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Install the app

Wear for Tesla is not on the Play Store. You install the APK yourself ("sideloading"), once, and again for each update.

Requirements

  • A watch with Wear OS 4 or later (Android 13, API level 33).
  • A Tesla Model 3 or Model Y (other models work over Bluetooth but have no car illustration yet).
  • The car's Keycard and its VIN, for pairing.

1. Download the APK

Download the .apk file attached to the latest release. Every release is signed with the same project key, so a newer version installs over an older one and keeps your pairing.

2. Turn on wireless debugging on the watch

  1. On the watch, open Settings → System → About → Versions (on some watches Settings → About watch → Software) and tap Software version seven times until developer options are enabled.
  2. Open Settings → Developer options, turn on ADB debugging and then Wireless debugging.
  3. Connect the watch to the same Wi-Fi network as the computer or phone you will install from.

3. Install

You need adb from the Android SDK Platform-Tools.

  1. On the watch, in Wireless debugging, tap Pair new device. It shows an IP address, a port and a pairing code.

  2. Pair and connect:

    adb pair <ip>:<pairing port>        # type the pairing code
adb connect <ip>:<port>             # the port shown on the Wireless debugging screen
adb devices                         # the watch is listed as <ip>:<port>

  3. Install, replacing an earlier version if there is one:

    adb -s <ip>:<port> install -r wear-for-tesla-<version>.apk

Watches drop Wi-Fi to save battery. If adb loses the watch, open Wireless debugging again (the port may have changed) and repeat adb connect. Keeping the watch on its charger helps.

Some third-party phone apps can install an APK on a watch over wireless debugging, for example Wear Installer 2 or Bugjaeger. They are not part of this project: follow their own instructions, pair them with the watch's Wireless debugging screen and pick the downloaded APK.

With a JDK 17 or later and the Android SDK:

git clone https://github.com/Giack/wear-for-tesla.git
cd wear-for-tesla/android
./gradlew :wear:assemblePublicRelease

The APK is in android/wear/build/outputs/apk/public/release/. An APK you build yourself is signed with a different key from the releases, so switching between the two means uninstalling first and pairing again.

4. Open it

Find Wear for Tesla in the watch's app list and follow Bluetooth mode setup. When you are done you can turn ADB debugging off again; it is only needed to install.