Last week Apple held their annual Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC), the first one to be held virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
With their unveiling of the new operating system for iPhones, iOS 14, they included a new feature that didn’t get much attention during the keynote – back tap.
Back tap works with simple gestures like scrolling or launching an app. The important part is it also works with the shortcuts feature on the iPhone.
As the name implies, when you tap the back of the phone, that can trigger a shortcut to activate which can control pretty much anything, including your Tesla.
The feature doesn’t work with your Tesla mobile app out of the box, you will need to have the Tesla Stats App installed as well. We’ve reviewed it before and highly recommend purchasing it from the App Store.
How it works
Stats App allows you to create a series of Siri shortcuts that can be used to turn features in your car on/off. If you’ve setup your phone to work with NFC tags and the Stats App, this new feature works in pretty much the same way.
There are two options for the tap feature – Double Tap and Triple Tap. As an example, when you double tap, you could have it set up so that it opens your frunk or trunk. A triple tap could turn on the A/C in the summer months, or turn on the heat during winter.
Or open your charge port. Or honk the horn. Or flash the lights. Or lock the car…you get the idea.
What iPhones will it work with?
As with any new feature, it appears it will only work on more recent phones that have touch to wake, or in other words, FaceID. It also only works when the phone is unlocked, helping to prevent any unintended taps while in your pocket or bag.
Can I get it now?
Right now iOS 14 is only available for those with developer accounts, but a public beta should be released in July. The final public release is expected in September.
Once we get our hands on iOS 14 we’ll be sure to give it a try and let you know how it works. Until then, check out this quick video from Anything Tesla showing the feature in action, and how to set it up.
