The Tesla 2024 Holiday Update brings a ton of new and awesome features to it, and media streaming isn’t a forgotten topic here. SiriusXM is also bringing streaming radio to vehicles without satellite receivers, but TuneIn, Tesla’s streaming radio app that’s had a long-time integration, is receiving a big makeover.
TuneIn Update
The new interface is considerably different from the standard Tesla media interface, and it looks slick. Larger tiles highlight key sections, including three big hero images of their special playlists.
Alongside that, TuneIn is also introducing live game scores, team profiles, an in-car schedule for sports, new radio/station profiles, a new recommendation system, and the ability to see content related to what you’re listening to. Audiobooks and podcasts have also gained chaptered playback, so if you want to skip back and forth between sections, you’ll be able to do that as well.
New Audio Interface
The new interface is a departure from Tesla’s current audio interface with larger tiles and live data. It’s possible Tesla is opening up its in-car API for application developers to play around, or including more capabilities for streaming services.
We could see even more customization in the future, and we’ll likely see existing streaming services take advantage of the new capabilities as well.
Free Trial
Alongside the update, TuneIn is also offering a 30—or 90-day free trial if you subscribe to TuneIn Premium with a monthly or annual subscription, respectively.
TuneIn Premium provides commercial-free news radio, unlimited listening to their audiobook library, live MLB and NHL games - no delays and no blackouts, and access to college football and basketball games, too. Finally, while it isn’t completely ad-free, there will be fewer ads across all stations you listen to.
Interestingly, TuneIn does not provide an entirely ad-free service for music, but if you’re listening more for their audiobooks, news, or sports, you’ll be able to listen ad-free with their Premium subscription - which goes $9.99 USD a month, or $79.99 a year.
Some stations, like “Today’s Hits,” “Classic Rock Hits,” and “Country Roads,” will stream ad-free, but some other stations will still have ads.
Overall, this is a fantastic UI update that has flown under the radar. Seems like Tesla and TuneIn are working together on the first redesign of Tesla’s audio interface.
