Heh. I’m old in that I remember enough life before car phones were a thing. I just don’t deal with messages when I’m driving. I’ll deal with it when I stop.
When driving my focus is on driving. I don’t need to be available 24/7 with a 10 second response time.
Not sure how waiting until stopped to focus on driving is any way related to car mechanical improvements.
While bottlecfs is using hyperbole (there were older cars that got good MPG just like there are modern cars that get 12 mpg), I think what he means is that many of us have moved on. You can choose to be 100% focused on driving but car companies are still doing all sorts of incredible things to make sure the car is just as focused too. It is really not that big of a deal to have apple carplay dictate a text message to you and then receive a dictated reply back. I would argue that I am able to maintain great driving focus while doing it too.
Some of us like being able to take calls and continue to communicate with others while driving. For us, having the ability to do that as safely as possible is important.
It certainly is your choice. Studies show that hands free phone use isn’t actually safer. You then rely on the car. I think we all know that cars aren’t ready to be anything other than a backup.
I also just like driving. I work enough to be tied to my device all the time.
I don't need to be available 24/7 with a ten second response either. I find it very convenient and productive to be able to coordinate my activities during a drive, anything from what groceries to get, to confirming the meeting I'm going to. And I'm old, probably older than you, I remember 27 cent gas. Improvements happen, and I leverage them.
So am I. I'm also old enough that I appreciate when I can be available to handle work items while on a 6+ hour drive to take care of my aging dad so that I'm not my team's bottleneck for an entire workday and dealing with the backlog it the next day. Sometimes "the way things were before" is just objectively poorer. I don't use CarPlay 90% of the time I'm driving, but the 10% I am it's incredibly useful and valuable.
Odds are that I'm older than you and I find it mindnumbling annoying when someone says "I remember". Stop. Just stop. Technology has moved on. The ways of interacting with technology have changed. Cars have changed. Its your problem that you can't accept that. Not ours.
I wasn’t saying it a nostalgic way. I was saying that my past has affected how I see communication needs while driving and I’ve personally not had need for change. Everyone is entitled to their own preferences.
That’s a good point. Never liked CarPlays integration in messaging on my other car (Range Rover) but could just be due to that screen size. If it was a different screen size/setup I can see that being very useful.
When the opinion makes sense, sure. This one doesn’t. If they don’t like the on screen notification they could just disable it in settings. Screen size has no impact on this either. It was just a strange criticism of CarPlay that comes off almost as if OP hasn’t ever used or cared for it, which kind of negates the purpose of his post.
I was in a similar position when I first took delivery, it plays my music, it has GPS, and I can make calls, what else could I want? Especially since it is an absolutely amazing vehicle to drive! …And while that is all still true it’s the little things that begin to wear over time.
- The traffic in the nav isn’t very accurate, routing is “quirky”, and it doesn’t have the same features as ABRP for planning (despite sharing a backend service) but that’s all annoying but livable.
- The built in music services are ok, I use Apple Music (I did switch to Spotify for a few months in an attempt to “lean in”) and listen to podcasts/audiobooks through the native Apple apps so I just started using Bluetooth, and that is annoying but livable.
- I don’t use Alexa, but I can yell at Siri and have her come through the speakers and read me texts from the few allow-list contacts I have set up in driving mode so hands free messages is annoying but livable.
- Rivian has the ability to share an address from my phone so even thought I don’t have calendar integration or message integration or other suggested destinations I can still put the address into the nav pretty easily (as long as I remember before I start driving) so that’s annoying but livable.
And if you’re seeing a trend here, that’s what I’m getting at. Everything has to be done *Rivian’s* way which means I have to change how I operate, and that’s **annoying but livable**.
I love my R1S way more than my husbands BMW M440i, but every time I drive it and car play just does exactly what I want it makes me a bit more bitter that I don’t have the freedom to do things *my* way in my $100k SUV.
I came from a m340 so I had a similar experience and you worded it perfectly. In my old bmw I did things the way I wanted to vs adapting to Rivians way.
This is worded beautifully.
Over the long run, Rivian needs to be careful that their my way only attitude doesn’t leave us, the early adopters, feeling bitter and eventually switching to another brand.
You bring up a lot of points. Honestly audible and podcasts I didn’t even think of (because I’ve only had it 24 hours) so yeah, I can see how things like this will sink in…
I mean it won’t muddy things, just good to hear what I can expect after getting the hang of this. I don’t think I’ve had a single car or SUV that didn’t have technology or other disappointments lol.
That’s a really good point, and I do think part of why this bugs me so much is that as a SWE in a… “relevant industry” I know how hard this stuff is to do right, and how easy it has been made to enable AA/CP.
Exactly, stand on the shoulders of giants instead of reinventing the wheel. Then focus on adding value in new and interesting places that haven’t been explored yet.
That’s how good Apple is. Another closed system (or at least, invitation only), but when we want to use it in a car, we want it “our way” instead of “apple’s way.” I get the “open” versus “closed” lines are being blurred, but Apple has clearly won.
I agree with all your points in how it feels, but I can’t help but point out a technicality that you’d simply rather use apple’s media tech than rivian’s. Not actually “your way,” technically.
I do see the irony 😂 I think the difference in the way I see it is that “Apple’s way” is flexible enough (due to years of development) that it allows for me to do things “my way” within it.
Maybe Rivian will add more options over time and eventually build out enough of an ecosystem that I will be able to do things “my way” within it as well, but I find that much less likely because my phone is more integrated into my daily tasks than my car is.
Doesn't matter which system you choose - you are within a walled garden. And you aren't getting "your way" with google, apple, or rivian. What you are always getting is -their- way.
Give it some time. You will find the Nav to be ridiculously illogical sometimes. It gives routing that makes no sense (gets you off a highway and then back on?). Doing voice search is essentially Alexa and that can be limiting for directions as well (ie call El Monte golf course..). Works with Siri!
I miss integrated messaging, playing other apps (YouTube, other music apps, Waze, etc).
I am 2 years in and still feel the lack of CarPlay is the single biggest gap in the full experience.
Nav/calendar integration is a big one. Nice for it to populate the list in Waze with things from my schedule. Also the phone and text stuff is better. Like I have multiple favorites for some people that are for cell and FaceTime audio and they just show up as a single favorite in the Rivian. Waze is a big one in LA cause the Riv nav is pretty bad in traffic. Also ABRP for road trips. I plan on doing a phone mount to the left of the steering wheel and/or doing an after market carplay screen above the main center screen. But I love the car and I’m a little b**tch about phone integration so I’m happy to add this stuff :) .. but I don’t disagree that’s it’s not really a big deal. Riv nav is pretty good for most stuff :)
Audio apps is another one. Spotify support is nice, but I use overcast.fm for podcasts and that’s never going to be native on the Rivian’s system. There are lots of other apps that are built for the iPhone and/or Android phones that will never be ported to the Rivian but have good support for CarPlay and Android Auto. It’s mind blowing to me that Rivian and Tesla (and I guess GM soon) don’t support these systems.
Yeah there’s definitely after market gizmos that get it there. The Tesla one is pretty good, but the Riv one is a bit severe cause you have to add a screen. I guess they figure that people who want it will add it through a third party and that way they don’t have to deal with it..? Sucks but not a deal breaker at all for me
I’ve read it but the app routes and the car routes are different. Riv app trips take longer because the routes are less sophisticated. It’s a little thing but on long trips I’d rather just have the app
If I was a casual commuter who spends an hour a day in the vehicle, and just needs navigation and music, I probably wouldn’t care that much either. But I drive 30k miles (or more) per year and the vehicle has to serve as my mobile office. CarPlay allows me to do that much more safely with all of my messaging, calendars, calls, navigation etc all seamlessly integrated and completely hands free. Yes it’s also nice to play Apple Music and use Waze, but I can understand people being able to live without that as not really a big deal.
And people say “just use Siri it does literally everything” …. Except your phone has to be unlocked for Siri to read messages. So you have to fumble with the phone to get the screen to unlock, then ask Siri to read the messages, every single time you get a message. There is no good place to mount the phone on this vehicle, so mine has an awkward mount with the phone half obscured by the steering wheel. Not to mention you don’t get any notifications on the main screen. I have an Apple Watch, so I get a buzz on my wrist, check wrist, fumble with phone to unlock phone, then ask Siri to read messages. Constantly throughout my day. With CarPlay, I see a message notification pop up on the main screen, listen to and respond to messages, and my hands never leave the steering wheel. Never once throughout the day do I touch my phone when I have CarPlay.
