Rivian survey regarding AA/CarPlay

[babylou]

Rivian emailed me a survey link regarding my ownership experience. About 50% of the questions were directly related to the Infotainment/AA/CarPlay or whatever you want to call it. This tells me for sure they are feeling the heat from dissatisfied owners and are considering a change in strategy here.

Until a few days ago I was one issue (big or little) with tipping me to sell the Rivian. My frustration with squeaky seat vinyl, no AA, non-working PAAK, and limited music options I am familiar with had taken me to the limit. Some wax on the seat vinyl has quited things, I got PAAK to work again and now I have 12 free months of TuneIn. So I'm happier but all of those niggles pale compared to AA for me.

I sure hope they reverse course on their AA/CarPlay strategy, at least in the short term. I'm fine with them offering a better proprietary system and garnering revenue from it. This system does not exist. When a good system exist then roll it out! Seems logical they offer AA/CarPlay until the proprietary system is up to snuff. After all this company is not yet on solid footing regarding long term survival.

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[Eeyore]

I got the same survey. I think I mentioned Apple Car Play 3 or 4 times, as in lack of.

 

[KimBrennan]

No survey for me (yet?) Carplay would definitely be a big one on my list. I find the built in navigation is okay, but it's data for traffic conditions completely missing. I miss using Google Maps for that. And Waze's interactive traffic is nice too. I finally got a work around for Sirius (and >NOT< using it from the Sirius app on the phone). It's functional, even if not has nice as it could/should be, if a built in app existed. But Google Maps audio search is something I definitely miss from Carplay.

 

[tk21]

Send us survey link so maybe we can add feedback?

 

[Rivianation]

I mentioned AA/ACP as well in the survey. I'm lucky that I have been a subscriber to Spotify for 5 years. AA/ACP would not help during charging sessions. I really need them to Tesla up their infotainment (YouTube, internet browser, Netflix, etc) because when you are sitting around while 'fast' charging without those, time crawls. That is what I miss most about my MYP.

 

[Dark-Fx]

I mentioned AA/ACP as well in the survey. I'm lucky that I have been a subscriber to Spotify for 5 years. AA/ACP would not help during charging sessions. I really need them to Tesla up their infotainment (YouTube, internet browser, Netflix, etc) because when you are sitting around while 'fast' charging without those, time crawls. That is what I miss most about my MYP.

That's the one thing I said the infotainment really needs. Something to do while waiting on a charge.

 

[Sgt Beavis]

No survey for as of yet. But RJ already knows my opinion. ?

 

[Donald Stanfield]

I can’t stand CarPlay where’s my survey?

 

[jeeden]

I think we should be careful using apple carplay and Android Auto as the answer all the time if all we really want is Google maps and traffic.

Maybe I'm in the minority and everybody here really does want the full suite. I liked the Google search they implemented. If they were to implement Google maps with traffic I would be satisfied. I am confident that they can make their own music, phone, and texting solutions. There's no getting around the level of accuracy for Google maps and traffic though, even apple has really given up that fight.

Based on the q&A session they just posted to YouTube the other day from Venice it seems they have plans to implement their own "waze like" interface where Rivian owners will be able to rate chargers and destinations and so many other things. I think that's why they don't want to go into the full suite.

On my last car Android auto had it tissues plenty of times too. Bottom line I would like to see Google maps but no need to see Android Auto or Apple CarPlay.

 

[COdogman]

I don’t think AA/CP is the answer, but I still think Rivian should offer it to keep their customers happy. I can just choose to not use it if I don’t want to.

I’ve had 3 vehicles with CP, including wireless CP in my Tacoma via a higher end Pioneer receiver. My conclusion is that it’s buggy and unreliable. I think Waze is ok on long trips and I am a heavy Apple Music user, but it freezes up sometimes if I skip a couple songs in a row. The native Pioneer music player app doesn’t do the same thing.

