Tesla Rolls Out Its 2022 Holiday Update, Packed With New Features

Tesla has started its rollout of this year's Holiday Update

Not a Tesla App

It’s the most wonderful time of year for Tesla owners around the world.

Tesla has started the wide rollout of its “holiday update,” with Apple Music integration, Steam, interior camera viewing while in Sentry or Dog Mode, MyQ, and much more.

Similar to Apple, every year Tesla releases a facelift update to overhaul its operating system and add a number of exciting features. These updates typically range from quirky light shows to helpful features like auto turn signals. It’s usually the most anticipated update Tesla releases every year.

The Austin-based automotive company took to Twitter this afternoon to announce the rollout has begun. It followed with a string of videos showcasing the new additions in the update.

“Holiday Update rolling out now,” writes Tesla.

Below are a couple of the biggest features in Tesla's Holiday Update.

Apple Music

Tesla

One of the most highly requested additions to Tesla’s software is Apple Music. Prior to this addition, Slacker, Spotify, TIDAL, TuneIn, and SiriusXM were the only music streaming services. If you wanted to use another service you’d have to connect your phone via Bluetooth and stream that way. Spotify and TIDAL are big competitors of Apple Music, but Apple’s streaming service boasts a catalog of 100 million songs and industry-leading audio quality.

The addition of Apple Music into Tesla’s vehicles could mean that Dolby Atmos support is just around the corner, as reported by BGR.

Apple Music is available in most markets, although there are some exclusions such as Israel and UAE.

View Cabin Camera

When Dog Mode or Sentry Mode is enabled, you'll now be able to view the live video feed of the cabin camera through your Tesla app.

When either of these modes is enabled, you'll see a button to view live video in the app. Keep in mind that when remote viewing is enabled, Tesla will display a message on the center display letting users know that the camera in the vehicle is being actively used.

Steam

Tesla

Although currently in Beta, Tesla has been teasing the Steam integration since early 2022. The bulking up of gaming in Tesla’s vehicles is one Musk has said is important due to Full Self-Driving becoming more of a reality. The Steam integration is only available on newer refreshed Model S and Model X vehicles, as they have the compute power to play the games smoothly.

We're hopeful that Tesla will continue to improve its software and hardware so that other MCU3 vehicles such as the Model 3 and Model Y can play Steam games in the future.

Steam currently requires the powerful GPU that's available in these vehicles. This GPU is only available on the Model S and Model X and is not included in the MCU3-equipped versions of the Model 3 and Model Y.

Steam also currently requires 16GB of ram, which means that earlier 2021 versions of the Model S and Model X vehicles are excluded for now. It's possible that Tesla is rolling this out in stages and will reduce the requirements for Steam in later revisions, however, the game catalog could be reduced as well.

“Entertainment will be critical when cars drive themselves,” Musk said on Twitter in December 2020.

Bluetooth Controller Support

Tesla

In order to go along with Tesla's Steam integration, Tesla is also supporting Bluetooth controllers with this update, however, it is also limited to new Model S and Model X. It'd make sense for this feature to eventually roll out to other vehicles, but it's not clear whether it's coupled with the Steam client.

Media Controls

The media controls are now closer to the driver for easier access. Users can now swipe up to access “Recents & Favorites” and “Sources.” Swiping left or right will also access trips and tire pressure information. We covered the updated UI cards at length if you'd like to see what they look like and how they function.

Climate Control Fan Speed

In this update, Tesla has removed the scroll bar to set the fan speed. The new speeds are low, medium, and high. This is a welcomed improvement, as the 1-10 sliding scale wasn’t entirely intuitive or easy to use.

MyQ Integration

Tesla

MyQ is a branded technology that enables users to control supported garage doors, gates and lights over WiFi. Until now, users could only control MyQ devices from their smartphones, but Tesla is adding support to their vehicles. Tesla will let users open and close MyQ-supported garage doors in a similar way to how HomeLink works.

HomeLink is included with the Model S and Model X, but it's a $350 USD add-on for the Model 3 and Y.

However, MyQ integration does not appear to be free. MyQ charges $179 for a 5-year subscription for vehicle use. You also need a smart garage door opener. Most openers can be made smart by adding a MyQ device available at various retailers for approximately $20.

Auto Turn Signals

Your vehicle’s turn signals will now turn off once the driver has completed a lane change, fork, or merge. This feature is available worldwide to Model 3 and Model Y vehicles with hardware 3. To turn it on, tap Controls > Lights > Auto Turn Signals.

Scheduled Light Show

Last year Tesla added a fun “dancing” light show to all vehicles. 2022's update enhances these features. With this year’s update owners will be able to schedule a light show for up to 10 minutes in advance or watch a multi-car orchestra by setting them to start at the same time. Tesla has also included a new song and light show included with this update.

