Tesla has just pulled the curtain back on its massive Spring 2026 update, and it is packed with features that fundamentally change how owners interact with their vehicles. From the long-awaited wake word for xAI’s Grok to a new self-driving app, this update is one of the most significant updates in recent memory.
In an official announcement on X, the automaker confirmed the update is "rolling out shortly," bringing a suite of technical and quality-of-life improvements to the fleet.
One of the headline additions is a dedicated Self-Driving app designed for vehicles equipped with AI4 (Hardware 4) computers. This app lets you subscribe to FSD, look at FSD usage over days or months, and even lets you watch tutorials on how to use certain aspects of the FSD.
It brings the robust “FSD (Supervised) Stats screen that recently debuted in the Netherlands. Owners will be able to see their FSD usage percentage, track multi-day usage streaks, and view bar charts of their usage over time, all on the same screen. This level of transparency is a huge step forward in showing owners exactly how much value they are getting from the software.
Elon Musk first teased a "Hey Grok" wake word last summer, and one was later added in China for their AI assistant there. However, Tesla is now finally adding one to regions that support Grok, including North America, Australia, New Zealand, and parts of Europe. If you haven’t checked them out already, take a look at our best Grok tips.
With this Spring Update, Tesla isn’t just introduced a wake word for xAI’s assistant, they’re also expanded Grok’s capabilties in the vehicle. While we don’t have Grok vehicle commands yet, Tesla is adding the ability to set location-based reminders, such as "remind me to pick up milk when I'm near home," or “remind me to unpack my bags when I get home.”
While we’re getting the wake word outside of China, it doesn’t sound like we’re getting the per-seat activation controls, where the vehicle knows which seat triggered the wake word.
While we are still waiting for Grok to be able to control FSD directly and replace the voice command system, this is a good step forward. The wake word alone should make Grok much more user-friendly.
Tesla is highlighting that you can also say goodbye to turn off Grok, but that has been possible for a while now. Any form of goodbye will do, such as saying “talk to you later.”
Tesla is officially moving beyond its canine-centric "Dog Mode." It sounds like Tesla is renaming Dog Mode to Pet Mode. Tesla will allow owners to choose between a dog, a cat, or a hedgehog to display on the screen while they are away. While Tesla shared a photo of the hedgehog, they didn’t share one of the cat. The Dog Mode balloon dog is extremely popular, so it’ll be interesting to see if Tesla created a similar one for the cat model on screen and whether these animate like the dog version.
You’ll also be able to customize the display with your pet's name. It is a cheeky nod to the diversity of Tesla-owning pets and a fun UI touch that makes the car feel more personal.
The App Launcher has also received a subtle tweak; the "More Apps" icon has changed from three dots to a folder-style icon, bearing a striking resemblance to how iOS displays folders.
Tesla is introducing higher-quality vehicle models on the parked vehicle screen. This is a surprising change, as the models were already very high quality. Unfortunately, no sign of this park screen coming to Intel vehicles.
It sounds like Tesla may be introducing Unreal Engine with these new models, which was first added in the Model S and Model X. If that’s the case, then we can also expect the on-screen visualizations to show improvements in lighting and vehicle detail.
Tesla says that this feature is for the new Model 3 and Model Y, meaning the redesigned versions; however, we expect this to also support the Cybertruck and other Model 3 and Model Y vehicles with AMD processors in a future update.
Tesla is also introducing graphs for the trip meters. Tesla appears to be replacing the old Trips card that used to live next to the media player. Tesla says the new Trip Stats feature allows you to create multiple trips to track energy across different drives. Owners can quickly access consumption data by swiping left on the media player, and it seems like you’ll now swipe vertically to cycle through "Since Charge," "Current Drive," and other saved trips. This will likely be exclusive to the Model 3, Model Y, and Cybertruck, but Tesla didn’t specify.
It sounds like you’ll also be able to access the new screen via the App Launcher > Energy > Trips.
Tesla is finally rounding out its fleet-wide customization options. Model S and X owners will now be able to personalize their in-car avatars with window tints, custom wraps, and license plates. This follows the 2025 rollout for the Model 3 and Y and the original 2024 launch for the Cybertruck.
You can play around with the customization options in App Launcher > Toybox > Paint Shop or by tapping the paint or license plate button in Controls > Software.
