News
Tesla launches Holiday Update: Apple Watch app, Sentry Mode upgrades, and more
Tesla has officially launched its Holiday Update for 2024, and in typical fashion, the company is rolling out some major features and improvements to owners.
Tesla typically launches a massive update toward the end of the year with upgrades and new features on a regular basis. 2024 has some features that have been long requested, and the company is making sure to reward owners with them.
The holiday update features a lot of new things, but the most requested feature that Tesla came through on for owners is the addition of an app for the Apple Watch. Tesla has been working on this for several months, as we reported recently that the company was planning to launch some sort of smartwatch app according to source coding.
— Tesla (@Tesla) December 2, 2024
Additionally, Dashcam and Sentry Mode footage can be saved from the Tesla app to your phone to edit and share, something that was not previously available for owners.
Here are all the features Tesla is adding with the 2024 Holiday Update:
Tesla App on Apple Watch
“Use your Apple Watch as your phone key. You can also view battery charge, open frunk & turn on climate control.”
Save Dashcam & Sentry Mode Clips to Phone
“Watch Dashcam & Sentry Mode clips directly from the Tesla app and save them to your phone to edit or share.”
Autoshift between Drive & Reverse on stalkless Model 3
“Autoshift on stalkless Model 3 can now automatically shift between Drive & Reverse to handle parking lot maneuvers & multi-point turns”
SirusXM
“SiriusXM now availabel for Model 3, Y, and Cybertruck”
Set Arrival Energy at Destination
“You can now set a preferred battery charge level for when you arrive at your destination”
Search Along Route with Estimated Detour Times
“When navigating, search results are now filtered to show options along your route & estimated detour times”
Precipitation Map & Weather at Destination
“View precipitation directly on the map to check the weather at your destination”
Rear Cross Traffic Alert
“When in Reverse, your vehicle will alert you if it detects a pedestrian or vehicle crossing behind you. An audible warning will also play if a cross-traffic object is detected”
Cybertruck Custom Wraps and License Plate Customization
“Personalize your Cybertruck avatar with a custom wrap & license plate! Use one of many preloaded designs or create and upload custom ones using a USB flash drive. Details on template and instructions will be published via Github”
Cybertruck Rear Camera Improvements
“The rear camera feed is now larger & you can pinch to zoom in or out”
TuneIn
“TuneIn Radio on Tesla is now much better & still completely free with no setup needed”
Cybertruck Rear Arcade
“Play games from the backseat while cruising around”
Cybertruck Santa Mode
“Ho ho ho! Santa Mode changes your Cybertruck avatar into Santa’s sleigh including reindeers, elves, and more”
Schedule Light Show from the Tesla App
“Remotely schedule Light Shows from the Tesla app, including the two new Light Shows in the 2024 Holiday Update”
Boomerang Fu
“Slice & dice your friends with boomerangs in this action-packed party game”
Fart on Contact
“Prank your friends with each new bum detection…Sit happens”
Adjust Passenger Seat from Controls
“The new Seats control panel allows you to adjust the position of the unoccupied passenger seat, including second-row seats”
Maintenance Summary
“You can now view & track maintenance items from your vehicle’s touchscreen”
- https://shop.teslarati.com/collections/tesla-cybertruck-accessories
- https://shop.teslarati.com/collections/tesla-model-y-accessories
- https://shop.teslarati.com/collections/tesla-model-3-accessories
Please email me with questions and comments at joey@teslarati.com. I’d love to chat! You can also reach me on X @KlenderJoey, or if you have news tips, you can email us at tips@teslarati.com
Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) reported its earnings for the first quarter of 2026 on Wednesday afternoon. Here’s what the company reported compared to what Wall Street analysts expected.
The earnings results come after Tesla reported a massive beat on vehicle deliveries for the second quarter, delivering 489,126 vehicles and building 451,758 cars during the three-month span.
This was a major shock for those on Wall Street as they anticipated somewhere around 400,000 deliveries for the quarter, and showed Tesla still has plenty of demand for its vehicles around the world and in the U.S. despite losing the $7,500 EV Tax Credit last year.
Tesla Q2 2026 Earnings Results
- Non-GAAP EPS – $0.33 reported vs. $0.53 expected
- Revenues – $28.236 billion reported vs. $26.4 billion expected
- Free Cash Flow- -$1.092B
- Profit -$ 4.751B
Tesla (beat/missed) analyst expectations, so the market response to the company’s quarter is what we will look for next.