This is Tesla's biggest update of the year, so look out for version 2022.44.25.1 in your Tesla app to enjoy these great new features. Tesla is rolling it out slowly and we believe everyone will receive it in the next couple of weeks.

There's a lot packed into this update, including big and small features. You can read about all the features by viewing the release notes for the Holiday Update.

Tesla Smoking While Supercharging? A Look at What's Actually Happening

Hot_Engineering3140 on Reddit

Winter is here, and temperatures are dropping, so one of the most common Tesla questions is about to resurface.

If you’ve landed here after frantically searching about “smoke” coming from your Tesla while Supercharging, take a deep breath—it’s completely normal.

Tesla Smoking While Charging

If you’re Supercharging in freezing weather—even with preconditioning—you might notice steam rising from your Tesla. But rest assured, your car isn’t smoking.

Your Tesla’s heat pump is hard at work warming both the cabin and battery to keep you comfortable and ensure optimal charging temperatures. Over time, condensation and ice build-up in the heat exchanger coils.

Why Does It Happen?

When you reach a Supercharger with your vehicle, the heat pump is still running hot, but without the cold air from driving to keep the heat exchanger coils cool, the ice and condensation quickly start to evaporate—creating what looks like smoke.

Since this typically happens near the front of the vehicle, where a car would traditionally have an engine, new vehicle owners can be startled by the discovery. However, rest assured that it’s just water vapor and it’s completely normal in cold weather.

In fact, this behavior can be experienced in any EV with a heat pump in cold climates. So, if you saw steam coming out of your vehicle and panicked, don’t worry—you’re not alone.

Now that you know what’s happening, go ahead and Supercharge with confidence.

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Tesla Improves YouTube App With Smoother Playback

Not a Tesla App

Tesla made a lot of improvements in the 2024 Holiday Update, including more than 15 undocumented improvements that were included in the release. One of these was a stealthy performance improvement to the YouTube app.

Several people have mentioned they’ve seen improved performance on YouTube since this year’s Holiday Update - and there’s an interesting reason why.

YouTube Improvements

The improved YouTube performance in Tesla vehicles comes from an unexpected source—Tesla actually rolled back support for YouTube’s newer AV1 video encoding. Instead, vehicles now default to the older VP9 encoding standard.

While AV1 is highly efficient in terms of bandwidth, it requires considerably more processing power to decode and display videos. VP9, on the other hand, is less computationally demanding but uses more bandwidth to achieve the same video quality. This trade-off means smoother playback and better overall performance, even if it comes at the cost of slightly higher data usage.

Intel Inside

The VP9 video codec that the YouTube app is now using is much easier to decode, making it less taxing on the vehicle’s processor. This change is particularly beneficial for Tesla vehicles with Intel processors, which previously struggled to stream video at just 720p. When using AV1, these vehicles often experienced stuttering, sometimes forcing the YouTube app to automatically downgrade playback to 480p.

With this update, Intel-based Teslas should now be able to stream at 1080p smoothly. Streaming at 1440p is also possible, although occasional stutters still occur as the system keeps up with the decoding process.

Intel-based vehicles are the big winners with this change, but this appears to affect AMD Ryzen-based infotainment units as well, providing even smoother playback.

Chromium Web App

Tesla’s Theater apps aren’t native applications; instead, they run as chromeless web apps, leveraging the open-source browser built into Teslas known as Chromium (the open-source version of Chrome). Although this works quite well, there is a severe limitation - Chromium hardware acceleration isn’t supported on Linux, the operating system Tesla uses for their OS.

As a result, Tesla vehicles rely on software decoding instead of hardware decoding, which would otherwise handle video playback far more efficiently. A potential solution could be for Tesla to transition away from Chromium-based web apps in favor of a Mozilla Firefox-based browser, as Firefox does support hardware acceleration on Linux. This switch could also open the door to better streaming performance and the possibility of expanding Tesla’s in-car entertainment options.

However, Tesla’s choice of Chromium likely stems from Digital Rights Management (DRM) requirements for streaming services like Disney+ and Netflix, which rely on DRM-enabled playback. Firefox on Linux has had inconsistent support for DRM due to codec availability and variations in operating system versions.

We’re hopeful that Tesla will either adopt Firefox or develop a fully native application to improve video streaming, rather than continuing with the current web-based Tesla Theater. This shift could also pave the way for additional in-car applications built on Tesla’s native Linux environment—perhaps even reviving the long-rumored Tesla App Store.

Regardless, this update is a welcome improvement, particularly for YouTube, which remains one of the most widely used Theater Mode apps due to its accessibility, free content, and mix of short and long-form videos. It remains to be seen whether similar improvements are made for Netflix, Disney+, or other streaming platforms.

If you’ve noticed improved performance in Theater Mode, now you know why.

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