Apple CarPlay & Android Auto Solution is Coming Soon... (seriously) -- by EV Play

[EV Play - Alex]

Future proof against Rivian software updates? Or will an update “break” the device. Been caught too many times with devices that work just for 4 months…

The way I do it should be future proofed against updates.

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[Oldsmobile_Mike]

Very cool. And love the quote at the beginning of your video. ?

 

[EV Play - Alex]

Is the audio integration tied to which UI is showing on the display or can your device play audio even while the Rivian UI is on the display?

For instance, can you have carplay on your device pause any Rivian audio playback, and announce incoming text messages and listen for voice dictation of replies, over the Rivian speakers and mics, while still displaying the Rivian UI the whole time, when driving?

Or slightly less ideal, can it automatically switch to the carplay UI just for the purpose of announcing text messages and listening for replies?

There is no automatic switch from Rivian UI to EV Play UI at launch.

The rest I'm going to refrain from answering at this point as it does touch on a few of the integration details I'd prefer to release at launch.

 

[EV Play - Alex]

SO, I'm not asking you to give away your secrets, but we're all trying to understand how this works and what type of risks are involved (if any).

Is this some type of physical hijack (/intermediary--similar to the early 90s when we needed that little RCA to Coax adapter that allowed us to play Nintendo on Channel 3?)? Or is it a software hack?

I appreciate your understanding in allowing me to be a little vague with respect to how I do it. The risk is extremely low in my opinion, and there have hundreds of hours of testing to date (and many more planned) to ensure 0 impact or damage to your vehicle.

 

[EV Play - Alex]

I am super excited to hear about this project. My personal #1 is high quality (perhaps even multichannel) audio output to the Rivian speakers. Second wish: the ability to prevent my phone from automatically joining CarPlay as I move about the house and my car is parked in my garage. Perhaps the answer is a physical button, a geofence, a programmed schedule, or simply a wired connection. The wired connections always seem a bit faster, anyway.

I'm with you on the audio! Ultimately Rivian controls the eq processing on their amp, but I'm thinking there is a future, at least with respect to the audio and video apps on EV Play, where providing additional eq signal processing will be possible.

I have also come to realization to never say never, so who knows what improvements we can make on the hardware side.

As for iPhone connecting unintentionally, it will not connect when the vehicle is locked and sleeping.

 

[EV Play - Alex]

Is this solution able to take advantage of the native resolution of the center display, or is upscaling involved?

Native resolution but YMMV depending on the video source, app, resolution, etc. I can tell you some of the 4K videos on YouTube are absolutely mind blowing!

 

[narmstrong79]

As soon as you crack the code, Rivian will drop an OTA to block it

 

[EV Play - Alex]

I'm in.
Left a message via the web form at your web site.

This seems mostly to be an independent device, just like those sold by other vendors. The only difference here is that it provides a way to toggle what displays on the built-in infotainment screen rather than having a screen of its own. That seems an elegant solution to me.

Kind of irked a bit at comments by scaremongers who seem to prefer to have their hands tied by what features the manufacturer decides to provide.
Regardless of built-in features or DIY customization, the human drivers remain 100% responsible for what the vehicle does. If someone doesn't want it, just don't get it. Why be so negative about someone innovating?

I appreciate that and well said. It is definitely an unchartered gray area where warranty rights, Right to Repair, and intellectual property intersect. I love what the folks at Comma.ai and Josh Wardell/CanServer are doing and car manufacturers, rightfully so, have remained hands off. At the end of the day, bringing innovation and interactive features to Rivians increases customer satisfaction, and sells more vehicles & Connect+ subscriptions.

 

[EV Play - Alex]

How about access to the rear display? I'm sure lower priority, but could the use of video apps on rear screen while driving be possible? I think tesla has such rear screen entertainment for rear passengers. That's one thing that I wished Rivian would've included in their ultra long testing of Google cast...
Or, at least an actual map (my kids love seeing where we are on the map, and the current rear screen "map" is just a line showing essentially when we will arrive).
Great job by the way, thanks and curious about it like many others, and I like the quote in the video

Thank you! All screens in the future, via hardware expansion "modules" will be accessible, yes.

 

[kylealden]

I'm glad to see the explorations in this space and my hats off to you for getting anything working. All that said, I'm approximately 100% confident that Rivian will do anything and everything they can to break this via OTA if at all possible - if nothing else, for liability reasons. I hope buyers/backers have the right expectations going in.

 

[EV Play - Alex]

Highly interested and and also sent a message on the site.
Curious if touch screen works while this is enabled? And also if it somehow connects to the Rivian GPS and how all that works while navigating? And wonder what the UI on the drivers side looks like when navigating with CarPlay etc.

I'm currently debugging the touch screen functionality - it has been difficult to get it to work reliably but I'm almost there. Apps like Waze and Google Maps (with or without AA/CP) use your phone's GPS.

 

[EV Play - Alex]

I also came across this somehow a few days ago and message you on the website. count me in for one as long as video is not disabled while moving. I feel that it is my own responsibility to look at the road while driving even if my passenger wants to watch youtube. please give us freedom!

I'm sure you are responsible but most are not. Plus I have to obey the law! ?

 

[ThirteenElectrics]

As soon as you crack the code, Rivian will drop an OTA to block it

If that happens, Rivian will face at least one lawsuit from an owner for breaking a car which they rightfully own.

 

[EV Play - Alex]

I'm mostly interested in this in order to be able to play Dolby Atmos music from a thumb drive or some such device. There is a world of difference between the "atmos" audio available through Apple or Tidal and the intentionally mixed audio on Atmos Music blu-ray discs. This would be the best thing ever.

I haven't checked but there must be an audio app available for Android that plays Dolby Atmos music? There will be extra USB ports for thumb drives and accessories, and also available on-board storage for audio and video files.

 

[NY_Rob]

Sounds like a "man in the middle" type device that accepts the Rivian input signals, then either passes them through to the display/UI unchanged or it sends it's own signal (AA or CP) to the display/UI. The great thing is with these type of devices is they are pretty much impervious to being rendered useless by the manufacturer because they don't do anything to the original input signal.

Back in the day, when hacking DTV and Dish was popular, devices like this existed which worked right up till the day they stopped using physical access cards for service.

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