New icon spotted; Is Tesla announcing Apple Music?

A comparison between Tesla's old music logo, the new icon and Apple Music's logo

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Apple Music is one of the most requested features by Tesla owners.

Tesla already supports a variety of music services, including Spotify, Slacker, SiriusXM (for Model S and Model X), TuneIn and Caraoke (by Stringray). These services are in addition to Bluetooth and FM radio support.

Apple Music is the second largest music streaming service worldwide with an estimated 88 million subscribers. It's currently behind Spotify and ahead of Amazon Music and YouTube Music respectively.

Apple Music Icon?

When Zoom announced that Tesla will soon support their meeting software in their vehicles, they showed off a video of Zoom being used inside of a Tesla.

The video featured a woman parking her car and joining a meeting in her Model Y. When Zoom displayed the Tesla screen it also showed off the Tesla app launcher, which looked exactly how we'd expect, except for one small icon.

The new icon looks very similar to Apple Music's logo. The new icon was only displayed during the first segment of the Zoom demo, as when they cut back to the Tesla screen a second time, the icons in the launcher had changed.

What Does This Mean?

Although the icon displayed in the Tesla launcher is very similar to Apple Music's logo, it's not a perfect match.

Besides the color being in grayscale, the top bar connecting the music notes is also thinner than what Apple uses in the Apple Music logo.

A music icon in the Tesla launcher isn't completely new. Before Tesla's launch of its v11 software late last year, Tesla used a single music icon in the launcher. Whenever someone wanted to play any music they'd first have to tap Music and then choose their music service.

A new music icon appeared in the launcher during Zoom's demo

Zoom

Although Tesla's old music icon is similar to what's displayed in the Zoom video, it's not a perfect match either. Tesla's old icon had musical notes with a smaller head and it didn't include a rounded square background like Apple Music does.

Interestingly, the music icon in the launcher is not only grayscale but also misaligned when compared to the other icons. This could mean that it's either a teaser or a mock and not something that would appear in production.

One possibility is that Tesla is indeed adding Apple Music and this is an early version of it that was either added as an easter egg or left in accidentally.

However, there are other possibilities. According to sources Tesla is expected to launch another holiday update later this year with new features.

It's possible that Tesla is giving us more flexibility with the launcher, enabling us to have a single music icon instead of having to pick individual music services.

Did we just receive a hint that Apple Music is arriving on Teslas? We're not sure. The new icon seems like a placeholder, and since it doesn't match Apple's logo perfectly, it's hard to determine whether this will actually be for Apple Music. Whatever it is, the logo is awfully close to Apple's logo and if it's not intended for Apple Music, Apple may not be thrilled with its use.

Elon Musk has talked about his disapproval of Apple's AppStore fees numerous times in the past. It's clear the two companies don't have the best relationship and that could be one reason why Tesla hasn't implemented Apple Music, AirPlay or CarPlay in their vehicles, but at the same time, customers are demanding Apple Music integration. What will Tesla do? We're hoping they're listening to their fans and adding Apple Music.

Tesla Accelerates India Entry: Eyes Gigafactory India

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Tesla’s much-anticipated official entry into the Indian market appears to be shifting to a higher gear, with recent reports from Business Standard (paywall) indicating that Tesla is now looking into establishing Gigafactory India. Business Standard points to Tesla exploring land options in Satara, Maharashtra.

Satara is about 250km (155 mi) from the Port of Mumbai, placing it in an excellent location to easily receive parts and materials from other countries, as well as ship completed vehicles elsewhere around the world. The potential facility is reportedly planned as a “Completely Knocked Down” or CKD assembly plant, which means that Tesla would import parts and then assemble them locally. 

This is key to Tesla’s strategy in addressing India’s traditionally high import tariffs on fully built vehicles, which have been a major hurdle for Tesla in the past. This push aligns with India’s updated EV policy, which calls for reduced import duties on EVs priced at $35,000 USD or above for companies that commit to investing at least $500m USD in local manufacturing facilities between 2024 and 2027. 

According to the report, Tesla is prepared to invest substantially more, with figures around $2-3 billion USD cited for a plant capable of doing final assembly on up to 500,000 vehicles. Tesla supposedly aims to roll out the first locally assembled vehicle from the facility no later than March 2026.

