A Look at the 22 Unlisted Improvements in Tesla's 2024.14 Update

Tesla Theater sees a face lift in update 2024.14

Not a Tesla App

Every Tesla update comes filled with smaller improvements that go unlisted in the official release notes. Tesla update 2024.14 was a huge update that brought several new designs such as the new parked visualization and an improved media player, but it also brought a record of 22 changes that went undocumented.

If you love following Tesla software and the changes in each update, you’ll enjoy this list.

Entertainment Apps UI

At one time there was a single 'Entertainment' app which made the tabs make sense

Not a Tesla App

Tesla Theater, Toybox and Arcade were all part of the "Entertainment" app, even though there were separate icons for each of these services.

With this update, the tabs at the top that let you quickly jump from Arcade to Toybox and Theater have been removed across the three entertainment apps to provide a more streamlined look.

Tesla Theater UI

Tesla Theater now looks a lot nicer

Not a Tesla App

Tesla Theater app icons have been updated to be much larger. At the top it now says Tesla Theater in large letters to clarify which app you’re in. The icons are now at the bottom of the screen and the app names below the icons have also been removed.

Navigation Path

The path in the navigation now turns gray behind you

Not a Tesla App

When using the navigation system, the route's path will now turn gray for areas that your vehicle has already completed.

If your vehicle has Premium Connectivity, the path's color ahead of your vehicle will continue to be based on traffic density. If you're not subscribed to Premium Connectivity, then the path will remain blue, while the path behind your vehicle will turn gray.

This is a nice to have improvement which makes it easier to navigate areas where the paths cross.

Driver Profile

Tesla is now encouraging users to create profiles through the Tesla app

Not a Tesla App

When adding a new Driver profile, Tesla now displays a graphic that encourages users to add a driver profile through the Tesla app, which makes it a cloud-based Tesla Profile. A cloud profile is stored on Tesla's servers and lets you sync and use your profile across your other Tesla vehicles, loaner vehicles or Tesla rentals.

You can still create a local profile that is limited to the vehicle that it's created on.

Cybertruck New Feature Icon

New feature icons turns square on the Cybertruck

Not a Tesla App

The blue icon that highlights new or improved features after a Tesla update has been updated for the Cybertruck. It's now a simple square that matches the Cybertruck's design.

FSD Version in App

You can now tell which version of FSD you're on through the app

Not a Tesla App

With Tesla car update 2024.14 or higher, the app will now display the FSD version at the bottom of the app.

Tesla has slowly been adding more software version information to the app. It now displays:

V12 - The vehicle's software version, which is only incremented with large user interface changes. Think of this like Windows 11

2024.14.6 - The vehicle's specific update version, much like one of Windows major updates

FSD 12.3.6 - FSD version number. This could be thought of as the version of Chrome that your vehicle is using.

Vehicle Visualization

Intel users are also getting a slight update to the visualization

Not a Tesla App

When you're parked and rotate the vehicle in the visualization, there are now dots that you can touch that reveal buttons to access various parts of the vehicle such as the frunk, trunk or charge port.

Vehicles with Intel processors also get the new buttons in this visualization.

Nav App

Tesla now has a dedicated icon for maps

Not a Tesla App

There's a new icon for the navigation app. The app is available in the All Apps menu and can be pinned to the dock at the bottom of the screen.

Instead of having to minimize apps by swiping down, or tapping the icon for the app that's open, users can now simply tap the Nav icon to go back to Tesla's navigation screen.

Climate Icon

There's also a Climate icon that you can put in the dock

Not a Tesla App

In the All Apps menu, there is now a Climate icon that you can add to your vehicle's dock. Tapping the button brings up the vehicle's climate menu and is an alternative to tapping the climate temperature.

This may be a new default icon that is placed in the vehicle to make it more obvious to new owners how to access the climate controls.

Explicit Apple Music Content

Apple Music can now block explicit music

Not a Tesla App

The Explicit Content setting under Audio Settings > Options now also applies to Apple Music in addition to “Streaming” and Apple Podcasts. This is a nice addition for those with young kids.

Pedals & Steering Menu Updated

The Pedals & Steering Menu sees some updates

Not a Tesla App

The Pedals & Steering Menu is now called Dynamics- which lets you set your acceleration and regeneration levels, stopping mode and more.

Steering Mode has been renamed 'Steering Weight,' and the choices are now Light, Standard and Heavy instead of the previous, Comfort, Standard and Sport. The functionality remains the same.

Quick Controls Updated

Quick Controls have been rearranged and updated for some vehicles

Not a Tesla App

The Controls menu has been updated to make it easier to find and select various options. The glovebox option has been moved down to make the buttons for Fold Mirrors, Child Lock and Window Lock larger.

