Firmware 7.0 Beta Discussion

[Gizmotoy]

So you're good with further delays if they decide to rework the UI based on feedback from this forum? Or would you rather it be released & let people provide feedback for future releases?

As much as we complain about everything Tesla being late, to this point they've been mostly successful in getting the UI right the first time. I'd hate to lose that in order to deliver an update sooner. Especially since it's already late. At this point we might as well wait until they're happy with the beta feedback rather than pushing for something half-baked just because it's done.

 

[tstafford]

Seems odd to me that the UI would be getting much work at this point anyway. Wasn't it months ago that we heard Elon say they were working on a corner case around driving in to the sun, on lightly colored roads or something. If that's true you'd think the UI would have been fairly baked.

 

[bonnie]

Seems odd to me that the UI would be getting much work at this point anyway. Wasn't it months ago that we heard Elon say they were working on a corner case around driving in to the sun, on lightly colored roads or something. If that's true you'd think the UI would have been fairly baked.

My question above was only for seeking clarification, since I see (some) people demanding the release now and (some) simultaneously complaining about the UI. Personally? I think the UI is fully-baked snd the current reaction is due to people not having actually used it. It's very hard to evaluate at UI by looking at it. You have to try it (hopefully with an open mind, but I think that train has left the station due to all the leaks) and see what works.

I am looking forward to the release - then, at least, if there are complaints, it will be based on the actual product rather than photos and a video.

 

[AlMc]

As much as we complain about everything Tesla being late, to this point they've been mostly successful in getting the UI right the first time. I'd hate to lose that in order to deliver an update sooner. Especially since it's already late. At this point we might as well wait until they're happy with the beta feedback rather than pushing for something half-baked just because it's done.

I am going to play 'devil's advocate' here. None of us has seen the full complement of apps, IIRC. What happens if the beta feedback is generally positive and TM launches the new UI essentially with a similar 'look' to what is shown in that single screen shot? Will people start turning in their cars? Will people take the changes and write constructive feedback to TM that might result in either
7.20 bringing improvement?
I don't direct this at *Gizmotoy*....just curious.

 

[AmpedRealtor]

Here is the v7 media screen shared by a Tesla employee in one of the FB groups.

As you can see, his HVAC is running and no information/feedback is provided. And it took Tesla, what, almost a year to come up with this?

I'll be honest - I'm not looking forward to this next update. It looks like a UI skin on top of essentially the same, unchanged software. Elon will likely hold a press conference over this, which will be as lame as the range anxiety press conference, and this will eventually become known as UI-gate.

 

[JST]

Seems odd to me that the UI would be getting much work at this point anyway. Wasn't it months ago that we heard Elon say they were working on a corner case around driving in to the sun, on lightly colored roads or something. If that's true you'd think the UI would have been fairly baked.

As I said elsewhere, that may be a "corner case" in California, but anyone driving around on snow-covered or salted roads in the northern half of the country knows that low contrast between the lines and the road surface can be the rule rather than the exception for about 6 months out of the year.

Of course, maybe there's a distinction there that I don't know enough to recognize, but Elon's discussion of it on the most recent investor call wasn't exactly heartening. He basically said, "yeah, the AP software does a great job if there are other cars on the road, but it's not as good when there aren't other cars"--in other words, as long as there is a human that the AP can follow, it's fine.

Which I suppose is useful? I don't know. I continue to be mystified about why anyone would want this feature.

Anyway, my guess is that the Model X will not launch with 6.2, so I am happy to bet that we will see the rollout of 7.0 happen no later than the first customer deliveries of the Model X.

Whenever that is.

 

[AmpedRealtor]

As I said elsewhere, that may be a "corner case" in California, but anyone driving around on snow-covered or salted roads in the northern half of the country knows that low contrast between the lines and the road surface can be the rule rather than the exception for about 6 months out of the year.

Of course, maybe there's a distinction there that I don't know enough to recognize, but Elon's discussion of it on the most recent investor call wasn't exactly heartening. He basically said, "yeah, the AP software does a great job if there are other cars on the road, but it's not as good when there aren't other cars"--in other words, as long as there is a human that the AP can follow, it's fine.

Which I suppose is useful? I don't know. I continue to be mystified about why anyone would want this feature.

Anyway, my guess is that the Model X will not launch with 6.2, so I am happy to bet that we will see the rollout of 7.0 happen no later than the first customer deliveries of the Model X.

Whenever that is.

And if the first customer deliveries of Model X are to happen by the end of the month, as Elon promised, then shouldn't the ordering page be up already?

 

[MsElectric]

And if the first customer deliveries of Model X are to happen by the end of the month, as Elon promised, then shouldn't the ordering page be up already?

How do you know the people getting their Model X by the end of the month have not placed their orders already? :wink:

 

[johnbro23]

Updating my software now... Fingers crossed for v7!

PS I'm a AP 70D, got it a month ago

 

[JMG]

MsElectric, thank you for posting that video about the Fisker. WOW. That was utterly hilarious and really made me appreciate my MS. Its like for a moment I was getting really mad at my Samsung Galaxy S6 and then someone showed me a video review of the Nokia 3360.

 

[HankLloydRight]

Seems odd to me that the UI would be getting much work at this point anyway. Wasn't it months ago that we heard Elon say they were working on a corner case around driving in to the sun, on lightly colored roads or something. If that's true you'd think the UI would have been fairly baked.