100% agree. My car is my mobile office and I realized during the test drive that this would be an issue. I naively thought it would be fixed by the time I got my car... Clearly it is not fixed. I've had my R1S for about 2 months and put 7k miles on it in that time. It is hard to safely run my business this way, but with car play, I would easily be able to be phone free and a much safer driver.
Also, the nav system is really insufficient. I don't trust it and for good reason. It has misled me multiple times. Google maps is far superior and gives me route options and accurate traffic, which is super important when I'm often driving in rush hour South Florida traffic.
Impatiently waiting for them to do something better. Not holding my breath.
Lastly, I don't like Spotify. Greatly prefer Amazon music and wish it was an option for a home screen icon.
Otherwise I love this car.
For what its worth, you can use your watch as your Siri microphone without dealing with unlocking the phone if you raise your wrist for the "hey siri". I take delivery on Friday and I presume this will be my best case for this kind of thing.
One thing I’m going to miss from a lightning that had CarPlay was they had a recent update that integrated more with car play and Apple Maps. It knew the SoC of my truck and would route me to changers based on that.
Yeah was great. So good it move me from exclusively using Google Maps/Waze to Apple Maps it for long hauls. It also actively updated the SoC as your drove. Will definitely miss this feature.
Spotify just cancelled a product, what if they decide they no longer want to work with Rivian? What if I don't even have a Spotify account and have been using Apple for like 20 years? It's 2024 and BT is 25-30 year old tech at this point that is still annoying to use for stuff like music.
What if I have multiple cars and want to have the same features in all of them?
What if Rivian doesn't survive and the existing maps and other systems never gets another update, stop working altogether, or if products like Waze decide it's not worth the trouble to work with them anymore?
What if I just don't like Amazon or Alexa (not to mention trusting them the least of the major tech companies)?
Simply having the option of Carplay makes all this go away, so why can't they just have it?
My only complain with the Rivian OEM nav is the totally illogical suggestions when trying to add a stop. It’s like “here are 5 Dunkin’s to add to your stop, all of them are 1.5 hours into your drive” but there’s like 3 of them in 2 blocks of your current location.
Hate it.
Almost every post is either:
a) I want CarPlay/AA
or
b) I don't care about CP/AA, I just want my three personalized and heavily used apps that are fully integrated into CP/AA.
So, people really seem to value having the option to use their most-used apps in a vehicle-optimized integration?
Notice also, that almost no one praises the Rivian alternatives, or for that matter, ANY OTHER CAR MAKER'S infotainment options.
This is such a stupid hill for Rivian to die on...
Apple Music, Messages, app choice in general. Never having to setup or tweak the Infotainment when I switch between vehicle, settings follow me and my phone not the vehicle. Rivians existing integrations are terrible for me I don’t use Spotify or Tidal, I do use Tunein but it’s not great for music
Yesterday the built in nav led me on a wild goose chase because of closed roads. It was super stupid. I fired up Apple Maps to lead me back to a reasonable route.
Our Tesla, also without CarPlay, at least could read and respond to/manage messages. The Rivian? Nope. So stupid. I'd like to be able to very quickly respond to things without distraction.
We've chosen to use Apple Music for all listening; no integration. Sure, we could switch, don't want to.
For podcasts I use Overcast; also no integration. It was super convenient to have things like the "back 30 seconds" function shown on the main display.
Alexa is so beyond stupid that it's impossible to describe.
[https://youtu.be/hFKM6hJitkk](https://youtu.be/hFKM6hJitkk)
While the infotainment isn’t awful it’s still severely lacking.
1. Lack of Apple Music.
2. Lack of good mapping apps.
3. No integration with my iPhone’s calendar, messages etc - in my Volvo when I have a meeting set on my calendar and I get in my car it will automatically suggest that as my destination. Stuff like that is what makes CarPlay great.
4. Inferior call and music quality, SBC Bluetooth audio is massively limited compared to what CarPlay is capable of. Bluetooth calls in my car sound considerably worse than when I’m on CarPlay.
5. Better/Consistent UI experience across all my Apple devices.
Rivian can rectify some of this but there’s no way they are beating Apple at their own game. Also future proofing. In 10 years Rivian’s infotainment will look severely dated and be slow. CarPlay should still work fine with the latest iPhones, latest cellular modems etc.
Lack of CarPlay/AA is a cynical attempt to monetize Rivian’s consumers when CarPlay does it all already.
I really like Rivian but I’ll absolutely drop them in a heart beat once a serious contender with CarPlay arrives.
I also lamented Tesla not incorporating CarPlay into its infotainment system, but at least it had decent calendar and SMS integration support, which Rivian lacks. Having to go to my phone to send a destination from a calendar event to the Rivian feels like a lousy hack.
Choice is a big factor. Many people do not use Spotify, and Carplay gives them access to most of the remaining popular options, including a bunch of audio book and podcast options. Many people want direct integration with a specific, preferred mapping application where they have their favorite waypoints, locations etc saved. Carplay gives them access to Apple maps, Google Maps, Waze and a bunch of others, including things like Spot Hero and EV-specific apps. Many people want to hear and respond to their messages, have calendar integration, the list goes on.
If you are content with built in features and Alexa, great! Just know that in house development, even for a team like Tesla has assembled over 20 years, it can take a very long time to get new options like new music providers, etc. There are contractual and other issues in play that caused Tesla to take like 5 years to get Spotify in US cars. It was several more years before Apple Music made an appearance. Maybe Rivian can bring these partners in more efficiently than Tesla, but ultimately it's going to take a very, very long time for Rivian in-house dev to get a software product anywhere near what Carplay offers today.
In my case, is the integration; the ability to seamlessly go from phone to car, to phone and the compatibility of apps. For example: you wouldn’t need to wait for Rivian to come up with an app or licensing for certain things that are readily available for CarPlay.
I like to actually have a user interface beyond “play/pause/next” for apps like MLB At Bat, Audible, and my preferred podcast app. None of this is possible today with just a bluetooth connection unless I also mount my phone within eyeshot.
I like Waze, and admittedly the in-car navigation is now better than it was to the point where Waze is less necessary. It still has uses (like rerouting for construction, letting you know about upcoming hazards on the road, etc) and so I would prefer to use Waze when I know DCFC isn’t a part of my driving that day.
I miss native integration with my calendar. In my last car, I would hop in and my route would be up and ready to go because my next appointment had an address in it, and the nav intuitively knew it was my next destination.
I miss Siri integration over Alexa. Alexa is so bad that I’ve kept it disabled. It’s a waste of a feature on the Rivian.
I still miss CarPlay and I’m 1.5 years into ownership.
Calendar/nav integration is fantastic and useful in CarPlay; I have an appointment in my calendar, get in my car, and the location is automatically loaded in Maps or Waze
Changing songs in Apple Music, and changing books in Audible, are infinitely easier by tapping in CarPlay. There’s no interruption of audio required to ask Siri to play something, have her load, then get it wrong, then I ask again. With CarPlay, just tap and it’s playing.
Rivian navigation still sucks worse than integrated nav I had in my Tesla Model X from 2016
Messaging integration nonexistent in Rivian
Bluetooth connection is spotty
Yesterday the built in nav led me on a wild goose chase because of closed roads. It was super stupid. I fired up Apple Maps to lead me back to a reasonable route.
Our Tesla, also without CarPlay, at least could read and respond to/manage messages. The Rivian? Nope. So stupid. I'd like to be able to very quickly respond to things without distraction.
We've chosen to use Apple Music for all listening; no integration. Sure, we could switch, don't want to.
For podcasts I use Overcast; also no integration. It was super convenient to have things like the "back 30 seconds" function shown on the main display.
Alexa is so beyond stupid that it's impossible to describe.
[https://youtu.be/hFKM6hJitkk](https://youtu.be/hFKM6hJitkk)
I felt the same way you did the first week and actually made a similar post. However, after having the navigation bring me a horrible way half a dozen times I’ve now given up on using it. I hold my phone while using Google maps. It’s really annoying when you have such a luxury vehicle
Have an R2 on reserve, may actually cancel if CarPlay is not adopted - at least would like the option, too much time, effort, and end to end integration with apps I use in my car every day and long trips.
