Photo: canadianPhotographer56 (Shutterstock)
If you use an iPhone and drive a Tesla, congratulations on your success. Also, congratulations on your new ability to control your car with your phone. The just-released update to Tesla’s app adds the ability to “Access your vehicle controls and climate from the Apple Shortcuts app.” That means you can say “Hey, Siri, lock Tesla” and it will happen.
The update to Tesla’s app will add 20 Tesla-specific Shortcut commands to your iPhone that can be accessed through Siri, a widget, or by tapping them in the Shortcuts app.
What Tesla controls can you trigger through your iPhone?
Here are the 20 single Tesla commands you can use if you set them up in Shortcuts first.
Camp ModeDefrostDog ModePrecondition VehicleSet Seat Heater (seat position and heat level)Set Temperature (choose climate temperature)Vent WindowsSet Media VolumeEmissions TestClose All WindowsFlash LightsHonk HornLock/UnlockOpen FrunkOpen/Close Charge PortOpen/Close Door (Model X)Open/Close Rear TrunkSentry ModeSet Charge LimitStart/Stop ChargingUsing Shortcuts to create custom macros for your Tesla
If you want to get deeper into this, Shortcuts’ ability to automate multiple steps across different apps lets you changed your driving experience in limitless ways. You could create a shortcut called “rock out” that automatically plays, say, Steely Dan (that’s what people who drive Teslas listen to, right?) and turns up the volume to max while giving you directions to, for instance, the closest Olive Garden (that’s where people who drive Teslas eat, right?).
Or you could say “Siri, haunted car!” and have the lights flash, doors open, and the “frunk” open. It’s really called a “frunk” and I didn’t know that until today.