Building the Indian Foundation

Beyond just manufacturing plans, Tesla has been actively laying the groundwork for its future Indian operations. Tesla has reportedly finalized leases for its first showrooms in Mumbai and Delhi - two of the largest cities in India. An office space in Mumbai to headquarter Indian operations is also on that leasing list.

Tesla has also begun to hire its initial tranche of employees, with over 30 positions already posted. Tesla is also hiring Autopilot Vehicle Operators in several locations, indicating that Tesla intends to test at least the FSD suite in one of the most complex traffic situations around the world. 

Elon Musk also confirmed that he plans to visit India and speak to the Indian Prime Minister, likely to broker a deal focusing on building out Tesla’s presence and bringing new technology to the country.

The road to India has not been without its complexities. Reports confirmed the resignation of Prashanth Menon, Tesla's India head, with oversight of Indian operations temporarily shifting to Tesla's China team. Furthermore, earlier discussions with potential joint venture partners, such as Hyderabad-based Megha Engineering for land acquisition, reportedly did not materialize, leading Tesla to explore other avenues and locations like Satara.

Despite all the setbacks, Tesla’s efforts indicate that they are more determined than ever to make a formal and official entry into the Indian market.

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Tesla's Spring Update Tear Down: New Grok Code, Ridesharing Features and More

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Tesla’s software updates often contain far more than the release notes show, whether they’re undocumented features or preparation for the next big thing. The 2025 Spring Update is no exception - it’s filled with undocumented changes and, of course, new, inaccessible code that points to upcoming features.

Tesla hacker greentheonly on X has been digging into update 2025.14 and found some intriguing additions and hints about what’s coming next, so let’s take a look.

Grok Incoming

New hidden UI elements have been found pointing towards the integration of a Grok-powered smart assistant for Teslas. This includes references to a “personality” button, just like the Grok app. Tesla is likely hard at work on an advanced conversational AI and integrating the ability to control your vehicle. 

Grok is the smart assistant that’s expected to replace the ancient voice commands that are available today. However, expect anything beyond vehicle commands to require Tesla’s Premium Connectivity.

While none of these new elements are active just yet, it is a good indication that it is likely on its way quite soon.

Siren Detection UI Removed

Code related to user-facing elements for siren detection has now been removed. We’ve confirmed that the orange dot is still in place with the Spring Update, but elements related to future changes and a UI for siren detection have since been removed from the code base.

Removals don’t indicate much - Tesla could be refactoring the code while they’re working on this or have changed directions on how to implement a future.

Insights into the New Dashcam Viewer

More significantly, for users on HW3, Green reported that the newly improved Dashcam Viewer isn’t just an improved version of the video viewer, but it was built from the ground up, and it’s now web-based. This technical detail explains why the updated viewer is only rolling out to AMD Ryzen vehicles and not older, Intel-based vehicles. HTML-based apps are often quicker to develop but usually require more resources to perform smoothly, which may be why we’re seeing the Ryzen infotainment system requirement.

This likely means that the new Dashcam Viewer won’t arrive on Intel vehicles in a future update unless Tesla can optimize the viewer enough to perform adequately on the older hardware.

HW3 vehicles already missed out on the new B-pillar recording feature. While Green thinks it’s technically possible to bring this feature to HW3 cars, unknown technical issues are likely preventing it. Older HW3 vehicles without a USB port in the glovebox only include USB 2 ports, limiting bandwidth, which could be one of the reasons, among others.

New Key Types

Perhaps a hint at Tesla’s third-party Robotaxi fleet ambitions, Tesla is building out new types of keys.

Rider Keys: These new keys appear to be designed to allow designated riders to access vehicles that are operating in “fleet mode.” This functionality sounds very much like what will be needed to allow Robotaxi customers to access a vehicle temporarily while they’re being given a ride.

Pre-Delivery Keys: Another new key type found is “pre-delivery.” While we don’t have an exact purpose nailed down quite yet, we’re assuming this could potentially allow new owners limited access to their vehicles for inspection prior to officially accepting delivery.

That’s plenty of interesting stuff found in the 2025 Spring Update - and we’re excited to see even more in just a few short weeks once Tesla launches their Robotaxi network in Austin.

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