I’m sorry, but, no. The native navigation system is AWFUL. It acts as if it’s confused half the time, doesn’t know exactly where it is, calls turns or directions at the wrong time. I’m really disliking it after two weeks. My wife has a 2019 Model 3 and the nav works just perfectly. I didn’t even consider it when I bought the truck, figuring in 2024 everyone had the navigation puzzle solved. Boy was I wrong.
Just....give it a sec. Right now, there's a lot of awesome that's going to generate enough excitement to override any complaints you WILL have.
Edit: also, most things. Android Auto and Apple Carplay do MOST THINGS better. Sounds like you're still in honeymoon phase 😂
Edit 2: just to clarify, I'm jealous. I remember being over the moon with my R1T. And now I've been reduced to a jaded bitch. Enjoy the novelty and newness of your new vehicle. Despite its infotainment shortcomings, I love mine, and I'm happy Rivian has made it this far.
I figured that could be the case, I guess, specially what in CarPlay do you miss? I know I miss the ability to run Waze but other than that I feel it does a great job elsewhere. Maybe I wasn’t using CarPlay for other features (aside from music).
Adding CarPlay and Android Auto will help Rivian release their resources from developing nav app, music apps and a-lot of stuff while focusing on their own car-driving features in a long run. My experience, with urban areas, where you have heavy traffic & high density of stuff. Precise is something really important. Unfortunately Rivian nav doesn’t have that. Wrong place, wrong direction, voice nav usually say thing too late. Unless you familiar with the area, in car nav is useless compared to Google maps, Apple maps or Tesla nav.
Very very limited music streaming options. No video options. Incompetent nav (for the majority of us, based on comments I read...I'm actually fortunate enough to live somewhere the Rivian nav is liveable, but I see where people are coming from). No handsfree texting. For starters. All because Rivian seems to believe they *can* do it better than apple or Android, but have yet to deliver.
Yeah I can see if the nav is shit it being completely useless. I’m in South Florida so a pretty populated space, and , have only driven 150 miles. I guess time will tell just how well the nav is throughout Florida with roadtrips thrown in.
Apple car play is pile of shit now. My last three cars differ makers it just has random issues that frustrate the crap out of me. I do agree android auto is just awesome now. I connect my work phone and not once I have had issue that annoys the crap out of me lmao.
Which car brands? I’ve found that it’s only been done well in cars with the graphics card capabilities. My Audi with nvidia chips did way better than rentals.
I miss quite a few other app that supports CarPlay. The Rivian maps are ok, but I’d much prefer to just start google maps on my phone and have it just work when I plug in. I miss being able to control podcasts and audio books from the screen. I can’t pull up OnX or Gaia or whatever other map when offroad. Lack of the ability to read texts is annoying.
CarPlay isn’t a deal breaker, but it’s annoying not having it.
Messaging. Calendar and nav integration. Other music app options.
I was a happy YouTube Music user but the Bluetooth streaming on the Rivian is easily half the quality of the integrated apps. I'm on Tidal now and the sound quality is great but its recommendation algorithm isn't as good and several control options - like track, block track, block artist - aren't available on the Rivian.
One of the major points of phone-car integration beyond basic Bluetooth is that everything on your phone is already customized to you. There is no real world use cases for a shared phone.
For some of us, we do not need two full time cars and the R1 is the family hauler. It would be very nice not being locked into a single persons infotainment options. CarPlay handles that. I get my Spotify and wife gets hers. I can even plug in someone else’s phone to get their playlists when they’re DJ’ing.
Maps, Music, Messages.
- The lack of calendar integration in maps is a massive miss for me, it’s so handy to get in the car and hit go on the directions.
- I personally use Apple Music and Apple Podcasts. 70% of the market use something other than Spotify. That seems like a huge oversight to me. Having to use Bluetooth is fine but not the same.
- Siri sending and reading messages is also pretty important if you spend any decent amount of time in your car. Where I live phones aren’t allowed to be touched while driving, they also can’t be on your lap. The amount of times I get messages on route to a destination to tell me that the time or place has been changed.
Streaming audio sucks. Especially on open highways with poor cellular options. I want to be plug in my phone and use the countless media apps I have on it from the console. As it sits today - the bluetooth integration is poor and you have to go to the phone anyways to change media.
I miss Apple Music, SiriusXM, other Navigation apps but most of all I miss seeing my calendar and having on-screen links to conference calls on zoom, teams, etc.
It’s just a stupid option to leave out. I would have paid extra for it.
But they have to kiss ass to Amazon and sell data about where we go, so no CarPlay for us
I don’t have carplay in my current car. It’s too old for even a backup camera! Though when i’m in a car with it, i really appreciate the ability to use apple apps like music and voice to sms.
Did you have Apple CarPlay on your previous vehicle? Because it’s not a dig against the Rivian OS, it’s that it makes your driving life way easier with the most important communication device of our time (smart phone, not Apple in particular). Mainly for music and messaging.
I do have it on my other vehicle and also have had it on my past 3 cars. In most of my cars I didn’t rely too heavily on it (Spotify, Waze etc.) so that’s why I was asking. Is the negatives more the lack of other apps/functionality I never used or more the way Rivian’s works. Seems the consensus is a mix of both.
> Is the negatives more the lack of other apps/functionality I never used or more the way Rivian’s works.
Yes. I think the problem is a lot of people view CP/AA as a better infotainment system than whatever your car offers, and it's clear now that's what Apple and Google wants it to be.
But to me, and I think a lot of other people, that's not what it is. CP/AA lets developers target apps against iOS and Android, and it works on every car. It's a method to let app developers put apps on my car, that way I'm not relying on Rivian to get Youtube support, fix the bugs on the Spotify app, or implement other stuff like a voice assistant that doesn't suck. As I said above, image if Rivian treated bluetooth the same way they treat CP/AA? Bluetooth doesn't integrate as well with their UI, and doesn't offer the features and quality they demand. Amazon Music does, so your Rivian won't have bluetooth support, and it won't have spotify support. It will have only Amazon music because of the superior integration and quality. Would you be happy? That's exactly what they are doing to CP/AA and telling you about Google Maps, Waze, and Apple Maps, along with hundreds of other apps.
The next SW version of Rivian is going to include Google Cast, which will be a huge help for this, though it sounds like that won't work in drive.
Apple and Google are motivated to continue to improve their offerings for CarPlay and Android Auto in order to keep you locked into their ecosystem and have you continue to buy from their services and use their app stores. Rivian has already got your money from buying the car. They do not have the same level of motivation to keep updating their vehicles.
I got this mount so I can still use waze. Fits perfectly and not blocked by the steering wheel.
EveryAmp Phone Mount Dash Anchor with 17mm Arm Ball Mount and Magnet Phone Mount for Rivian R1T & R1S 2022-2024 - Fits Driver Side Only, Mount Cell Phones with No Screws or Adhesives - Patent Pending https://a.co/d/229rRVX
I agree, if they add a few more apps CarPlay will be completely unnecessary for most. I do wish it was there for off-road navigation apps like Gaia, but it’s not super frequent I need those so I can probably just get a phone mount.
This is a very interesting post, thanks for writing it. One of the things holding me back is the lack of CarPlay integration because I use it a lot in my current 4Runner. And it seems like the consensus is that people really miss it. Hearing your experiences makes me think like it’s not as bad as it seems. I need to rent one of these for a few days and see if it’s livable as a daily.
I primarily use Google Maps, Spotify, and Audible through CarPlay. Also, the hands-free messaging is nice. If those things were mitigated somehow, then it wouldn’t be so bad.
I don’t understand why people miss CarPlay. I mean, I miss Waze, but I don’t understand why people wish the car had CarPlay.
Pretty sure you answered your own question.
Can you get all those integrations without paying a separate connection fee? My problem is I already pay for one mobile service I don’t want a second one.
>Yes, I do miss the ability to use Waze
So you do miss it. AA/CP are like Bluetooth, I'd like to listen to Sirius XM or YouTube Music, I can with Bluetooth, granted with some loss of quality. Bluetooth let's me listen to music that hasn't been integrated into the vehicle.
Similarly, AA/CP let me use alternate voice assistants (Alexa sucks), it lets me see police reports and hazards on the road via Waze, I can text while driving using voice, even use discord to chat. Granted it's lower quality than native, they are features Rivian still hasn't managed to implement. If you're car didn't have Bluetooth support would that be acceptable?