The wiper controls now have Off and Auto next to each other instead of at opposite corners. Car Wash Mode has been added to the list of options for the Model 3 and Model Y.

Search Menus

Search is now at the top of the Menu instead of being an option to the left

Not a Tesla App

The search box in settings has been moved to the top of the menu instead of being the first section.

This creates some additional space and makes the search box persistent since you can now scroll through the sections, which have included WiFi and Bluetooth since update 2024.8.

Sentry Mode Video

Sentry Mode continues to improve

Not a Tesla App

When a Sentry Mode event is detected, it will now create a one-minute event video file called event.mp4 on your USB drive.

This one-minute video is in addition to the other video files that are already created when there's a Sentry Mode event. It's also the same video that is available in the Tesla app when a Sentry Mode event occurs.

New Media Player

Tesla made some big improvements to the media player

Not a Tesla App

There’s a new media player that’s larger and easier to use. By increasing the size of the media player, Tesla is now able to fit additional options that were hidden previously, such as EQ and audio settings, the search button and shuffle and repeat options.

The new media player appears while the vehicle is parked, driving or while the visualizations are in full-screen mode.

The media player can be minimized as before, but it now remains in the visualization area as a small strip incase of going down into the dock.

Status Bar Icons

Status bar icons have been rearranged

Not a Tesla App

The status bar icons have been rearranged when parked so that the driver profile, WiFi and Sentry Mode icons are closer to the driver and the time and temperature readings are further to the right.

New Auto Shift User Interface

The UI for Auto Shift has been updated in the new Model 3

Not a Tesla App

The Auto Shift user interface has been updated to be more compact so that it doesn't take up the entire left side of the screen.

It now leaves room above for the gear indicator and doesn't go all the way down to allow for a larger media player.

Charging Display

The charging meter is now on the left side

Not a Tesla App

While your vehicle is charging, the screen will now display additional information about the vehicle's charging status.

It includes the charge limit, current power, total energy added, number of phases, and the current amperage and voltage.

There is also a new animation on the left side where the new power meter appears while driving. This vertical line mimics the vertical green lights on Tesla's Wall Connector that scroll up and down while the vehicle is charging.

Pause Trunk Opening

You can now pause the trunk opening

Not a Tesla App

In the vehicle's new visualization, after you tap Open Trunk, you'll now be given the option to "Pause" the trunk opening so that it remains open to the current height.

This could be useful when opening the trunk where there may not be enough overhead space.

You can always set the maximum height for the trunk to open, limiting how far the trunk lid goes up whenever you're at that specific location.

This feature is also available on vehicles with Intel processors as long as the vehicle contains a powered trunk.

Larger Speedometer

Speedometer font in update 2024.14

Not a Tesla App

The font size of the speedometer has been increased, making it easier to see.

Regen Meter

The regen meter is now vertical and on the left side of the display

Not a Tesla App

The power/regeneration bar in the Model 3 and Model Y is now placed vertically along the left side of the screen instead of horizontally on top.

Improved Autopilot Visualizations

There are more Autopilot visualizations besides having the ability to go full screen

Not a Tesla App

Autopilot visualizations have been improved while in the standard view or full-screen. The vehicle will now detect and display more vehicles as well as showing when a vehicle's turn signals or brake lights are on.

Improved visualizations are available on Intel and AMD vehicles.

Videos

You can also check out videos of the best Tesla features in update 2024.14, including a look at the improved wiper controls in this update.

We also have a closer look at the changes to Auto Shift for the new Model 3 and an in-depth look at the changes to the improved media player.

Follow

Follow

Follow

Is Tesla Planning to Add Steam Support to All Vehicles?

Not a Tesla App

Yesterday, we reported that Tesla updated their Steam integration on Model S and Model X vehicles. The update was part of their 2024 Holiday Update, but it looks like there may be more to this than a simple update.

Steam, a video game library app, makes it easy for users to buy or launch games on their computers. However, a couple of years ago, Valve, who created Steam, launched their own standalone device, the Steam Deck. The Steam Deck runs a custom OS based on Linux.

Steam Launch

When Tesla launched the redesigned Model S and Model X, Tesla introduced a dedicated gaming GPU with 16GB of RAM and touted the ability to play top-tier PC games in Tesla vehicles.

In 2022, Tesla finally launched the Steam app for the Model S and Model X as part of its 2022 Holiday Update. The Steam app runs Steam OS, the same OS as the Steam Deck in a virtual environment.

However, earlier this year, Tesla stopped including the GPU and Steam (Beta) in their vehicles, and we haven’t seen any updates to the Steam in quite some time. In fact, we thought Tesla was axing their gaming-on-the-go dreams.

SteamOS Update

The Steam app, which is still in Beta, is getting an interesting update for the Model S and Model X vehicles with the discrete GPU.