The ambient accent lights found in the Cybertruck, “Highland” Model 3, refreshed Model Y, and the 2026 Model S/X units are getting a safety upgrade. These wrap-around lights will now turn red when an object is in your blind spot while the turn signal is engaged. They will also flash red to prevent "dooring" accidents when an approaching object is detected while the vehicle is parked.
For the 2024+ Model 3 and redesigned Model Y vehicles with Tesla’s premium audio stack, a new "Premium Immersive Sound" mode uses advanced sound extraction to create a detailed soundstage within what the company calls an “Immersive” space. The feature works with all streaming sources, including Spotify and Apple Music.
You can adjust this feature by going to Settings > Audio > Tone > Immersive Sound.
The Spring 2026 update makes the Sketchpad much more interactive by adding full support for stickers and emojis.
The new interface allows users to drag and drop a variety of fun graphics onto their drawings, similar to the experience in the AMD-only Photo Booth app. You can also save your sketches directly to your car’s storage, which then syncs to the Tesla mobile app. This allows you to view your kids' masterpieces on your phone later or share them directly to social media.
This is expected to arrive for all AMD-based vehicles.
Additionally, Tesla has added an "Automatically Install Updates" toggle, allowing the car to download and install new software releases overnight without any user input, ensuring you always wake up to the latest features.
While this is a convenient idea, owners should remember that their vehicle is not drivable for about 45 minutes once an update starts installing. This could become an issue in the event of an emergency at night, especially if it’s your only car. If you own multiple Teslas, we recommend staggering automatic updates so that both vehicles aren’t updating simultaneously.
The weather maps have been overhauled with improved colors to distinguish between rain and snow and differentiate among precipitation types, along with an "hour-back" history to see how weather conditions have been changing.
The Dashcam buffer has also been expanded from one hour to up to 24 hours, catching the rest of the world up to the change Tesla rolled out in China earlier this year. You can save any clip for permanent storage on your Tesla by going to App Launcher > Dashcam Viewer.
The Spring 2026 update also packs a variety of smaller quality-of-life improvements that refine the daily driving experience. Music lovers will appreciate new gesture controls across the car’s primary streaming platforms. You can now swipe right on any track in Apple Music or Spotify to instantly add it to your play queue.
Additionally, Tesla has added platform-specific shortcuts: in Apple Music, a simple tap-and-hold on a track allows you to quickly add or remove it from your Favorites, while Spotify users can now swipe left to manage their Liked Songs.
The update also brings more utility to the back of the car. Passengers using the rear touchscreen can now view and interact with maps while the vehicle is navigating a route. This allows rear-seat occupants to track the trip progress or explore the surrounding area without interfering with the driver’s main navigation display.
While the new Self-Driving app is restricted to AI4 hardware, some of these features will likely trickle down to older Intel-based cars, too. We expect Pet Mode, Energy Trips, automatic updates, and the weather/dashcam improvements to be compatible with older Tesla vehicles powered by Intel Atom processors, however, it may not include the legacy Model S/X.
The new car visualizations and Sketchpad stickers (similar to those in the AMD-only Photobooth) will likely remain exclusive to Ryzen-powered vehicles.
Despite the massive list of new features, there is one glaring omission that continues to frustrate a specific subset of the Tesla community: Apple CarPlay. While this update brings Tesla closer to Apple’s ecosystem with improved Favorites management in Apple Music, it falls short of offering the full smartphone-mirroring interface that many owners have spent years begging for.
Interestingly, we know that Tesla is actually working with Apple on CarPlay integration. Rumors of a native CarPlay experience or an official partnership have been circulating for months, but this major Spring release contains no mention of it.
While Tesla’s native software is arguably the best in the industry — especially with new additions like Grok and the Self-Driving app — the lack of CarPlay remains a point of contention. Whether the Apple partnership bears fruit in a later 2026 update remains to be seen, but for today, CarPlay remains elusively out of reach.
While Tesla's recent updates have been small, this Spring Update is huge and similar to a holiday update in terms of new features. This update will likely be version 2026.14, but we’ll have to wait until it starts rolling out to confirm.
Tesla stated that this update is scheduled to be released soon, so we may see it this week or next at the latest. However, as with other updates, expect a gradual rollout.
Update: Early release notes are now available for update 2026.14.
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