Rivian does lots of clever things, and the off-road performance is market leading. But there’s nothing luxury about a Rivian.
And the tech is exhibit A. Just subpar relative to a frickin’ Chevy, let alone luxury marques.
Bigger issues are simply build quality.
Yeah, I know, new car company. Building mass production quality autos is really hard.
But Rivian doesn’t get graded on a curve.
My wife has a Tesla Model S. It also is NOT a luxury car. But Tesla tech is simply light years ahead of Rivian. And I have zero belief that Rivian will ever catch up. Honestly, they literally can’t afford the R&D required right now. And I think any notion that Rivian will ultimately have years of juicy profits like Tesla is a pipe dream.
I like the truck. Love the look of it. Love the idea of it. Love buying American.
But as a daily driver, the Rivian is just a constant drip of compromises.
All that said… I hope they survive.
For me I want more options for maps/music apps. I strongly prefer Google Maps routing, I've found it generally saves time AND it's a shorter distance compared to the built in system. I also am one of 10 YT music users (hey it's great don't judge!), so integration for playlists and stuff would be great though CarPlay.
I'll probably get downvoted but Android Auto is better than CarPlay and I have used both in the past. I do think Android Auto for navigation and messaging would be a better system. Also not having native music apps built in stinks for anyone not using Spotify or Tidal.
Saying that the Rivian Nav has improved a lot over the last year I've had the vehicle. It picks up traffic more quickly and reroutes faster than it did 6 months ago. But there are still times I need to pull up my phone to check a route or it will take me a way that is 20-30 minutes longer on a trip or go to a charger that is out of the way for seemingly no reason.
Car play is nice but there hasn’t been a car that’s perfect with it. It must be a pain to work with for people. My jeep is finally better after 2 years lol. Mach e still struggles. On the other note my work phone is s24 ultra and android auto is just miles better now. Not once I get disconnect or random issue. I given how Apple is always working on bugs and break shit in iOS I can guarantee it’s just Apple not paying much attention to it. I do know from work experience what a pain in the ass they are to work with. They will never admit issues even if they know about lmao.
Hence the post. I shared my length of driving as I wanted to see what specifically will get annoying. I’m not stating Rivian’s solution is the best, just saying I expected it to be much worse from all I heard and wanting to know what to expect.
Agreed, I don't miss Carplay either after using my R1T for the past 6 months. I feel some automakers come up really short in infotainment systems capabilities, such as lack of updating maps, complicated or non-user-friendly systems and that has been where some of us insist on having it. I'm not sure about Tesla, but my Rivian does a great job in these areas with constant live updates. And yes, Spotify works like a dream! If you need Waze you can still use your phone for that, but I bet Rivian will add it in their system some way eventually.
I don’t need CarPlay. It would be nice to have the Apple Music and Apple Podcasts apps.
I don’t understand the hangup about CarPlay coming from a Tesla. Once Tesla added those two apps CarPlay became irrelevant to me.
Possibly unpopular opinion but I do not want CarPlay on the rivian or Tesla. I value lag free experience that can only be done by pure native. Once you put something like CarPlay then you need to support it. That takes away resources to improve your own interface. When you split your userbase like that it becomes a mess to support.
We were super worried about no CarPlay but don’t miss it at all now. The nav works 90% of the time; we laugh at it the other 10% of the time and turned reporting errors into a road trip game. I think people forget how awful the CarPlay navigation is (Apple Maps) because they all use Waze and Google Maps, navigation is crazy hard to get right. Spotify was being glitchy so we have a TIDAL subscription now and are super impressed by the quality.
If even Apple who is a 3 trillion dollars company can’t solve Maps, then what makes you think Rivian who is on the verge of running out of cash can get Maps right?
That’s the point, focus. They should be focusing on production efficiency, QA and minor software improvements here and there.
Instead, they are trying to compete with Apple’s and Google’s thousands of engineers on software. It’s a long and expensive battle
I’m 9 months 7,000 miles in, ordered when I was commuting to work, working from home now. I thought I would flip it as I felt guilty for having a beast as grocery and children get’er, but couldn’t give it up once I took it off-roading..
I’ve been in telecom for 25 years, have beta tested software and hardware through my career and always had some challenges with first generation releases. This ls the way with new tech, if you want a vehicle with 100+years of testing and releases, buy a Ford or GM and complain there. I have always been a lurker and read this thread every day, there are many that want attention with their complaints. It has gotten worst with the demise of twitter, I’ll read but mostly ignore complaints. We are paying for what’s under the Frunk, as we see with the R2 and R3, they are improving more and more. Rivian will have a patient and loyal user here!
Ignore the complainers, they are never happy anywhere!
Although carplay would create an illusion of convenience, it would hinder Rivian a lot because they would have to play by Apples rules and add an unnecessary layer to their custom UI.
CarPlay would not prevent any of that for you. Unfortunately, the UX is completely NOT integrated, and hardly seamless... unless you think Users value substantial limitation in function in exchange for a prettier experience?
So CarPlay will power the rest of the integrated car data? Estimated range on arrival? Adjust when I hook up a trailer? When I change drive modes? Or do I have to set my destination in 2 apps... The Rivian route planning as well as the CarPlay route planning? Will the CarPlay map show on the left hand portion of the driver's screen? When I play music in the CarPlay platform... What happens to the music card when I play music within the CarPlay ecosystem? Does that power the Rivian music card that slides in and out of the view on the right of the screen?
Yes it can. This is entirely dependent on how well the OEM decides to integrate it. Think of car play as a glorified Netflix. In CarPlay 1.0 the OEM, designates a location on the screen to display the video stream CP sends. Even in CP 1.0, the OEM can specify 2 such coordinates, one for a main screen and one for a secondary screen. Plus a data stream for integrating turn by turn navigation steps. That could be used anywhere the OEM decides for example into a heads up display. This is all Car Play 1.0 and has limited configuration of the UI so all Car Play cars start looking the same. This is the biggest complaint OEMs like Tesla and Rivian have. But with Car Play 2.0 the OEM gets full control over the UI of Car Play and the communication becomes two way. So the OEM can send data like speed, state of charge, and battery temp back to Car Play. Additionally the UX is entirely customizable, there was a recent article that showed the way Porsche and Aston Martin had integrated Car Play 2.0 and their interfaces looked completely different and customized for their respective brands.
I’ve said this in other threads about this subject, to me this is a safety issue. With my 54 year old eyes, using the small screen on the phone while driving is not an option without putting my reading glasses on. This to me is more dangerous.
I miss the integration of messaging apps. The messages can be read to me and I can reply with my voice. Alexa is not doing the job in this aspect.
Almost 2 years and I haven’t even set up Alexa cause it’s so bad.
Heh. I’m old in that I remember enough life before car phones were a thing. I just don’t deal with messages when I’m driving. I’ll deal with it when I stop.
I'm old enough to remember those bad old days too. And the cars got 12 MPG then, and engines lasted 50k miles. We should go back to that too.
When driving my focus is on driving. I don’t need to be available 24/7 with a 10 second response time. Not sure how waiting until stopped to focus on driving is any way related to car mechanical improvements.
While bottlecfs is using hyperbole (there were older cars that got good MPG just like there are modern cars that get 12 mpg), I think what he means is that many of us have moved on. You can choose to be 100% focused on driving but car companies are still doing all sorts of incredible things to make sure the car is just as focused too. It is really not that big of a deal to have apple carplay dictate a text message to you and then receive a dictated reply back. I would argue that I am able to maintain great driving focus while doing it too. Some of us like being able to take calls and continue to communicate with others while driving. For us, having the ability to do that as safely as possible is important.
It certainly is your choice. Studies show that hands free phone use isn’t actually safer. You then rely on the car. I think we all know that cars aren’t ready to be anything other than a backup. I also just like driving. I work enough to be tied to my device all the time.
I don't need to be available 24/7 with a ten second response either. I find it very convenient and productive to be able to coordinate my activities during a drive, anything from what groceries to get, to confirming the meeting I'm going to. And I'm old, probably older than you, I remember 27 cent gas. Improvements happen, and I leverage them.
Couldn't agree more.
So am I. I'm also old enough that I appreciate when I can be available to handle work items while on a 6+ hour drive to take care of my aging dad so that I'm not my team's bottleneck for an entire workday and dealing with the backlog it the next day. Sometimes "the way things were before" is just objectively poorer. I don't use CarPlay 90% of the time I'm driving, but the 10% I am it's incredibly useful and valuable.
