Today, Tesla confirmed that an official Apple Watch app is coming soon. As part of the 2024 Tesla Holiday Update, the carmaker will officially release a watchOS version of the Tesla app. It will start arriving as part of an over-the-air (OTA) update that starts rolling out next week.
The app will let users see the current battery charge level, open their car’s frunk, and remotely enable the climate control system. The most notable capability, however, will be using it as a phone key.
A phone key, which lives on smartphones via an application, allows users to lock, unlock, and start the vehicle. In Tesla’s car, the phone key communicates via Bluetooth signals and unlocks the doors as soon as a person pulls the door handle.
Likewise, when users walk away carrying the paired smartphone, the Walk-Away Door Lock system automatically locks the doors. Users have to go through authentication, and once a device is registered as a trusted phone key, they won’t even require internet connectivity to access all the features.
The number of authenticated phone keys allowed by a Tesla car is limited, presumably for safety reasons. Take, for example, the entry-level Tesla Model 3, which only allows up to three phone keys simultaneously.
Tesla cars also support NFC-based car unlocking, similar to the key card the brand offers. Tesla’s blog post doesn’t specify whether the watchOS app will rely on Bluetooth, NFC, or both.
In addition to releasing an Apple Watch app, the Holiday update will also let users watch and locally save clips recorded by their car’s cameras in Dashcam and Sentry Mode. Users will also be able to specify battery charging levels when they reach their destination and check the precipitation situation on the Map.
“When in Reverse, your vehicle will alert you if it detects a pedestrian or vehicle crossing behind you,” says the update note shared on X. In case a cross-traffic object is seen, the car will also issue an audible alert.
On the more playful side of things, there’s a new Emissions feature. It allows you to set any seat to “fart on contact,” which means a fart sound will play when someone sits on that seat. It’s a digital whoopee cushion and the third such fart feature from Tesla, which also has “fart on demand” and “fart on turn signal” settings.
Those are far from the only new features announced by Tesla. A post on X — Elon Musk’s version of Twitter — has the full details. Among the notable updates include the ability to set a preferred battery level upon arrival at your destination, a new alert for cross-traffic while in reverse, and Cybertruck’s “Santa Mode” that turns your car’s avatar into a sleigh.
