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Remote S: Tesla app for Apple Watch, iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch

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I'm proud to announce the release of the first Tesla app to support the Apple Watch. I'm starting this new thread to answer all questions, bug reports, UI suggestions, and feature requests for the app. If you agree with a UI suggestion and/or feature request that someone else made, please mention that you agree with it. This will be how I'll gauge the demand for them.

A demo of an early version of the app can be seen in the YouTube video below. The app has since been updated with new UI changes, but the core functionality should look similar to the video.

Features currently exclusive to the Remote S app:
- Fully functional Apple Watch app
- Start car with Touch ID without needing a password (can be disabled)
- Camp Mode allows you to keep the HVAC on in the car even though there is no activity. Normally, the car will turn off HVAC after 30 minutes.
- Adjust the panoramic roof to more settings than just vent and close
- Breadcrumb tracking allows you to see the path that car has recently taken
- Accurate odometer readout. Remote S gives you the odometer reading that is accurate up to a few feet instead of rounded to the nearest mile.
- In-app browser can detect commands from javascript and html so that you can create and use a webpage to control your car
- This opens up all sorts of functionality, such as scheduling, queued commands, and repeated commands
- Consolidated stats and commands into one screen for quicker and easier access
- Start/unlock car with Apple Watch without a password
- Ability to change passenger and driver temperature settings separately instead of always together
- Estimated range is displayed (this takes the average consumption of your past 30 miles and estimates your battery range based on that past usage)
- Monitor all three ranges (estimated, rated, ideal) at the same time without changing the settings in your car
 

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Like was said in the other thread: the icons for the pano roof should be inverted (greyed out for non-selected modes and bright/white for the selected mode).

Thanks for the suggestion. Are you talking about the Apple Watch app or the iPhone app? The color scheme you suggested might be counter-intuitive, because buttons that are disabled are usually greyed out and buttons that work are bright/white. Instead, I'm going to put a white ring around the icon that's currently selected instead of greying it out. That might be easier to understand.
 
Thanks for the suggestion. Are you talking about the Apple Watch app or the iPhone app? The color scheme you suggested might be counter-intuitive, because buttons that are disabled are usually greyed out and buttons that work are bright/white. Instead, I'm going to put a white ring around the icon that's currently selected instead of greying it out. That might be easier to understand.

Phone UI. Expecting my watch next week. A ring would work.

But when I do this on my phone greyed out buttons do work (airplane mode, rotation lock, night mode), the white ones (wifi, Bluetooth) are already active:
ab3721c69285d13b463d401ee7ad0b25.jpg
 
App is great! One thing, when I unlock the car with the app it shows the passenger door open. I'm out of town so can't physically check, but is that just the symbol for unlocked (ie one door open?) if so its a little confusing.
 
App is great! One thing, when I unlock the car with the app it shows the passenger door open. I'm out of town so can't physically check, but is that just the symbol for unlocked (ie one door open?) if so its a little confusing.

That is correct. The picture of the one door open just means that the car is unlocked and doesn't necessarily mean that the car doors are open. In the future, I'm going to have a better image of whether the doors are open or not. I was a bit pressed for time in getting this first version out quick, so I didn't have the time to create graphics for each door, and trunk and roof open.

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Forgive me if I can't find it, but is there a way to change to miles and not km's?

This is a bug that I have to look into. It seems like some users are reporting seeing km when they shouldn't be. Are there any users who are seeing miles instead of km?
 
Just purchased and downloaded your new app. My Apple Watch is shipping in about three weeks so I can't test that part of the app yet.
On my iPhone I note that on the first app screen that appears after I log in, the top down view of the car appears to show an open sunroof and sunroof controls are shown at the lower right, but my car has no sunroof.
Also, my car is a late 2013 but the app shows the "Close Port" function. My car does not have the capability to close the charge port door remotely, it's all manual. Suggest that function be greyed out if the car lacks that capability.
Terminology suggestion: instead of "Start Engine" it should be "Power On Car". EVs have motors, they do not have engines. I do not recommend changing it to "Start Motor" since there is no way to activate the motor separately from the other onboard systems; the motor is "started" by the driver placing pressure on the brake pedal and engaging Drive mode.
Regarding the name of the app, "Remote S", when the X launches this coming August the name will be outdated unless you are planning a separate version for the Model X. But I don't see a need for a separate version since the two models are almost identical. Your thoughts?
Overall a very nice first version! And an improvement over what Tesla offers. Thank you!
 
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I have just downloaded the app and done a quick preview. I must say that for a first draft this is really impressive, more so because of the developer limitations without physically having an Apple Watch to for any testing, much less beta testing. I am too new to the app to begin making comments other than "great job" and "well spent $9.99". Because I am 4500 miles away from my car i really woke it up just to see how this app compared with the Model S app, which of course cannot appear on the Watch anyway. Even without the Watch this app is more cohesive and more reflective of my preferences. With the app the serene shot offered by Phil K is exactly the visual I most wanted! Lo and behold, it is there!:biggrin: I had very much missed having both charge % and range options. The easy view of Estimated, Rated and Ideal ranges reflects my real world travel needs. On road trips the three are useful for me because I can change driving style as needed to extend range or minimise trip time. Having just returned from a >2000 mile road trip, this cohesive view would have eliminated a good amount of screen changes during the trip.