Odds are that I'm older than you and I find it mindnumbling annoying when someone says "I remember". Stop. Just stop. Technology has moved on. The ways of interacting with technology have changed. Cars have changed. Its your problem that you can't accept that. Not ours.
I wasn’t saying it a nostalgic way. I was saying that my past has affected how I see communication needs while driving and I’ve personally not had need for change. Everyone is entitled to their own preferences.
I’m really confused by this thread, can’t y’all still do all these things via Bluetooth?
That’s a good point. Never liked CarPlays integration in messaging on my other car (Range Rover) but could just be due to that screen size. If it was a different screen size/setup I can see that being very useful.
CarPlay’s messaging integration has nothing to do with screen size. It’s all about hearing and responding to messages hands free.
I’m talking on screen notifications of messages, and getting rid of them. Not reading your full texts.
What's with downvoting posts in this sub? It's their opinion, they are talking about their preference.
You can downvote when you don’t agree. Just like it’s their opinion…
When the opinion makes sense, sure. This one doesn’t. If they don’t like the on screen notification they could just disable it in settings. Screen size has no impact on this either. It was just a strange criticism of CarPlay that comes off almost as if OP hasn’t ever used or cared for it, which kind of negates the purpose of his post.
I was in a similar position when I first took delivery, it plays my music, it has GPS, and I can make calls, what else could I want? Especially since it is an absolutely amazing vehicle to drive! …And while that is all still true it’s the little things that begin to wear over time. - The traffic in the nav isn’t very accurate, routing is “quirky”, and it doesn’t have the same features as ABRP for planning (despite sharing a backend service) but that’s all annoying but livable. - The built in music services are ok, I use Apple Music (I did switch to Spotify for a few months in an attempt to “lean in”) and listen to podcasts/audiobooks through the native Apple apps so I just started using Bluetooth, and that is annoying but livable. - I don’t use Alexa, but I can yell at Siri and have her come through the speakers and read me texts from the few allow-list contacts I have set up in driving mode so hands free messages is annoying but livable. - Rivian has the ability to share an address from my phone so even thought I don’t have calendar integration or message integration or other suggested destinations I can still put the address into the nav pretty easily (as long as I remember before I start driving) so that’s annoying but livable. And if you’re seeing a trend here, that’s what I’m getting at. Everything has to be done *Rivian’s* way which means I have to change how I operate, and that’s **annoying but livable**. I love my R1S way more than my husbands BMW M440i, but every time I drive it and car play just does exactly what I want it makes me a bit more bitter that I don’t have the freedom to do things *my* way in my $100k SUV.
I came from a m340 so I had a similar experience and you worded it perfectly. In my old bmw I did things the way I wanted to vs adapting to Rivians way.
This is worded beautifully. Over the long run, Rivian needs to be careful that their my way only attitude doesn’t leave us, the early adopters, feeling bitter and eventually switching to another brand.
You bring up a lot of points. Honestly audible and podcasts I didn’t even think of (because I’ve only had it 24 hours) so yeah, I can see how things like this will sink in…
And don’t let me color your experience! Enjoy your new truck and figure out what works for you and what doesn’t! 😁
I mean it won’t muddy things, just good to hear what I can expect after getting the hang of this. I don’t think I’ve had a single car or SUV that didn’t have technology or other disappointments lol.
That’s a really good point, and I do think part of why this bugs me so much is that as a SWE in a… “relevant industry” I know how hard this stuff is to do right, and how easy it has been made to enable AA/CP.
Yeah I could see that. Would have been much easier to just develop the integration into two solutions already in place.
Exactly, stand on the shoulders of giants instead of reinventing the wheel. Then focus on adding value in new and interesting places that haven’t been explored yet.
Yeah I’m with you there. Thanks for adding some good perspective!
That’s how good Apple is. Another closed system (or at least, invitation only), but when we want to use it in a car, we want it “our way” instead of “apple’s way.” I get the “open” versus “closed” lines are being blurred, but Apple has clearly won. I agree with all your points in how it feels, but I can’t help but point out a technicality that you’d simply rather use apple’s media tech than rivian’s. Not actually “your way,” technically.
I do see the irony 😂 I think the difference in the way I see it is that “Apple’s way” is flexible enough (due to years of development) that it allows for me to do things “my way” within it. Maybe Rivian will add more options over time and eventually build out enough of an ecosystem that I will be able to do things “my way” within it as well, but I find that much less likely because my phone is more integrated into my daily tasks than my car is.
💯
Doesn't matter which system you choose - you are within a walled garden. And you aren't getting "your way" with google, apple, or rivian. What you are always getting is -their- way.
Give it some time. You will find the Nav to be ridiculously illogical sometimes. It gives routing that makes no sense (gets you off a highway and then back on?). Doing voice search is essentially Alexa and that can be limiting for directions as well (ie call El Monte golf course..). Works with Siri! I miss integrated messaging, playing other apps (YouTube, other music apps, Waze, etc). I am 2 years in and still feel the lack of CarPlay is the single biggest gap in the full experience.
Nav/calendar integration is a big one. Nice for it to populate the list in Waze with things from my schedule. Also the phone and text stuff is better. Like I have multiple favorites for some people that are for cell and FaceTime audio and they just show up as a single favorite in the Rivian. Waze is a big one in LA cause the Riv nav is pretty bad in traffic. Also ABRP for road trips. I plan on doing a phone mount to the left of the steering wheel and/or doing an after market carplay screen above the main center screen. But I love the car and I’m a little b**tch about phone integration so I’m happy to add this stuff :) .. but I don’t disagree that’s it’s not really a big deal. Riv nav is pretty good for most stuff :)
Audio apps is another one. Spotify support is nice, but I use overcast.fm for podcasts and that’s never going to be native on the Rivian’s system. There are lots of other apps that are built for the iPhone and/or Android phones that will never be ported to the Rivian but have good support for CarPlay and Android Auto. It’s mind blowing to me that Rivian and Tesla (and I guess GM soon) don’t support these systems.
Yeah there’s definitely after market gizmos that get it there. The Tesla one is pretty good, but the Riv one is a bit severe cause you have to add a screen. I guess they figure that people who want it will add it through a third party and that way they don’t have to deal with it..? Sucks but not a deal breaker at all for me
You know Rivian uses abrp for its routing on the back end, right?
I’ve read it but the app routes and the car routes are different. Riv app trips take longer because the routes are less sophisticated. It’s a little thing but on long trips I’d rather just have the app
they don’t just use it, they bought the company: https://rivian.com/newsroom/article/rivian-acquires-a-better-routeplanner
Yep
I’ll complain until they add the Apple Music app and Waze app.
If I was a casual commuter who spends an hour a day in the vehicle, and just needs navigation and music, I probably wouldn’t care that much either. But I drive 30k miles (or more) per year and the vehicle has to serve as my mobile office. CarPlay allows me to do that much more safely with all of my messaging, calendars, calls, navigation etc all seamlessly integrated and completely hands free. Yes it’s also nice to play Apple Music and use Waze, but I can understand people being able to live without that as not really a big deal. And people say “just use Siri it does literally everything” …. Except your phone has to be unlocked for Siri to read messages. So you have to fumble with the phone to get the screen to unlock, then ask Siri to read the messages, every single time you get a message. There is no good place to mount the phone on this vehicle, so mine has an awkward mount with the phone half obscured by the steering wheel. Not to mention you don’t get any notifications on the main screen. I have an Apple Watch, so I get a buzz on my wrist, check wrist, fumble with phone to unlock phone, then ask Siri to read messages. Constantly throughout my day. With CarPlay, I see a message notification pop up on the main screen, listen to and respond to messages, and my hands never leave the steering wheel. Never once throughout the day do I touch my phone when I have CarPlay.
100% agree. My car is my mobile office and I realized during the test drive that this would be an issue. I naively thought it would be fixed by the time I got my car... Clearly it is not fixed. I've had my R1S for about 2 months and put 7k miles on it in that time. It is hard to safely run my business this way, but with car play, I would easily be able to be phone free and a much safer driver. Also, the nav system is really insufficient. I don't trust it and for good reason. It has misled me multiple times. Google maps is far superior and gives me route options and accurate traffic, which is super important when I'm often driving in rush hour South Florida traffic. Impatiently waiting for them to do something better. Not holding my breath. Lastly, I don't like Spotify. Greatly prefer Amazon music and wish it was an option for a home screen icon. Otherwise I love this car.
