Tesla has now reportedly rebuilt parts of their in-car audio player using HTML, Javascript and CSS, but what exactly does that mean? Could this change mean more music streaming services coming down the pipeline? If so, we may see Amazon Music, Pandora, and other audio streaming services added to Tesla’s vehicles in an upcoming software update.
Tesla launched Apple Music integration in their vehicles with the 2022 holiday update and according to Tesla hacker Greentheonly, parts of the music player have been rebuilt using web technologies.
Apple Music appears to be the only music service utilizing the new player at this moment, but it appears that Tesla is transitioning Spotify to their web-based player as well. The HTML-based audio player interface is almost identical to the native audio player in terms of design and behavior except for some small design changes.
While Apple Music is the only audio service leveraging Chromium for its interface, we believe Tesla will move all their music services to leverage this new player.
Why Use a HTML Player?
So the question is why move to an HTML-based player when Tesla already has a working audio player and there are downsides to web-based apps, such as reduced performance?
The answer is development time and ease of updating. While web apps aren't a good choice for intensive tasks, a simple audio player could be.
Developing web software is usually much quicker and easier when compared to developing in a native language such as C or C++. The user interface is quicker to build and changes can also be implemented faster.
Since most streaming services like YouTube Music, Amazon Music, Pandora, SiriusXM and many others already offer web-based players, adapting these to work in Tesla's web player is a much easier process than porting the music service to work in another language. The APIs, streaming protocols and all the details needed are already available in these web apps and Tesla just needs to adapt the application to work with their user interface.
Web applications also have the advantage of downloading new data when a user connects, so it’s much easier to roll out new features, updates and bug fixes. A web-based solution doesn’t require the end user to download a software update either, so Tesla can fix any issues on the fly.
Video Streaming
When Tesla rolled out their video streaming services in Tesla Theater, they took the web route and loaded the streaming service’s website in a Chromeless browser, creating almost zero development for the Tesla team. They leveraged what each streaming service already provides on the web and made it available in the car.
For audio, it's a similar concept, except Tesla wants to provide a consistent user interface regardless if you're listening to TuneIn, SiriusXM or Spotify. To do this Tesla still needs an additional layer that connects the audio controls to their UI, but the effort required is greatly reduced.
This change to leveraging the vehicle's browser to render more parts of the Tesla interface could be the reason why we've seen so many performance improvements to Tesla's Chromium-based browser.
New Music Services
With this upgrade and transition already taking place, I'd be surprised if we didn't start to see the addition of many music streaming services integrated with Tesla’s vehicles in the near future.
This could mean that we may see additional music services such as YouTube Music, Pandora, Amazon Music, and even a streaming version of SiriusXM in the near future.
Last week, Mark Ruber, an engineering YouTuber best known for his glitter bombs, released a video where he tested Tesla's Autopilot against various conditions - including the iconic ACME painted wall.
During this test, many people noted that Mark was using Autopilot rather than FSD, even though his video was titled “Can you Fool a Self-Driving Car?”. The Tesla on Autopilot went up against a vehicle equipped with Luminar’s LIDAR rig, running some sort of basic autonomy or safety software.
New Video Tests FSD
Many people were disappointed with Mark’s video and his testing methods, so several creators got to work to actually test out Tesla’s FSD.
Creator Kyle Paul over on X made a much better follow-up video, using both a HW3 Model Y as well as an AI4 Cybertruck. In a relatively unsurprising turn of events, the Cybertruck was successfully able to detect the wall, slowed down, and came to a stop. The Cybertruck was running FSD 13.2.8.
Kyle’s team did a fantastic job building the wall and testing this in a private area using FSD rather than Autopilot. On top of that - they re-tested the results several times and recorded the entire thing in and out. While Mark’s video was more for entertainment, Kyle really set out to prove what would really happen in this unlikely scenario.
Sadly, the HW3 Model Y was unable to detect the wall, and manual intervention was required in each test. While the Model Y was running FSD 12.5.4.2 rather than an FSD V12.6 build, we don’t expect this to have had a significant impact on the test - this is more of an issue with how computer vision analyzes the environment.
There are several major differences between HW3 and HW4. The first is obviously that the version that runs on AI4 is more advanced, as the hardware is capable of processing a lot more data. However, AI4 also features much higher-resolution cameras than HW3, and Tesla recently added the ability for the video feeds to be processed at full resolution on FSD V13. This could have made the difference, although it’s not entirely clear. Perhaps if HW3 gets a version of FSD V13 in the future, HW3 can be retested to see if it passes the “ACME wall” test.
Watch
Kyle’s entire video is below. It’s only 10 minutes long, so definitely give it a watch. Props to Kyle on the quick and thorough execution.
What Does This Mean for FSD?
We broke down Mark’s test - and examined all the little issues that we discovered after doing some in-depth research - you can read our analysis here.
Putting aside the issues with Mark’s testing and instead using the new results - it seems that if you were to have to fight against Wile-E-Coyote and his ACME tools with your Tesla, cartoon logic may win if you’re on an HW3 vehicle. If you’re on an AI4 vehicle, you’ll likely come to a safe stop.
Vehicle depth perception is definitely something that Tesla has been hard at work to improve - and some fairly drastic improvements came with FSD V13 that haven’t been entirely translated to FSD V12 just yet. Future versions of HW3 FSD may be able to determine that the wall is there successfully. So Kyle - if you’re reading this - don’t get rid of that wall. We’d love to see more testing in the future.
However, this entire test scenario is so out of left field… there is a good likelihood this same test would fool some human drivers as well. The most important part is that the future of autonomy will not fall for these tricks, so it's very unlikely for someone to weaponize this idea as it’d only possibly work on a small segment of vehicles.
If Wile-E-Coyote is after you, someone else may drive into the wall before your Tesla does.
Not a Tesla App
We’re not kidding, this really happened already. This isn’t a realistic scenario outside of someone trying to play an insane prank - but it’s good to know that FSD V13 is capable of dodging this.
Tesla regularly holds quarterly all-hands meetings for employees, but last night marks the first time Tesla has live-streamed the event for the public.
The meeting primarily focused on Tesla’s employees, recent achievements, and the future of Tesla. While it didn’t reveal much new information, it was interesting to see Elon Musk candidly engaging with his teams, who seem to genuinely enjoy working with him. Still, there were a few noteworthy takeaways.
As with Tesla’s Earnings Calls and other live events, we’ve put together a concise, easy-to-digest recap of everything discussed.
General Points
Work-related Injuries declined over time
Planning to expand to new markets
Cell Manufacturing
Continuing to invest in battery supply
Cheapest, lowest cost per kWh cell
The supercharger network continues to grow
Vehicle range and charging speed should match the needs of humans and their required time for breaks
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