Now I'm looking forward to enhancement released for this app, just as i am getting with my car. What more could I want? I shall think about that, as many of us will.

Kudos for a superb app!!

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... It seems like some users are reporting seeing km when they shouldn't be. Are there any users who are seeing miles instead of km?

Not exactly but... I prefer to see and use metric for all purposes other than US driving, but my car is in the US so I have Imperial selected. However, I'd like this app and every other analytic I see for analysis to be in metric. If you could permit that choice independent of car settings I suspect I am not the only person who would appreciate the choice.
 
Just downloaded the app and posted about it in the new thread @regoapps started, but would like to say here that I am in California and on my iPhone the app shows miles and temp in F, which is how I have my car set up. Don't have my App,e Watch yet so can't report on what it would show for temp and distance units.
 
Just purchased and downloaded your new app. My Watch is shipping in about three weeks so can't test that part of the app yet. I note that on the first app screen that appears after I log in, the top down view of the car appears to show an open sunroof, but my car has no sunroof.

Also, my car is a late 2013 but the app shows the "Close Port" function. My car does not have the capability to close the charge port door remotely, it's all manual. Suggest that function be greyed out if the cR lacks that capability.

Terminology suggestion: instead of "Start Engine" it should be "Start Car". EVs have motors, they do not have engines.

Regarding the name of the app, "Remote S", when the X launches this coming August the name will be outdated unless you are planning a separate version for the Model X. But I don't see a need for a separate version since the two models are almost identical. Your thoughts?

Overall a very nice first version! And an improvement over what Tesla offers. Thank you!

Noted. Will make these changes for the next version. Thanks. You were not the first person who mentioned the "Start Engine" thing. I had already submitted the app to the App Store when I realized. If I made the changes in the first version, the app wouldn't have been released this quickly. I figured that I'd gather as many bug reports and minor adjustments as I can after the first release and then make a major update to address all the issues at once.

As for the name Remote S, I thought about what would happen when 3 and X come out and whether to name my app Remote S3X. But then if another model comes out then I have to add that as well. So instead, I'm just going to stick with Remote S as the final name, even if other models come out. I don't plan on having them be different apps. Theoretically, the current app should already support the Model X, if it uses the same API. Unless you guys want the app to be called Remote SX when the X comes out? I'll leave it up to you guys. It's not hard to change an app name. It just needs an app update.

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Mine shows km also and I'm in California. Otherwise looks great.
Okay, this is the first bug I'm going to fix. If anyone with this bug wants to volunteer their OAuth token by private messaging me, it'd help me tremendously in figuring out how the API in your car is different from mine. The OAuth token lets me view the status messages from the car without giving me the MyTesla password and username. The OAuth token will automatically be invalidated after a user changes his MyTesla password. Afterwards, the user can change his password back to what it was before if he wants. If nobody volunteers this information, I'm going to have to fix this bug blindfolded sort of speak.

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I have just downloaded the app and done a quick preview. I must say that for a first draft this is really impressive, more so because of the developer limitations without physically having an Apple Watch to for any testing, much less beta testing. I am too new to the app to begin making comments other than "great job" and "well spent $9.99". Because I am 4500 miles away from my car i really woke it up just to see how this app compared with the Model S app, which of course cannot appear on the Watch anyway. Even without the Watch this app is more cohesive and more reflective of my preferences. With the app the serene shot offered by Phil K is exactly the visual I most wanted! Lo and behold, it is there!:biggrin: I had very much missed having both charge % and range options. The easy view of Estimated, Rated and Ideal ranges reflects my real world travel needs. On road trips the three are useful for me because I can change driving style as needed to extend range or minimise trip time. Having just returned from a >2000 mile road trip, this cohesive view would have eliminated a good amount of screen changes during the trip.

Now I'm looking forward to enhancement released for this app, just as i am getting with my car. What more could I want? I shall think about that, as many of us will.

Kudos for a superb app!!

- - - Updated - - -



Not exactly but... I prefer to see and use metric for all purposes other than US driving, but my car is in the US so I have Imperial selected. However, I'd like this app and every other analytic I see for analysis to be in metric. If you could permit that choice independent of car settings I suspect I am not the only person who would appreciate the choice.

I can certainly add an "override" option to change the km and mi depending on your app settings choice and independent of the car. The reason why I added all 3 ranges and the charge % in one screen is because I make frequent road trips as well (just went from Orlando, FL to New York City a few days ago) and adjust my driving according to those 3 numbers. So I'm on the same page as you.
 
That is correct. The picture of the one door open just means that the car is unlocked and doesn't necessarily mean that the car doors are open. In the future, I'm going to have a better image of whether the doors are open or not. I was a bit pressed for time in getting this first version out quick, so I didn't have the time to create graphics for each door, and trunk and roof open.
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This is a bug that I have to look into. It seems like some users are reporting seeing km when they shouldn't be. Are there any users who are seeing miles instead of km?

Wonderful app, thanks so much for your work on this.
Just to report, the units show correctly for me as miles.
2012 Model S, iPhone 5S
 
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