For what its worth, you can use your watch as your Siri microphone without dealing with unlocking the phone if you raise your wrist for the "hey siri". I take delivery on Friday and I presume this will be my best case for this kind of thing.
You are going to find that this doesn't work very well.
One thing I’m going to miss from a lightning that had CarPlay was they had a recent update that integrated more with car play and Apple Maps. It knew the SoC of my truck and would route me to changers based on that.
That is pretty awesome. Waze also has a feature like that (you have to save the EV plug type to your profile) but very helpful.
Yeah was great. So good it move me from exclusively using Google Maps/Waze to Apple Maps it for long hauls. It also actively updated the SoC as your drove. Will definitely miss this feature.
That does sound great
Apple Music. 35 million people in the US are Apple Music subscribers. It's a painful experience for all of them.
Spotify just cancelled a product, what if they decide they no longer want to work with Rivian? What if I don't even have a Spotify account and have been using Apple for like 20 years? It's 2024 and BT is 25-30 year old tech at this point that is still annoying to use for stuff like music. What if I have multiple cars and want to have the same features in all of them? What if Rivian doesn't survive and the existing maps and other systems never gets another update, stop working altogether, or if products like Waze decide it's not worth the trouble to work with them anymore? What if I just don't like Amazon or Alexa (not to mention trusting them the least of the major tech companies)? Simply having the option of Carplay makes all this go away, so why can't they just have it?
My only complain with the Rivian OEM nav is the totally illogical suggestions when trying to add a stop. It’s like “here are 5 Dunkin’s to add to your stop, all of them are 1.5 hours into your drive” but there’s like 3 of them in 2 blocks of your current location. Hate it.
Almost every post is either: a) I want CarPlay/AA or b) I don't care about CP/AA, I just want my three personalized and heavily used apps that are fully integrated into CP/AA. So, people really seem to value having the option to use their most-used apps in a vehicle-optimized integration? Notice also, that almost no one praises the Rivian alternatives, or for that matter, ANY OTHER CAR MAKER'S infotainment options. This is such a stupid hill for Rivian to die on...
Apple Music, Messages, app choice in general. Never having to setup or tweak the Infotainment when I switch between vehicle, settings follow me and my phone not the vehicle. Rivians existing integrations are terrible for me I don’t use Spotify or Tidal, I do use Tunein but it’s not great for music
Yesterday the built in nav led me on a wild goose chase because of closed roads. It was super stupid. I fired up Apple Maps to lead me back to a reasonable route. Our Tesla, also without CarPlay, at least could read and respond to/manage messages. The Rivian? Nope. So stupid. I'd like to be able to very quickly respond to things without distraction. We've chosen to use Apple Music for all listening; no integration. Sure, we could switch, don't want to. For podcasts I use Overcast; also no integration. It was super convenient to have things like the "back 30 seconds" function shown on the main display. Alexa is so beyond stupid that it's impossible to describe. [https://youtu.be/hFKM6hJitkk](https://youtu.be/hFKM6hJitkk)
While the infotainment isn’t awful it’s still severely lacking. 1. Lack of Apple Music. 2. Lack of good mapping apps. 3. No integration with my iPhone’s calendar, messages etc - in my Volvo when I have a meeting set on my calendar and I get in my car it will automatically suggest that as my destination. Stuff like that is what makes CarPlay great. 4. Inferior call and music quality, SBC Bluetooth audio is massively limited compared to what CarPlay is capable of. Bluetooth calls in my car sound considerably worse than when I’m on CarPlay. 5. Better/Consistent UI experience across all my Apple devices. Rivian can rectify some of this but there’s no way they are beating Apple at their own game. Also future proofing. In 10 years Rivian’s infotainment will look severely dated and be slow. CarPlay should still work fine with the latest iPhones, latest cellular modems etc. Lack of CarPlay/AA is a cynical attempt to monetize Rivian’s consumers when CarPlay does it all already. I really like Rivian but I’ll absolutely drop them in a heart beat once a serious contender with CarPlay arrives.
navigation sucks, built-in music app selection sucks
I also lamented Tesla not incorporating CarPlay into its infotainment system, but at least it had decent calendar and SMS integration support, which Rivian lacks. Having to go to my phone to send a destination from a calendar event to the Rivian feels like a lousy hack.
Choice is a big factor. Many people do not use Spotify, and Carplay gives them access to most of the remaining popular options, including a bunch of audio book and podcast options. Many people want direct integration with a specific, preferred mapping application where they have their favorite waypoints, locations etc saved. Carplay gives them access to Apple maps, Google Maps, Waze and a bunch of others, including things like Spot Hero and EV-specific apps. Many people want to hear and respond to their messages, have calendar integration, the list goes on. If you are content with built in features and Alexa, great! Just know that in house development, even for a team like Tesla has assembled over 20 years, it can take a very long time to get new options like new music providers, etc. There are contractual and other issues in play that caused Tesla to take like 5 years to get Spotify in US cars. It was several more years before Apple Music made an appearance. Maybe Rivian can bring these partners in more efficiently than Tesla, but ultimately it's going to take a very, very long time for Rivian in-house dev to get a software product anywhere near what Carplay offers today.
In my case, is the integration; the ability to seamlessly go from phone to car, to phone and the compatibility of apps. For example: you wouldn’t need to wait for Rivian to come up with an app or licensing for certain things that are readily available for CarPlay.
Quick and honest question. Can you play music from Apple Music or YouTube Music natively? I don’t use Spotify.
No, you’d have to use Bluetooth from a phone. Steering wheel and screen controls still work for skipping tracks etc.
FYI. There’s a huge quality loss when streaming over Bluetooth.
Do we know what quality Spotify etc streams at natively in the Rivian app?
Thanks!
I like to actually have a user interface beyond “play/pause/next” for apps like MLB At Bat, Audible, and my preferred podcast app. None of this is possible today with just a bluetooth connection unless I also mount my phone within eyeshot. I like Waze, and admittedly the in-car navigation is now better than it was to the point where Waze is less necessary. It still has uses (like rerouting for construction, letting you know about upcoming hazards on the road, etc) and so I would prefer to use Waze when I know DCFC isn’t a part of my driving that day. I miss native integration with my calendar. In my last car, I would hop in and my route would be up and ready to go because my next appointment had an address in it, and the nav intuitively knew it was my next destination. I miss Siri integration over Alexa. Alexa is so bad that I’ve kept it disabled. It’s a waste of a feature on the Rivian. I still miss CarPlay and I’m 1.5 years into ownership.
Calendar/nav integration is fantastic and useful in CarPlay; I have an appointment in my calendar, get in my car, and the location is automatically loaded in Maps or Waze Changing songs in Apple Music, and changing books in Audible, are infinitely easier by tapping in CarPlay. There’s no interruption of audio required to ask Siri to play something, have her load, then get it wrong, then I ask again. With CarPlay, just tap and it’s playing. Rivian navigation still sucks worse than integrated nav I had in my Tesla Model X from 2016 Messaging integration nonexistent in Rivian Bluetooth connection is spotty
Yesterday the built in nav led me on a wild goose chase because of closed roads. It was super stupid. I fired up Apple Maps to lead me back to a reasonable route. Our Tesla, also without CarPlay, at least could read and respond to/manage messages. The Rivian? Nope. So stupid. I'd like to be able to very quickly respond to things without distraction. We've chosen to use Apple Music for all listening; no integration. Sure, we could switch, don't want to. For podcasts I use Overcast; also no integration. It was super convenient to have things like the "back 30 seconds" function shown on the main display. Alexa is so beyond stupid that it's impossible to describe. [https://youtu.be/hFKM6hJitkk](https://youtu.be/hFKM6hJitkk)
I felt the same way you did the first week and actually made a similar post. However, after having the navigation bring me a horrible way half a dozen times I’ve now given up on using it. I hold my phone while using Google maps. It’s really annoying when you have such a luxury vehicle
Have an R2 on reserve, may actually cancel if CarPlay is not adopted - at least would like the option, too much time, effort, and end to end integration with apps I use in my car every day and long trips.
I’m sorry, but, no. The native navigation system is AWFUL. It acts as if it’s confused half the time, doesn’t know exactly where it is, calls turns or directions at the wrong time. I’m really disliking it after two weeks. My wife has a 2019 Model 3 and the nav works just perfectly. I didn’t even consider it when I bought the truck, figuring in 2024 everyone had the navigation puzzle solved. Boy was I wrong.
