The Tesla App could be so much better

mbaier · Jul 20, 2015

Hi everyone

I'm a greenhorn Tesla owner (got mine in mid June) and even though I love the car I am not very impressed with the app. In my opinion it could do so much more like:

- add apple watch integration, with direct information input in watch faces

- add achievements for things like: number of miles driven, best energy usage vs miles driven, supercharger visits, most economic breaking behaviour, best acceleration times : ), i guess we could all come up with great incentives or ideas

- see other Tesla owners that are in the vicinity

- see how busy a supercharger is (this should actually be on the top of the list). I went to a supercharger (Egerkingen, Switzerland) last night at 21:15 pm all of the 8 slots were FULL. Tesla surely has this information in their system. This has me a little scared of my first long trip...

- provide a history view of last trips with energy details, just like we are used to on our jogging / running / biking apps

- a way to input navigation targets that then automatically get exported to the car. I always have to write stuff down so that i can input it by hand on the touch screen

I am sure many more ideas have been shared in this forum but I was just too lazy to search for them ; )

What do you think ?

LetsGoFast · Jul 20, 2015

The Remote S app has watch integration and some trip/energy detail that isn't available in the official app. No one in the thread for the app has suggested the social features, but you might want to ask the developer who posts to it frequently. Personally, I have no interest in those features, but others may share your interest.

mbaier · Jul 20, 2015

Letsgofast - thanks I am of course aware of the other apps that have the watch integration

I have them all installed. But I'd love to use the official thing rather than using an unsupported app

Chasedrgc1223 · Jul 20, 2015

I think Tesla needs to focus on the Android app a bit more, considering it's quite glitchy, and I personally would like to see Samsung Galaxy Gear watch support.

AllenWong · Jul 20, 2015

mbaier said:
Letsgofast - thanks I am of course aware of the other apps that have the watch integration I have them all installed. But I'd love to use the official thing rather than using an unsupported app

Ditto. But I would hardly call Remote S unsupported. Tesla is well aware of the app and even tried to hire me. Then they told me to change my app icon and their lawyers approved of the changes without telling me to just stop selling the app. So I think that's as official as a "supported" app as can be that Tesla would be willing to offer for liability reasons and what not. And I feel like I support Remote S more than Tesla supports their official app. They don't have much incentive to support their app since they don't make money off it. But if Tesla is reading this, if you're willing to hire a temporarily disabled person to spruce up your app, feel free to email and call me. Or email and call me when I am recovered more, I'd still love to work for you guys.

- - - Updated - - -

Chasedrgc1223 said:
I think Tesla needs to focus on the Android app a bit more, considering it's quite glitchy, and I personally would like to see Samsung Galaxy Gear watch support.

Android version of Remote S is on my TODO list after version 3.0 of Remote S is released.

- - - Updated - - -

mbaier said:
a way to input navigation targets that then automatically get exported to the car. I always have to write stuff down so that i can input it by hand on the touch screen

This is in the works, by the way.

W0QR · Jul 20, 2015

Heck, it'd even be nice to do some trip planning on the desktop and have it automatically end up on the Tesla..

iadbound · Jul 20, 2015

mbaier said:
Hi everyone

- see how busy a supercharger is (this should actually be on the top of the list). I went to a supercharger (Egerkingen, Switzerland) last night at 21:15 pm all of the 8 slots were FULL. Tesla surely has this information in their system. This has me a little scared of my first long trip...

- provide a history view of last trips with energy details, just like we are used to on our jogging / running / biking apps

- a way to input navigation targets that then automatically get exported to the car. I always have to write stuff down so that i can input it by hand on the touch screen

Traffic at superchargers would be fine on the app, but frankly it's a lot more important when navigating in the car. I don't want to have to look at my app while driving to get information that the car could readily communicate instead. Moreover, the status at a particular supercharger is likely to change while driving to it.

History is a potentially interesting item. I definitely look at this from time-to-time in VisibleTesla, but I don't see this as a top-of-list item.

Navigation targets are a must!! Particularly the ability to export from Google maps (or other mapping options) from a phone or computer.

Apple watch integration will show up some day.

The rest of the stuff is superfluous clutter to me -- sorry, but the car isn't a video game. I don't need to level up. However, I understand that some people do get a kick out of such things.

AllenWong · Jul 20, 2015

W0QR said:
Heck, it'd even be nice to do some trip planning on the desktop and have it automatically end up on the Tesla..

Remote trip planning/export to car is in the works. It was one of the things they wanted me to work on if they hired me. Unfortunately, my surgery stopped me from being able to get hired. They probably have someone else working on it now.

Bun707 · Jul 20, 2015

I really like a lot of the above ideas. Supercharger real-time status would be great.

However, I'd like it if the first step is to fix the "You're not connected to the Internet: Retry" error I get every freaking time I open the app. I'm using the Android version and upon every single use (after the first time) I have to kill the app and restart it to get a connection. Seriously? This isn't a problem on anyone's radar?

AllenWong · Jul 20, 2015

iadbound said:
Apple watch integration will show up some day.