It also doesn’t recognize even a wired connection sometimes and I have to power cycle my phone and the receiver to reconnect. I don’t expect perfection with any system but I also don’t think CP lives up to the hype.

 

[NineElectrics]

Maybe I'm in the minority and everybody here really does want the full suite. I liked the Google search they implemented. If they were to implement Google maps with traffic I would be satisfied. I am confident that they can make their own music, phone, and texting solutions. There's no getting around the level of accuracy for Google maps and traffic though, even apple has really given up that fight.

I would be happy with this approach. 90% of what I want is Google nav. However, Google won't give it to them unless they go all-in on Google OS (Android Automotive), like Volvo did. CarPlay is actually cheaper and easier than that route.

Based on the q&A session they just posted to YouTube the other day from Venice it seems they have plans to implement their own "waze like" interface where Rivian owners will be able to rate chargers and destinations and so many other things. I think that's why they don't want to go into the full suite.

This would be greedy empire-building on the part of Rivian and their software team. It sounds like someone wants to be promoted. It works when the empire builders get lucky or are first to the market. Most of the time it's a failure.

 

[ohseedee]

Having had Android Auto in every car I’ve driven for about 7 years, not having it was a big deal for me going in. However, I don’t miss it as much as I thought. And after watching that interview with their head of software, I like the idea of them just being laser focused on building their own kick ass software. If they focus on AA/CP, then it’s going to be less resources focusing on the things like video, dash cam, bed cam, turn signal cam, Apple Watch as a key, etc. (the things that will really push our experience forward). The main thing AA/CP provide is better maps and more apps. It’s not that AA/CP by themselves are better, it’s the apps. The built in NAV is pretty good except for live traffic data. And the only app I really miss is SiriusXM. Plus the voice assistant isn‘t that great.. If they get that sorted, I wouldn’t even use AA/CP if it was there.

 

[Zoidz]

…
This would be greedy empire-building on the part of Rivian and their software team. It sounds like someone wants to be promoted. It works when the empire builders get lucky or are first to the market. Most of the time it's a failure.

I stop short of calling it the greedy empire or someone looking for a promotion. Margins are razor thin in the automobile industry and the entire industry is always one crisis away from any major player filing for bankruptcy.

It’s not just Rivian, all smart companies are leveraging their customer data. Most TV manufacturers have login accounts just for this reason, under the guise of providing new/better services.

These days, data is a valuable commodity in any customer focused business, and that revenue could be key to survival for any auto company in a vehicle sales slump/economic crisis caused by external conditions. I’d rather see Rivian deliver quality, valuable services and stay in business.

 

[NineElectrics]

It’s not just Rivian, all smart companies are leveraging their customer data. Most TV manufacturers have login accounts just for this reason, under the guise of providing new/better services.

These days, data is a valuable commodity in any customer focused business, and that revenue could be key to survival for any auto company in a vehicle sales slump/economic crisis caused by external conditions. I’d rather see Rivian deliver quality, valuable services and stay in business.

I don't disagree with the trend, but I hope that Rivian takes the Apple route, where they focus on the higher end market where the consumer is not the product--the product is the product. Apple focuses on privacy instead of direct monetization. I don't think that data is worth all that much, anyway, unless you're selling millions of units and targeting ads. Even then it's small potatoes compared to a $100K truck. Maybe the equivalent of taking out a 12V adapter. Even Google, with a monopoly on the search market, makes only $40 per user per year, and has billions of users.

 

[robertrivian]

I mentioned AA/ACP as well in the survey. I'm lucky that I have been a subscriber to Spotify for 5 years. AA/ACP would not help during charging sessions. I really need them to Tesla up their infotainment (YouTube, internet browser, Netflix, etc) because when you are sitting around while 'fast' charging without those, time crawls. That is what I miss most about my MYP.

I know I might be opening a can of worms but outside of the interview with head of software mentioning XM radio, why would you Not want that especially since if you go off grid none of the internet music or navigation will work. I hope there is a satellite antenna already in the vehicle so it can be turned on for XM users.

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