CarPlay · Games · Karaoke · On the car's own screen
Tesla-Pi puts Apple CarPlay on it — maps, music, messages and Siri, full-screen and wireless, started by the time you sit down. Parked, the same screen becomes a retro games console or a karaoke machine. Nothing to unscrew, nothing to replace, no subscription.
CarPlay
Maps, music, podcasts, messages, calls and Siri — arranged by CarPlay itself, filling the Tesla's display. It starts when you get in, with the phone still in your pocket.
Turn on "Start when my iPhone is in the car" and the Pi spots your phone in the driver's seat — asking the car whether someone is actually in it — and has CarPlay going before you open the browser.
The CarPlay adapter stays closed until you're in the car or the screen is open, and hands your iPhone back a minute after you leave — so a parked car on the drive never pulls it off your home Wi-Fi.
Cover art, track and artist with play, pause and skip sit in the CarPlay dock and on the home screen, so the song stays in reach even when you've switched away.
Tap, swipe and scroll straight on the Tesla's screen. Dragging a map or scrubbing a playlist tracks your finger the way it should.
Switch the Tesla to its night look and CarPlay follows in the same moment — no glare on a night drive, no setting to remember.
Audio rides the Bluetooth link the car already has with your phone, so music, calls and Siri come out of the car's speakers exactly as they should.
If the connection drops or the picture stalls, it backs off, reconnects on its own and carries on. Nothing to reset from the driver's seat.
It lives at the same address every time. Save it as a favourite and CarPlay is one tap from the Tesla's home screen.
Games
Charging stops are long. Tap Games and the screen fills with the classics — full-size, in colour, with sound through the car's speakers.
A D-pad, buttons and shoulders appear over the game — everything you need is on the glass, nothing extra to bring along.
Pair a Bluetooth gamepad and play properly, with the thumbsticks and triggers the games were made for.
Music and effects come through the car's audio, so a parked car turns into a surprisingly good place to play.
Games stay off until you tap them, and shut down completely when you leave — CarPlay is never waiting behind them.
Karaoke
Tap Karaoke and the lyrics scroll across the screen while the car's own microphone listens — every note is scored live, so a long wait turns into a sing-off.
The karaoke app runs right in the Tesla's browser and listens through the cabin microphone, so your pitch is marked note by note with no lag.
Twelve singalongs come with it — Happy Birthday, Twinkle Twinkle, Jingle Bells and more — all public domain and made on the Pi itself. Add your own UltraStar songs any time.
Like the games, it starts only when you tap it and switches itself off once the singing stops.
The songs live on the Pi, so the singing carries on in an underground car park or a dead spot on the highway.
Every day
It behaves like part of the car: on when the car is on, in the same place every time, and adjustable without ever getting out or reaching for a laptop.
It starts with the car and is up in seconds — the screen is ready by the time you've done your seatbelt.
Everything on the screen comes from the car and your phone. Underground car parks and dead spots make no difference.
Rename its hotspot, choose a password, join a Wi-Fi network — all from the same screen, on the touchscreen, with no keyboard or laptop involved.
A Monitor screen shows the car's speed and heading, what's connected, the CarPlay adapter's temperature and how the Pi is holding up — a glance tells you everything is fine.
It watches its link with the car, and if the connection quietly stalls it has the car rejoin — instead of leaving the browser stuck for a quarter of an hour.
The Pi has no clock battery, so it takes the time from the car on every drive. Prefer to set it yourself? Turn the switch off and pick the time in Settings.
The whole interface — not just CarPlay — follows the car between its light and dark looks.
Free, open source, and nothing phones home. Use it as it comes or make it your own.
Getting one
Everything runs on a small computer that lives in the glovebox. The setup guide walks the whole thing end to end.
Small enough for the glovebox, powered from the car.
The wireless CarPlay adapter the Pi talks to.
iOS 16 or later. Nothing to install on it.
Follow the setup guide once, at your desk. It covers every step from a blank memory card to a working box.
It powers from the car and needs nothing else — no wiring into the dash, no parts removed, nothing that can't be undone.
Connect the Tesla to the Pi's hotspot, then give the hotspot a password of your own in Settings. Bookmark the address on the Tesla's home screen — from then on it's one tap, every time you drive.