The rest of the stuff is superfluous clutter to me -- sorry, but the car isn't a video game. I don't need to level up. However, I understand that some people do get a kick out of such things.

i can confirm that they have plans to put the app on wearable tech like the Apple Watch. they tried to hire me for that reason as well, since I already made a functional tesla Apple Watch app.

mbaier · Jul 20, 2015

AllenWong said:
Ditto. But I would hardly call Remote S unsupported. Tesla is well aware of the app and even tried to hire me. Then they told me to change my app icon and their lawyers approved of the changes without telling me to just stop selling the app. So I think that's as official as a "supported" app as can be that Tesla would be willing to offer for liability reasons and what not. And I feel like I support Remote S more than Tesla supports their official app. They don't have much incentive to support their app since they don't make money off it. But if Tesla is reading this, if you're willing to hire a temporarily disabled person to spruce up your app, feel free to email and call me. Or email and call me when I am recovered more, I'd still love to work for you guys.

- - - Updated - - -

Android version of Remote S is on my TODO list after version 3.0 of Remote S is released.

- - - Updated - - -

This is in the works, by the way.

Allen - in no way did I mean that you are not supporting your app. I love the app!! But when I showed it to the guys at the Tesla service center and complained why tesla does not offer such functionality they pointed out that the usage of such apps is (of course) not officially supported by them.

thimel · Jul 20, 2015

Bun707 said:
I really like a lot of the above ideas. Supercharger real-time status would be great.

However, I'd like it if the first step is to fix the "You're not connected to the Internet: Retry" error I get every freaking time I open the app. I'm using the Android version and upon every single use (after the first time) I have to kill the app and restart it to get a connection. Seriously? This isn't a problem on anyone's radar?

On Android, when done using the app, hit the "back" button (to the left of the home button) and then next time you use the Tesla app it will start properly. Until they fix the bug, this is an easy work around.

MsElectric · Jul 20, 2015

I'd like then to focus on improving the Android App.

If they add watch integration I hope it also covers Android Wear.

breser · Jul 20, 2015

Chasedrgc1223 said:
I think Tesla needs to focus on the Android app a bit more, considering it's quite glitchy, and I personally would like to see Samsung Galaxy Gear watch support.

No kidding. Really tired of "You're not connected to the Internet right now," popup that shows every single time you switch to the app and that pops up multiple times when trying to use the app. Even when you have good signal and a good connection.

rdrcrmatt · Jul 20, 2015

they should add the ability to change amerage and charge scheduling, as well as departure time based scheduling with an option to charge as slow as possible but be at X% SoC at a specified time.

ken830 · Jul 20, 2015

Just add notifications to the Android app, and I will be happy for another two years.

tliving · Jul 24, 2015

I also use Remote S instead of the Tesla App. I do think its sad that Tesla can't afford the one engineer to work on the app to keep it current/fresh. Thats all it takes, one decent person. The right person could also do both iOS and Android too. That they can't be bothered to invest in that person is disappointing. If they don't want to then they should bless the API and officially recognize/allow third party apps like Remote S which would help those developers a lot.

PhinFL · Jul 24, 2015

With all the speculation going on with regards to whether now is the right time for Apple to buy Tesla, should be an interesting couple of months. Grab your popcorn, pull up a chair and let's see how things unfold. Could the "Apple of cars" truly become an Apple car? Talk about crazy technology integration if that does in fact come to pass.

kmtl · Jul 24, 2015

As a new owner, I'm very worried about the way Tesla appears to ignore software problems. I know that everyone moans about how slow whatever manufacturer is to update software, but in this case the tech is integral to the product and the problems are weakening the brand, offering easy pickings for hit-piece writers and stock analysts.

The number of owners using Android must be exponentially larger than the number using a watch app. If Tesla has only one team working on app related programming then any effort expended on watch integration should be put off until the Android app is fixed.
If they have multiple teams they should all be re-directed to address the problem affecting the greatest number of owners...if this is the same talent responsible for the trip planner however...ugh. Could somebody with knowledge of what they actually do to fix software...please tell me it's going to be alright!

AllenWong · Jul 24, 2015

kmtl said:
As a new owner, I'm very worried about the way Tesla appears to ignore software problems. I know that everyone moans about how slow whatever manufacturer is to update software, but in this case the tech is integral to the product and the problems are weakening the brand, offering easy pickings for hit-piece writers and stock analysts.

The number of owners using Android must be exponentially larger than the number using a watch app. If Tesla has only one team working on app related programming then any effort expended on watch integration should be put off until the Android app is fixed.
If they have multiple teams they should all be re-directed to address the problem affecting the greatest number of owners...if this is the same talent responsible for the trip planner however...ugh. Could somebody with knowledge of what they actually do to fix software...please tell me it's going to be alright!

When they tried to hire me, they told me that they have two people working on the iOS app and I would be the third guy. And then they have one person working on the Android app (with an attempt to hire a second person to the Android team). They also told me that if I can handle the entire iOS app myself, which I can, they would move one of the iOS guys to work on some other software component.

The Tesla App could be so much better

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