Those vehicles received an update to SteamOS 3.6 - the same version of SteamOS that runs on the Steam Deck. While nothing has visually changed, there’s a long list of performance optimizations under the hood to get things running smoother.

Comparing Steam Deck to Tesla Vehicles

Let’s take a look at the Steam Deck - according to Valve, its onboard Zen4 CPU and GPU combined push a total of 2 TFlops of data, which is fairly respectable, but much lower than today’s home consoles. The Steam Deck is capable of 720p gaming fairly seamlessly on low-to-medium settings on the go and is also built on the AMD platform.

AMD-equipped Teslas, including the Model 3 and Model Y, are packing an older Zen+ (Zen 1.5) APU (processor with a combined CPU and GPU). AMD claims that the V1000 - the same embedded chip as on AMD Tesla vehicles (YE1807C3T4MFB), brings up to 3.6 TFLops of processing power with it, including 4K encoding and decoding with the integrated GPU on board.

While that’s not enough for 4K gaming or comparable to a full-blown console or desktop GPU, that’s enough raw horsepower for light gaming and is currently more powerful than the Steam Deck.

The Model S and Model X’s GPU brings that up to about 10TFlops of power - comparable to modern consoles like the Xbox Series X at 12 TFlops.

Steam Gaming for All Vehicles?

The fact that Tesla is updating SteamOS even though the feature is no longer available in any new vehicles could indicate that Tesla is not only bringing Steam back to Teslas but that it’s going to play a much bigger role.

While SteamOS is run in a virtual environment on top of Tesla’s own OS, we could see Tesla bring SteamOS to all of its current vehicles, including the Model 3, Model Y, and Cybertruck. Steam in these vehicles would likely support any game that’s capable of running on the Steam Deck.

We think this Steam update, which includes performance improvements and a variety of fixes, has quietly passed under most people’s radars. This could be a very exciting update for those who enjoy gaming, especially for those who love to do it in their Tesla.

Follow

Follow

Follow

Tesla Holiday Update Weather Features: All the Small Details

Robert Rosenfeld / YouTube

As part of Tesla’s 2024 Holiday Update, Tesla included two awesome new features - Weather at Destination and the long-awaited Weather Radar Overlay. These two features are big upgrades built upon the weather feature that was added in update 2024.26. The original weather feature added an hourly forecast, as well as the chance of precipitation, UV index, Air Quality Index, and other data.

However, this update also added some smaller weather touches, such as the vehicle alerting you if the weather at the destination will be drastically different from the current weather.

Not a Tesla App

Weather At Destination

When you’re navigating to a destination and viewing the full navigation direction list, the text under the arrival time will show you the expected weather next to your destination. You can also tap this, and the full weather pop-up will show up, showing your destination's full set of weather information.

Note the weather under the arrival time

Not a Tesla App

You can also tap the weather icon at the top of the interface at any time and tap Destination to switch between the weather at your current location and the weather at your destination.

You’re probably considering that the weather at your destination doesn’t matter when you’re three hours away - but that’s all taken into account by the trip planner. It will add in both charge time and travel time and show you the weather at your destination at your expected arrival time.

And if the weather is drastically different or inclement, such as rain or snow, while you’ve got sunshine and rainbows - the weather will be shown above the destination ETA for a few moments before it tucks itself away.

Tesla also recently introduced a new voice command. Asking, “What’s the weather?” or something similar will now bring up Tesla’s weather popup.

The weather pop-up above the ETA

Not a Tesla App

One limitation, though—if you’re planning a long road trip that is more than a day of driving, the weather at destination feature won’t be available until you get closer.

Weather Radar Overlay

As part of the improvements to weather, Tesla has also added a radar overlay for precipitation. You can access the new radar overlay by tapping the map and then tapping the weather icon on the right side of the map. It’ll bring up a radar overlay centered on your vehicle. It’ll animate through the radar data over the last 3 hours so that you can see the direction of the storm, but you can also pause it at any point.

You’re able to scroll around in this view and see the weather anywhere, even if you zoom out. It also works while you’re driving, although it can be a little confusing if you’re trying to pay attention to the navigation system. If you like to have Points of Interest enabled on your map, the weather overlay will hide POIs except for Charging POIs.

Requirements / Data

Unfortunately, you’ll need Premium Connectivity for any of the weather features to work, and being on WiFi or using a hotspot will not be enough to get the data to show up. The data, including the weather radar, is provided by The Weather Channel.

As for supported models, weather and weather at destination are available on all vehicles except for the 2012-2020 Model S and Model X. The weather radar has more strict requirements and requires the newer AMD Ryzen-powered infotainment center available on the 2021+ Model S and Model X and more recent Model 3 and Model Y vehicles.

Follow

Follow

Follow