How to Automate Your Favorite Tesla Features Using Apple's Shortcuts App

Tesla is looking to make controlling your EV even easier by automating several processes with the help of Apple's Shortcuts app. The latest version of Tesla's iOS app now includes dozens of actions available for iPhone owners to customize—and automate—their vehicle experience.

Many of these shortcuts center on vehicle controls, such as opening the trunks, climate control, and turning on the seat heater. Others are just for fun.

By integrating these functions into the Shortcuts app, you can make them available as widgets on your iPhone Home screen or by asking Siri. That means you can ask Siri to open the frunk from your Apple Watch if your hands are full of groceries.

It's easy to get started, but like a lot of other Shortcuts, you’ll need some imagination to take them to the next level and make them personal. Here’s how to set one up.

There are shortcuts that can be used to lock and unlock your car, set the temperature, enable Sentry Mode, control the Tesla's charging abilities, open the trunks, and more. The great thing about these shortcuts is they allow people to get creative, though it may take some thought to truly leverage these new capabilities.

For instance, I was excited to see the ability to toggle a specific seat heater on and off. Now, by using the Shortcuts widget, turning my daughter's seat heater on is only one tap away. I can also automate the process with my HomeKit thermostat, so when the temperature in my home drops below 63 degrees, the back-right seat heater turns on automatically.

You may ultimately find some shortcuts more helpful than others, or more useful under certain conditions. While I don’t plan to use it, I’m sure plenty of people will find clever uses for the Emissions Test shortcut.

The Open Frunk action sounds like a welcome function, but it might still be hard to get out your phone and press a button while your hands are full of groceries. This action may be more useful if you have an Apple Watch and can ask Siri for help.