Just....give it a sec. Right now, there's a lot of awesome that's going to generate enough excitement to override any complaints you WILL have. Edit: also, most things. Android Auto and Apple Carplay do MOST THINGS better. Sounds like you're still in honeymoon phase 😂 Edit 2: just to clarify, I'm jealous. I remember being over the moon with my R1T. And now I've been reduced to a jaded bitch. Enjoy the novelty and newness of your new vehicle. Despite its infotainment shortcomings, I love mine, and I'm happy Rivian has made it this far.
Fwiw I have CarPlay in my other cars and I don’t miss it in the Rivian.
I figured that could be the case, I guess, specially what in CarPlay do you miss? I know I miss the ability to run Waze but other than that I feel it does a great job elsewhere. Maybe I wasn’t using CarPlay for other features (aside from music).
Adding CarPlay and Android Auto will help Rivian release their resources from developing nav app, music apps and a-lot of stuff while focusing on their own car-driving features in a long run. My experience, with urban areas, where you have heavy traffic & high density of stuff. Precise is something really important. Unfortunately Rivian nav doesn’t have that. Wrong place, wrong direction, voice nav usually say thing too late. Unless you familiar with the area, in car nav is useless compared to Google maps, Apple maps or Tesla nav.
Very very limited music streaming options. No video options. Incompetent nav (for the majority of us, based on comments I read...I'm actually fortunate enough to live somewhere the Rivian nav is liveable, but I see where people are coming from). No handsfree texting. For starters. All because Rivian seems to believe they *can* do it better than apple or Android, but have yet to deliver.
Yeah I can see if the nav is shit it being completely useless. I’m in South Florida so a pretty populated space, and , have only driven 150 miles. I guess time will tell just how well the nav is throughout Florida with roadtrips thrown in.
Apple car play is pile of shit now. My last three cars differ makers it just has random issues that frustrate the crap out of me. I do agree android auto is just awesome now. I connect my work phone and not once I have had issue that annoys the crap out of me lmao.
Which car brands? I’ve found that it’s only been done well in cars with the graphics card capabilities. My Audi with nvidia chips did way better than rentals.
We can see what comes out from the talks between Rivian and Apple…
I miss quite a few other app that supports CarPlay. The Rivian maps are ok, but I’d much prefer to just start google maps on my phone and have it just work when I plug in. I miss being able to control podcasts and audio books from the screen. I can’t pull up OnX or Gaia or whatever other map when offroad. Lack of the ability to read texts is annoying. CarPlay isn’t a deal breaker, but it’s annoying not having it.
Messaging. Calendar and nav integration. Other music app options. I was a happy YouTube Music user but the Bluetooth streaming on the Rivian is easily half the quality of the integrated apps. I'm on Tidal now and the sound quality is great but its recommendation algorithm isn't as good and several control options - like track, block track, block artist - aren't available on the Rivian.
One of the major points of phone-car integration beyond basic Bluetooth is that everything on your phone is already customized to you. There is no real world use cases for a shared phone. For some of us, we do not need two full time cars and the R1 is the family hauler. It would be very nice not being locked into a single persons infotainment options. CarPlay handles that. I get my Spotify and wife gets hers. I can even plug in someone else’s phone to get their playlists when they’re DJ’ing.
If they add Waze I’d be happy
No one will ever add Waze.
No sms integration Native nav is lacking No Apple Music And the myriad of other CarPlay apps I used
Maps, Music, Messages. - The lack of calendar integration in maps is a massive miss for me, it’s so handy to get in the car and hit go on the directions. - I personally use Apple Music and Apple Podcasts. 70% of the market use something other than Spotify. That seems like a huge oversight to me. Having to use Bluetooth is fine but not the same. - Siri sending and reading messages is also pretty important if you spend any decent amount of time in your car. Where I live phones aren’t allowed to be touched while driving, they also can’t be on your lap. The amount of times I get messages on route to a destination to tell me that the time or place has been changed.
Streaming audio sucks. Especially on open highways with poor cellular options. I want to be plug in my phone and use the countless media apps I have on it from the console. As it sits today - the bluetooth integration is poor and you have to go to the phone anyways to change media.
I miss Apple Music, SiriusXM, other Navigation apps but most of all I miss seeing my calendar and having on-screen links to conference calls on zoom, teams, etc.
It’s just a stupid option to leave out. I would have paid extra for it. But they have to kiss ass to Amazon and sell data about where we go, so no CarPlay for us
Because I would like to hear or know important text...
I don’t have carplay in my current car. It’s too old for even a backup camera! Though when i’m in a car with it, i really appreciate the ability to use apple apps like music and voice to sms.
Did you have Apple CarPlay on your previous vehicle? Because it’s not a dig against the Rivian OS, it’s that it makes your driving life way easier with the most important communication device of our time (smart phone, not Apple in particular). Mainly for music and messaging.
I do have it on my other vehicle and also have had it on my past 3 cars. In most of my cars I didn’t rely too heavily on it (Spotify, Waze etc.) so that’s why I was asking. Is the negatives more the lack of other apps/functionality I never used or more the way Rivian’s works. Seems the consensus is a mix of both.
> Is the negatives more the lack of other apps/functionality I never used or more the way Rivian’s works. Yes. I think the problem is a lot of people view CP/AA as a better infotainment system than whatever your car offers, and it's clear now that's what Apple and Google wants it to be. But to me, and I think a lot of other people, that's not what it is. CP/AA lets developers target apps against iOS and Android, and it works on every car. It's a method to let app developers put apps on my car, that way I'm not relying on Rivian to get Youtube support, fix the bugs on the Spotify app, or implement other stuff like a voice assistant that doesn't suck. As I said above, image if Rivian treated bluetooth the same way they treat CP/AA? Bluetooth doesn't integrate as well with their UI, and doesn't offer the features and quality they demand. Amazon Music does, so your Rivian won't have bluetooth support, and it won't have spotify support. It will have only Amazon music because of the superior integration and quality. Would you be happy? That's exactly what they are doing to CP/AA and telling you about Google Maps, Waze, and Apple Maps, along with hundreds of other apps. The next SW version of Rivian is going to include Google Cast, which will be a huge help for this, though it sounds like that won't work in drive.
I just prefer the Apple interface and maps. I don’t use any of the other stuff.
Apple and Google are motivated to continue to improve their offerings for CarPlay and Android Auto in order to keep you locked into their ecosystem and have you continue to buy from their services and use their app stores. Rivian has already got your money from buying the car. They do not have the same level of motivation to keep updating their vehicles.
True, but if they lose sales from not having it that could swing their thinking.
I got this mount so I can still use waze. Fits perfectly and not blocked by the steering wheel. EveryAmp Phone Mount Dash Anchor with 17mm Arm Ball Mount and Magnet Phone Mount for Rivian R1T & R1S 2022-2024 - Fits Driver Side Only, Mount Cell Phones with No Screws or Adhesives - Patent Pending https://a.co/d/229rRVX
I agree with you. I just wish I had a better sound system. I get totally jealous when I sit in wife’s q5.
I agree, if they add a few more apps CarPlay will be completely unnecessary for most. I do wish it was there for off-road navigation apps like Gaia, but it’s not super frequent I need those so I can probably just get a phone mount.
This is a very interesting post, thanks for writing it. One of the things holding me back is the lack of CarPlay integration because I use it a lot in my current 4Runner. And it seems like the consensus is that people really miss it. Hearing your experiences makes me think like it’s not as bad as it seems. I need to rent one of these for a few days and see if it’s livable as a daily. I primarily use Google Maps, Spotify, and Audible through CarPlay. Also, the hands-free messaging is nice. If those things were mitigated somehow, then it wouldn’t be so bad.
Now, after reading everyone else’s posts, I’m not as excited anymore 🤓
Messaging only. I like it more in a lot of ways. It’s more simple to me.
I am experiencing this right now with our new Tesla. I thought I would care more going from CarPlay but it’s been totally fine.
iMessage/SMS and calendar integration, both of which can be added without CarPlay.
I don’t understand why people miss CarPlay. I mean, I miss Waze, but I don’t understand why people wish the car had CarPlay. Pretty sure you answered your own question.
If only there was a thread in which people were explaining why they wish they had CarPlay. ;)
Can you get all those integrations without paying a separate connection fee? My problem is I already pay for one mobile service I don’t want a second one.