Tesla shares closed today down just over 1 percent, trading at $374.01.
In the past, it has been anyone’s guess with what Tesla shares will do after they report earnings. Strong quarters have resulted in sharp drops, while lackluster quarters have seen the stock shoot up considerably.
Tesla will hold its Q2 2026 Earnings Call in about 90 minutes at 5:30 p.m. on the East Coast. Remarks will be made by CEO Elon Musk and other executives, who will shed some light on the investor questions that we covered earlier this week.
You can stream it below. Additionally, we will be doing our Live Blog on X and Facebook.
Q2 2026 Earnings Call https://t.co/zZS6ii2TWK
— Tesla (@Tesla) July 22, 2026
Tesla is about to make parking in busy parking lots at businesses and other points of interest less stressful than ever by allowing drivers more control over where they park and how, CEO Elon Musk confirmed on X.
Tesla has been working to improve the parking performance of vehicles utilizing the Full Self-Driving suite, but now it is looking to add more customization, allowing drivers to choose the specific space they park in, but also potentially the orientation the car pulls into the spot:
It’s coming soon
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 21, 2026
Musk has reiterated on X twice over the past several weeks that Tesla is working to make things with the FSD suite based more on the driver’s specific preferences and behaviors that were seen in past drives.
Essentially, it sounds like if you tend to park away from a business to avoid other vehicles, Tesla FSD will soon recognize that preference of yours and start parking further away as well. Additionally, the prospect of assigned parking spaces has been something many owners have voiced concerns about.
Living in a community with assigned parking spaces makes using FSD incredibly difficult as it will rarely park in the correct spot when there are so many to choose from. This is also pertinent in work settings where there are sometimes assigned parking spaces.
The updates to Tesla’s Full Self-Driving suite in terms of listening to driver preferences with parking are also extending to routing. Tesla announced yesterday that with the release of its 2026 Summer Update, it was adding Automatic Navigation and Preferred Routes:
Tesla reveals 2026 Summer Update with crazy fixes to Nav and more
Tesla has always maintained the idea that any human input is bad input, and that, ideally, Tesla Full Self-Driving will always make the right decision. Of course, this is all in theory, but the issue is that so many of Tesla’s interventions have come because it does something that is not necessarily wrong, but perhaps not what the driver would prefer.
Taking these preferences into account will help Tesla alleviate some of the potentially unnecessary interventions that drivers perform.
Tesla is starting to prepare for the launch of the Optimus robot in its smartphone app, new coding strings show. Elon Musk has referred to Optimus as what will be the greatest-selling product of any kind of all time, and now, Tesla is getting ready for its launch.
Tesla’s smartphone app had several first-time mentions of the Optimus program, according to Tesla App Updates, who intially reported on the appearance. Here’s what they found:
A Dedicated “Robot” Phone Key Authentication
Tesla is working on a Bluetooth Low Energy, or BLE, authentication that is specifically for robots. This does not only apply to Optimus, though, as Robotaxi, which is Tesla’s autonomous ride-hailing platform, might also identify vehicles within the fleet as robots as well.
Tesla shows rapid teardown of Model S and X lines, paving the way for Optimus at Fremont
Essentially, pairing your phone as a key to anything Tesla identifies as a robot to a “whitelist” of authorized devices. Optimus, Robotaxi, or other products that fall into this category will only respond if the device trying to communicate with it is authorized.
This is a great security feature that will eliminate at least face-value and low-level threats.
Home Data Collection and System Alerts
This appears to be somewhat of a neural network for Optimus within your house. There will be a dedicated screen that asks for consent to collect both video and spatial data while Optimus performs in-home tasks. Everything from vacuuming, washing dishes, dusting, and other activities will be tracked.
There will also be a comprehensive alert system that will track everything from low battery to mechanical issues.
Other Changes
Most of the changes tracked in this particular app update are related to Tesla’s 2026 Summer Update, and include things such as image assets for new features, a preview of the new custom wraps feature, and other unique features.
You can check out our coverage on what is included with the 2026 Summer Update here:
Tesla reveals 2026 Summer Update with crazy fixes to Nav and more
Tesla (TSLA) Q2 2026 earnings results: miss on EPS, beat on revenue
Tesla is about to make parking in busy lots less stressful than ever
