely corrupted my wife's iTunes library one time. I'm sure most or all of this has been fixed since then, but I don't go back to services that destroy my data like that once I've been burned.

All in all, CarPlay has been a mixed bag for me. I have it now in a new Ford Bronco Sport and it's stupid how the version of Ford Sync they used doesn't support wireless CarPlay. (Ford does include a wireless phone charging mat right in the dash. But what's the point to it if you have to keep connecting a USB cable to your phone for the GPS maps or other CarPlay features to work?)

And CarPlay, at least in its current implementation, is still rather clunky. You've got a vehicle with its own media center/system/menus and then CarPlay connects and usually just takes over, suddenly dropping its icons right over the top of all the original menu options. If you disable that as default behavior, you get a clumsy UI where you have to figure out how to move back and forth between the two systems, especially for things like listening to Sirius/XM satellite radio you might have a subscription on in the vehicle, or wanting to listen to the FM radio.

Tesla has done more than ANY other auto-maker to give you a really nice UI that's as feature-complete as possible. You've got everything from multiple arcade games (with USB gamepad support even!) to integrated support for services like Spotify and Netflix and Disney+ movie streaming. Tesla even has a standing arrangement with Slacker to allow unlimited commercial-free music streaming to a Tesla using a default login built into the vehicle. And the Tesla GPS is "proprietary" for good reason; their need to be able to calculate the superchargers along a route you'll need to stop at to arrive at a destination when it's too far to make without recharging along the way.

My Tesla Model 3 is the only vehicle I've owned in years where I didn't feel a need to try to upgrade the sound system to get features I wanted ... and the only one where I can do just fine without Apple CarPlay working in it.

 

[WitchDrAsh2]

Feels fiddly to get this functionality, tested out a Tesla and got fed up with it when I realised I’d end up having to got back 10 years and get some sort of mount for my iPhone so I could use my various apps over Bluetooth as Tesla offered no alternatives.

Given most cars offer CarPlay it was definitely one of the marks against Tesla, not the only one, I hated the lack of a standard dashboard, but it helped me decide against getting one.

 

[pugxiwawa]

Seems like a lot of people are willing to write off Tesla even before understanding the advantage that Tesla's built-in system provided. Unlike traditional ICE car, the most important aspects of EV infotainment system are the ability to accurately predict range while taking in account weather and road condition, calculate distance between charging station to provide easy-to-use road planning, and precondition battery upon arrival charging stations. Until CarPlay can fully integrate with individual EV, and being able to perform all above calculations accurately, it would be a non-starter if you rely on the car doing any sort of long distance driving.

Also, Apple Music, Podcast...etc works fine via Bluetooth in Tesla. Siri works as well directly on the phone. Honestly the only thing I miss is Waze. I agree, if there's an App Store on Tesla that would be perfect.

 

[WitchDrAsh2]

Seems like a lot of people are willing to write off Tesla even before understanding the advantage that Tesla's built-in system provided. Unlike traditional ICE car, the most important aspects of EV infotainment system are the ability to accurately predict range while taking in account weather and road condition, calculate distance between charging station to provide easy-to-use road planning, and precondition battery upon arrival charging stations. Until CarPlay can fully integrate with individual EV, and being able to perform all above calculations accurately, it would be a non-starter if you rely on the car doing any sort of long distance driving.

Also, Apple Music, Podcast...etc works fine via Bluetooth in Tesla. Siri works as well directly on the phone. Honestly the only thing I miss is Waze. I agree, if there's an App Store on Tesla that would be perfect.

The i4’s iDrive system offered all this functionality combined with not having to interact directly with the iPhone to use all my different audio apps, direct link to iMessage and better Siri support, Bluetooth isn’t vaguely comparable really, but equally you need the car manufacturer to make switching between the two ecosystems painless, BMW have done a really good job with that allowing me quick access to all my vehicles information while letting me throw my iPhone into the centre console to charge and not having to touch it at all while driving

 

[evansls]

Tesla is in the development of an App Marketplace since May 2021. Big OS launches from Tesla usually drop for its infotainment around end of year holiday. https://thedriven.io/2022/02/07/tesla-said-to-be-developing-app-store-to-rival-apple-and-android/

Tesla just launched Driver Profile switching (16.2), which means our Profiles now switch with our individual media profiles including Spotify, Tidal, etc as soon as we enter the car with our mobile phone.

Tesla now supports multiple logins for Spotify, TIDAL in 2022.16.0.2

You can now have multiple user accounts for Spotify and TIDAL in your Tesla.

www.notateslaapp.com

Cloud profile sync is also in beta, which allows our same Driver Profiles to sync across other Tesla's should we rent another Tesla or use one as a loaner for example.

More details uncovered about 'Cloud Profiles' in Tesla update 2022.8

Earlier this year Elon Musk said that Tesla will be moving car profile settings to the cloud. Any Tesla will automatically adjust to you, Musk said. W

www.notateslaapp.com

 

[profets]

Maybe an App Store solves it, and that's a fine solution.

But, not having SiriusXM, Waze, and Apple Music are all significant downsides to my Model 3. I love most things about it, but those really bug me.

Honestly I'm not even sure an App Store is the solution. But some kind of developer focused group for media apps or access would be nice. Was it 2019 when everyone kept asking for Spotify and then they eventually added it? Would be cool if they communicated with other media platforms too - Apple, SiriusXM, Podcast developers, etc.

 

[JosephAW]

Tried CarPlay in my 2020 Kia. Was such a driving distraction I went back to Bluetooth connectivity. 😵

 

[WitchDrAsh2]

Tried CarPlay in my 2020 Kia. Was such a driving distraction I went back to Bluetooth connectivity. 😵

I just leave mine on the standard Home Screen, map and music controls, certainly no worse than what the default system would have presented me with, but then again I've got a bit of information overload going on with the map mirrored into the centre of my dash, current audio track listed, as well as some nav information in the heads up display along with driving metrics so I'm probably not a typical example 😁

 

[DocMultimedia]

The lack of CarPlay, especially the future version of it, is probably the main reason I'm not looking at Tesla when replacing my current EV next year. Polestar, BMW or Mustang are all more likely candidates.

I just bought my Tesla in February and am still upset that it doesn't have CarPlay to the point where I'm also considering a new EV next year. The entire functionality of the Tesla GUI/mapping infuriates me. I actually bought a fancy iphone holder and run CarPlay on that while driving because of how bad the directions provided by Elon are at times. It tried to drive me across a corn field the other day to get to a hotel. #SorryForTheRant

 

[_Spinn_]

Very cool hack. CarPlay is a must in my next vehicle.

 

[icwhatudidthere]

I just bought my Tesla in February and am still upset that it doesn't have CarPlay to the point where I'm also considering a new EV next year. The entire functionality of the Tesla GUI/mapping infuriates me. I actually bought a fancy iphone holder and run CarPlay on that while driving because of how bad the directions provided by Elon are at times. It tried to drive me across a corn field the other day to get to a hotel. #SorryForTheRant

Wait, how are you running CarPlay? Directly on the iPhone? I'd love to do that, but how?