A recent blog post spotted on the South Korean blog Naver appears to confirm that Tesla’s much-anticipated 2022 holiday update will roll out as software version 2022.44.25.
Every year, Tesla releases a holiday update with significant improvements and some fun new features meant to spread holiday cheer.
We reported earlier this week that this year’s holiday update would feature Apple Music support, Steam integration, new games, and “much more.” Now, a blog post has revealed some additional features that will be included in the release.
Software version 2022.44.25 with Tesla’s 2022 holiday update will start shipping as an Over The Air (OTA) update later this month. Here are (at least some of) the features you can expect the update to bring, per the post:
The 2022 holiday update will let users freely change the location of the media controls. For instance, drivers will be able to move the media controls closer to their sear for easier operation.
Alongside customizability, users will be able to swipe up on the media controls to get to their favorites, recents, and sources. In addition, Tesla is also bringing back a severely-missed feature that displays the odometer or tire pressure when swiping left or right on the media controls.
Following mounting demand from Tesla owners, the interior vehicle camera in the company’s vehicles will now be accessible on the mobile app when in Dog Mode or Sentry Mode.
Like Sentry Mode, remote interior camera access will require a Premium Connectivity subscription ($9.99 USD per month or $99 per year).
This year’s holiday update will also introduce automatic turn signals. According to the blog post, your car will automatically turn the signal off when a “lane change, branch, or merge is complete.”
The feature will presumably only kick in when the turn signal is fully engaged by the driver instead of being half-pressed, which only activates the signal for three flashes.
Software version 2022.44.25 will decouple the fan speed control from the wider HVAC control, allowing users to set the fan speed to LO, MED, or HI independently when the HVAC system is set to Auto.
Tesla is making some changes to navigation in order to improve readability.
These changes will include redesigning route guidance to better highlight the next travel direction and moving less pertinent trip information such as estimated travel time and arrival fare to the bottom of the screen. Next turn and lane guidance prompts will continue being displayed at the top of the screen.
To improve privacy, vehicles will now ask for permission before routing an incoming call on a connected device to the car’s audio system.
The blog post added that the upcoming update will add the ability to search for contacts directly from a connected Bluetooth device, although it’s unclear how that’s different from the way that currently works.
Last year’s holiday update brought light shows to Tesla’s electric vehicles (EVs). The 2022 holiday update will add the ability to schedule light shows remotely and up to 10 minutes in advance via the Tesla mobile app. Users can also simultaneously run a light show in multiple Tesla vehicles, which can be quite the spectacle.
Software version 2022.44.25 will let users set the Rainbow Road easter egg to always be enabled when Autopilot is engaged.
The infamous Emissions Testing Mode will now be available in the Tesla mobile app (version 4.15.0 or higher) for remote farting shenanigans.
Teslascope’s teaser from earlier this week already detailed customizable media controls, remote light show scheduling, and remote emissions mode as features included in this year’s holiday update. However, it’s good to have confirmation from another source.
That said, the post made no mention of Apple Music support or MyQ garage support, both of which Teslascope reported are coming in the update. This leads us to believe that these release notes weren’t exhaustive.
Apple Music support, one of the most highly-requested features for Tesla’s cars, was spotted on a Model S Long Range demo unit last month, indicating that it could be coming soon.
