Tesla is Making an Apple Watch App | Here’s What We Know
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As you probably know, Tesla owners lock and unlock their vehicles with a key card or a mobile app. It’s pretty convenient. More car manufacturers are following suit with Apple’s Car Key, as we recently wrote about.
Earlier this year, a Tesla owner was locked out of her car when her phone died. She went on Twitter and asked the man himself if an Apple Watch or other smartwatch could be used to unlock a Tesla. Elon replied the next day, saying, “Sure.”
A Tesla app for smartwatches, including the Apple Watch, is coming soon. A few days ago, Tesla released an app update (version 4.38.0). The latest features include the ability to add your favorite Tesla app controls to your iPhone’s Control Center in iOS 18 and the ability to perform certain offline commands as long as you’re in close proximity to the vehicle. One site that tracks Tesla app updates noticed three references in the Tesla app’s code to “watch.”
- watch_app_pairing_state_remotely_signing_add_key_command
- watch_app_ble_peripheral
- watch_app_no_product_selected
While there’s no timeline for any Apple Watch or other smart watch, and Tesla has yet to comment, it certainly appears to be in the works. The other unknown is what capabilities the Apple Watch version of the app would have. Currently, the iPhone app’s basic capabilities include remote locking and unlocking, preconditioning cabin temperature, monitoring charging status, and tracking vehicle location.
Tesla iPhone app users can also control software updates and manage Telsa’s security system, Sentry Mode, which uses the car’s external cameras to monitor and record surroundings when parked and notify the owner of suspicious activity. It’s unknown what functionality a Tesla Apple Watch app will have.
Since the latest version of the Tesla iPhone app focuses on further support for iOS-based controls, hopefully an Apple Watch version of the app isn’t far behind. I’m sure Tesla owners feel this is long overdue. As other car manufacturers get into the Car Key game, Tesla must continue to focus on integrating with wearable technology like smart watches. Since Car Key is stored in Apple Wallet, it already works with Apple Watches, depending on the model.
