How to "Hack" Tesla Rear Screen to Watch Any Video Streaming Apps/Services [VIDEO]

Tesla Theater enables in-vehicle movie and show playback. While the front display only permits video when the car is parked, the rear screen allows passengers to watch content while the vehicle is moving.

Tesla restricts available streaming options to a small set of apps, excluding many popular services such as HBO Max, Amazon Prime Video, and others.

With a simple workaround, it’s possible to access virtually any streaming service on the rear display.

How the Theater Apps Work

The apps available in Tesla Theater — for example Netflix, YouTube, Disney+, and Hulu — aren’t full native applications. Each one essentially loads a streaming site inside a chromeless browser window.

Because those windows are just browser instances without an address bar, any streaming service that supports playback in a standard web browser can run inside Tesla Theater if you can reach it.

Why the Front and Rear Screens Differ

The built-in web browser on the front display can load any website directly, so using the front screen to access unsupported services is straightforward. The rear screen, however, does not expose a browser interface, which means a different approach is required to reach other streaming sites there.

How to Use the Rear Screen to Watch Any Streaming Service

Because each Tesla video option is effectively a browser window without visible controls, you can pivot from one of the provided apps to a generic web search and then navigate to another streaming site. The method below uses YouTube to reach Google Search, from which you can load other services.

The following steps can be performed directly on the rear display or by using the Rear Screen app on the front display to control the rear screen.

1. Tap the Entertainment icon at the bottom of the display to open Tesla Theater.

2. Select YouTube from the list of streaming options.

3. When YouTube loads, tap the compass icon in the top-left to open the main menu, then select “Privacy Policy” from the bottom-left corner of that menu.

4. On the Privacy Policy page, scroll to the bottom and tap the “Google” link in the footer.

After Google Search opens, search for the streaming service you want (for example, HBO Max or Amazon Prime Video). From there you can sign in, browse content, and begin playback just as you would in any browser.

This works because the rear display is still rendering web pages even though Tesla hides the typical browser interface.

Beyond Video

In addition to enabling unsupported streaming services, this approach lets passengers browse other websites on the rear display.

Repeat Use and Saved Logins

You’ll need to repeat the sequence (starting from YouTube and navigating to Google Search) each time you want to open a non-supported streaming service on the rear screen. However, Tesla’s browser stores login information, so once you’ve signed into a service you typically won’t need to do so again. Note that browser data is saved per driver profile, so each driver profile will need to sign in once.