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Tesla debuts Sentry Mode Live Camera Access mode for iOS app

Now you can get a live feed of your car's sentry mode cameras, for a fee.

Kyle Hyatt Former news and features editor
Kyle Hyatt (he/him/his) hails originally from the Pacific Northwest, but has long called Los Angeles home. He's had a lifelong obsession with cars and motorcycles (both old and new).
Kyle Hyatt
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Tesla has offered a Sentry mode -- aka its version of a dash cam -- for a while now, and it's proven to be pretty popular with Tesla owners. More recently, the company promised that owners would be able to get a live view of their vehicle's cameras in Sentry Mode via the Tesla app, and now, according to a report Wednesday by Electrek, that's happening -- only there's a catch.

There's always a catch, right? In this case, this new Sentry Mode Live Camera Access feature is being offered as part of the Premium Connectivity package for a $10-per-month subscription fee. Premium Connectivity debuted back in 2018 and gives access to useful features like live traffic view, satellite view maps and music and video streaming. It also provides access to less useful things like "Caraoke."

The launch of Sentry Mode Live Camera Access comes as part of a software update to version 2021.36.8. Tesla says the video feed is secured via end-to-end encryption and that Tesla itself can't access the footage.

As of publication, this feature is only available to iOS users of the Tesla app, but we strongly suspect that you Android users won't be left out in the cold for long.

Watch this: Tesla's Full Self-Driving coming to more drivers, Apple upgrading its phones, watches and tablets

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