I would make an educated guess that there are different teams working on UI and AP in parallel.

- - - Updated - - -

It's very hard to evaluate at UI by looking at it. You have to try it (hopefully with an open mind, but I think that train has left the station due to all the leaks) and see what works.

While this is true for the 17" touchscreen, which is actually a user interface, I think for the images we have seen of the IC (which is an 'output only' device) , we can draw solid conclusions on it without having it right in front of us.

 

[boonedocks]

Updating my software now... Fingers crossed for v7!

PS I'm a AP 70D, got it a month ago

@johnbro23 it's .46 don't get too excited

 

[Stoneymonster]

Here is the v7 media screen shared by a Tesla employee in one of the FB groups.



As you can see, his HVAC is running and no information/feedback is provided. And it took Tesla, what, almost a year to come up with this?

I'll be honest - I'm not looking forward to this next update. It looks like a UI skin on top of essentially the same, unchanged software. Elon will likely hold a press conference over this, which will be as lame as the range anxiety press conference, and this will eventually become known as UI-gate.

I don't believe HVAC is running there. Both the temps are completely greyed out. In the old UI the climate button looks similar but it blue highlighted when armed. Or are we suggesting they've gone so low contrast that you can't even read the temperature indicators in normal daylight?

 

[Gizmotoy]

View attachment 92533
As you can see, his HVAC is running and no information/feedback is provided. And it took Tesla, what, almost a year to come up with this?

Maybe others are more eagle-eyed than I, but how have you determined that his HVAC is running? The greyed-out status shown here (LO nearly invisible) looks exactly like what happens when you press the HVAC power off button on the current implementation. I'd have said what's there looks exactly identical to what we have now but with flatter imagery.

 

[bonnie]

I think for the images we have seen of the IC (which is an 'output only' device) , we can draw solid conclusions on it without having it right in front of us.

I disagree. Do you know if certain areas are customizable by the user? Perhaps you can scroll through some selections with a button press. We don't know. Okay, maybe you do. But I certainly don't.

 

[Soolim]

this could be an 'alpha', not a 'beta'

That is what I thought a long time ago.

 

[JST]

I disagree. Do you know if certain areas are customizable by the user? Perhaps you can scroll through some selections with a button press. We don't know. Okay, maybe you do. But I certainly don't.

That's a fair point, but it doesn't really impact the substantive criticisms that have been leveled upthread. For example--if a Tesla engineer reading this sees complaints about no energy meter and thinks to herself "lol that can be switched back on at the touch of a button," well, OK. No harm, no foul.

Similarly, if the same engineer looks at my various screeds and says "ha ha this guy is a dolt because you can turn the toy car off and get back the regular speedo," again, great. I haven't really wasted any of her time because my concerns (while valid) were misplaced. The changes that appear to be part of 7.0 aren't, in that case, because they can be undone or deselected.

I think it's much more likely that the pictures we've seen (which all consistently show a toy car, whether or not there is AP hardware, and which all show a relocated energy meter) reflect changes in the display that cannot be deselected. In that case, I hope the various engineers at Tesla are paying attention, because I stand by my criticism above. These changes are not for the better.

 

[AmpedRealtor]

How do you know the people getting their Model X by the end of the month have not placed their orders already? :wink:

It's possible, but since nobody has said anything, then ordering must have been contingent on signing Tesla's NDA. Is that what happened with the first Model S deliveries? I don't remember.

- - - Updated - - -

I don't believe HVAC is running there. Both the temps are completely greyed out. In the old UI the climate button looks similar but it blue highlighted when armed. Or are we suggesting they've gone so low contrast that you can't even read the temperature indicators in normal daylight?

Maybe others are more eagle-eyed than I, but how have you determined that his HVAC is running? The greyed-out status shown here (LO nearly invisible) looks exactly like what happens when you press the HVAC power off button on the current implementation. I'd have said what's there looks exactly identical to what we have now but with flatter imagery.

The entire bottom row of buttons seems greyed-out, I assumed this is a result of the new, low contrast color scheme. Fair point, though.

 

[HankLloydRight]

I disagree. Do you know if certain areas are customizable by the user? Perhaps you can scroll through some selections with a button press. We don't know. Okay, maybe you do. But I certainly don't.

Wow, I would *love* to think that Tesla has done that -- like offer 3 or 4 different selections for the Speedo, including a "Classic" version, as well as other options for the side panels (i.e. bring back the status bar on the bottom). I sure hope you're right! I'll take back everything I said. But also as a software developer, that takes A LOT of time to develop. As I said before, I'd also be happy with a simple switch to switch between "old" and "new" interfaces, but I don't think that's going to happen either. But I would love to be wrong on that.

 

[bonnie]

Wow, I would *love* to think that Tesla has done that -- like offer 3 or 4 different selections for the Speedo, including a "Classic" version, as well as other options for the side panels (i.e. bring back the status bar on the bottom). I sure hope you're right! I'll take back everything I said. But also as a software developer, that takes A LOT of time to develop. As I said before, I'd also be happy with a simple switch to switch between "old" and "new" interfaces, but I don't think that's going to happen either. But I would love to be wrong on that.

To be absolutely clear, I have ZERO knowledge of what is coming. I only was making the point that we can't know the full impact of any UI until we are actually using it. Possibilities exist. Maybe it's a total dog, but we cannot know. That's my only point.