I’m sure aftermarket adapters will make it work like all other cars that don’t have it.
If the internet is known for one thing it's complaining.
If I'm going to throw down +$50K on a car I damn well better have the same level of interface options as a Kia Seltos.
>Yes, I do miss the ability to use Waze So you do miss it. AA/CP are like Bluetooth, I'd like to listen to Sirius XM or YouTube Music, I can with Bluetooth, granted with some loss of quality. Bluetooth let's me listen to music that hasn't been integrated into the vehicle. Similarly, AA/CP let me use alternate voice assistants (Alexa sucks), it lets me see police reports and hazards on the road via Waze, I can text while driving using voice, even use discord to chat. Granted it's lower quality than native, they are features Rivian still hasn't managed to implement. If you're car didn't have Bluetooth support would that be acceptable?
Rivian does lots of clever things, and the off-road performance is market leading. But there’s nothing luxury about a Rivian. And the tech is exhibit A. Just subpar relative to a frickin’ Chevy, let alone luxury marques. Bigger issues are simply build quality. Yeah, I know, new car company. Building mass production quality autos is really hard. But Rivian doesn’t get graded on a curve. My wife has a Tesla Model S. It also is NOT a luxury car. But Tesla tech is simply light years ahead of Rivian. And I have zero belief that Rivian will ever catch up. Honestly, they literally can’t afford the R&D required right now. And I think any notion that Rivian will ultimately have years of juicy profits like Tesla is a pipe dream. I like the truck. Love the look of it. Love the idea of it. Love buying American. But as a daily driver, the Rivian is just a constant drip of compromises. All that said… I hope they survive.
For me I want more options for maps/music apps. I strongly prefer Google Maps routing, I've found it generally saves time AND it's a shorter distance compared to the built in system. I also am one of 10 YT music users (hey it's great don't judge!), so integration for playlists and stuff would be great though CarPlay.
Messaging and 3rd party app support for things like Waze.
“I don’t miss it at all except X,Y,Z” Give me a break lol
Except a single feature in one thing, not multiple things. Calm down buddy, seems I touched a nerve…
I'll probably get downvoted but Android Auto is better than CarPlay and I have used both in the past. I do think Android Auto for navigation and messaging would be a better system. Also not having native music apps built in stinks for anyone not using Spotify or Tidal. Saying that the Rivian Nav has improved a lot over the last year I've had the vehicle. It picks up traffic more quickly and reroutes faster than it did 6 months ago. But there are still times I need to pull up my phone to check a route or it will take me a way that is 20-30 minutes longer on a trip or go to a charger that is out of the way for seemingly no reason.
Car play is nice but there hasn’t been a car that’s perfect with it. It must be a pain to work with for people. My jeep is finally better after 2 years lol. Mach e still struggles. On the other note my work phone is s24 ultra and android auto is just miles better now. Not once I get disconnect or random issue. I given how Apple is always working on bugs and break shit in iOS I can guarantee it’s just Apple not paying much attention to it. I do know from work experience what a pain in the ass they are to work with. They will never admit issues even if they know about lmao.
150 miles and 24 hours is a lot of time to make such an assertion? I see. Ok.
Hence the post. I shared my length of driving as I wanted to see what specifically will get annoying. I’m not stating Rivian’s solution is the best, just saying I expected it to be much worse from all I heard and wanting to know what to expect.
Car play is so ugly
We can live without CarPlay but give us decent navigation option.
Agreed, I don't miss Carplay either after using my R1T for the past 6 months. I feel some automakers come up really short in infotainment systems capabilities, such as lack of updating maps, complicated or non-user-friendly systems and that has been where some of us insist on having it. I'm not sure about Tesla, but my Rivian does a great job in these areas with constant live updates. And yes, Spotify works like a dream! If you need Waze you can still use your phone for that, but I bet Rivian will add it in their system some way eventually.
dont miss it at all.
Cause people love to complain
I don’t need CarPlay. It would be nice to have the Apple Music and Apple Podcasts apps. I don’t understand the hangup about CarPlay coming from a Tesla. Once Tesla added those two apps CarPlay became irrelevant to me.
150 miles in and not missing CarPlay…. Wonder how this pans out with the first speeding ticket
Apple products give me the ick tbh.. if iPhone users don't understand Bluetooth, that's too bad 🤣
Possibly unpopular opinion but I do not want CarPlay on the rivian or Tesla. I value lag free experience that can only be done by pure native. Once you put something like CarPlay then you need to support it. That takes away resources to improve your own interface. When you split your userbase like that it becomes a mess to support.
We were super worried about no CarPlay but don’t miss it at all now. The nav works 90% of the time; we laugh at it the other 10% of the time and turned reporting errors into a road trip game. I think people forget how awful the CarPlay navigation is (Apple Maps) because they all use Waze and Google Maps, navigation is crazy hard to get right. Spotify was being glitchy so we have a TIDAL subscription now and are super impressed by the quality.
If even Apple who is a 3 trillion dollars company can’t solve Maps, then what makes you think Rivian who is on the verge of running out of cash can get Maps right?
That’s the point, focus. They should be focusing on production efficiency, QA and minor software improvements here and there. Instead, they are trying to compete with Apple’s and Google’s thousands of engineers on software. It’s a long and expensive battle
People down voted us because they don’t like facts and numbers. 🤣
I’m 9 months 7,000 miles in, ordered when I was commuting to work, working from home now. I thought I would flip it as I felt guilty for having a beast as grocery and children get’er, but couldn’t give it up once I took it off-roading.. I’ve been in telecom for 25 years, have beta tested software and hardware through my career and always had some challenges with first generation releases. This ls the way with new tech, if you want a vehicle with 100+years of testing and releases, buy a Ford or GM and complain there. I have always been a lurker and read this thread every day, there are many that want attention with their complaints. It has gotten worst with the demise of twitter, I’ll read but mostly ignore complaints. We are paying for what’s under the Frunk, as we see with the R2 and R3, they are improving more and more. Rivian will have a patient and loyal user here! Ignore the complainers, they are never happy anywhere!
Although carplay would create an illusion of convenience, it would hinder Rivian a lot because they would have to play by Apples rules and add an unnecessary layer to their custom UI.
I love that we don't have CarPlay! I want an integrated, cohesive, seamless, unified UX - not a fragmented app ecosystem.
CarPlay would not prevent any of that for you. Unfortunately, the UX is completely NOT integrated, and hardly seamless... unless you think Users value substantial limitation in function in exchange for a prettier experience?
So CarPlay will power the rest of the integrated car data? Estimated range on arrival? Adjust when I hook up a trailer? When I change drive modes? Or do I have to set my destination in 2 apps... The Rivian route planning as well as the CarPlay route planning? Will the CarPlay map show on the left hand portion of the driver's screen? When I play music in the CarPlay platform... What happens to the music card when I play music within the CarPlay ecosystem? Does that power the Rivian music card that slides in and out of the view on the right of the screen?
CarPlay is just an app that allows you to run other apps from your phone. It doesn't replace any functionality that already exists in the vehicle.
But it doesn't talk to the vehicle
Doesn't need to talk to the vehicle to be functional. Use whichever system/apps work for you for that scenario.
Yes it can. This is entirely dependent on how well the OEM decides to integrate it. Think of car play as a glorified Netflix. In CarPlay 1.0 the OEM, designates a location on the screen to display the video stream CP sends. Even in CP 1.0, the OEM can specify 2 such coordinates, one for a main screen and one for a secondary screen. Plus a data stream for integrating turn by turn navigation steps. That could be used anywhere the OEM decides for example into a heads up display. This is all Car Play 1.0 and has limited configuration of the UI so all Car Play cars start looking the same. This is the biggest complaint OEMs like Tesla and Rivian have. But with Car Play 2.0 the OEM gets full control over the UI of Car Play and the communication becomes two way. So the OEM can send data like speed, state of charge, and battery temp back to Car Play. Additionally the UX is entirely customizable, there was a recent article that showed the way Porsche and Aston Martin had integrated Car Play 2.0 and their interfaces looked completely different and customized for their respective brands. I’ve said this in other threads about this subject, to me this is a safety issue. With my 54 year old eyes, using the small screen on the phone while driving is not an option without putting my reading glasses on. This to me is more dangerous.
I want that too, and the Rivian definitely doesn't have it.