RJ on CarPlay (Autoblog Post / Stratechery Interview)

[KBabione]

EDITED: This is NOT a request for CarPlay in the Rivian - It's a link, for those who are interested, where RJ explains some of the reasons that it's not available in the Rivian.

https://www.autoblog.com/news/rivian-ceo-shades-rival-automakers-to-explain-why-its-evs-lack-carplay

Here's the AI summary:

Based on the article, Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe recently defended the company's decision to exclude Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, arguing that these systems are often used as a "life raft" to escape poor native software in other vehicles.

Key Reasons for Skipping CarPlay

• Unified Experience: Rivian wants total control over the in-car software ecosystem to ensure a seamless interface for vehicle-specific data like state of charge, range, and bed temperature.
• Reduced Complexity: Scaringe believes that layering third-party interfaces (like CarPlay) over the car’s native system creates a "poor user experience" and can interfere with self-driving visualizations.
• Future-Proofing: By owning the software stack, Rivian can better integrate AI personal assistants that access deep vehicle data and external calendars without an "abstraction layer."

Customer Impact

• The "Dealbreaker" Factor: Research suggests that over 55% of car buyers consider the lack of CarPlay a significant factor in their purchase decision.
• Adoption Reality: Scaringe claims that while prospective buyers worry about the omission, actual Tesla and Rivian owners rarely complain once they experience the integrated system.
• Alternatives Provided: To compensate, Rivian has integrated popular apps directly into its system, including Google Maps, Apple Music, and Spotify.

Rivian joins other manufacturers like General Motors in a growing trend of automakers reclaiming the "digital cockpit" to monetize services and control the long-term user journey.

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[iforbes]

Meh. This is your car. You don’t have to relearn it every time so the first argument holds no water imo.

CarPlay should be added in case someone borrowed your car? Talk about a niche use-case.

Every time I drive a car with CarPlay it feels cheap and bland. I can’t wait to get back in my Rivian.

 

[captainjp]

Meh. This is your car. You don’t have to relearn it every time so the first argument holds no water imo.

CarPlay should be added in case someone borrowed your car? Talk about a niche use-case.

Every time I drive a car with CarPlay it feels cheap and bland. I can’t wait to get back in my Rivian.

Agreed. Car Play can suck it.

 

[elektrode]

My Automatic CarPlay response:

“Text and Waze or STFU”

 

[thrill]

My TLDR of the OP’s TLDR of the Autoblog’s TLDR of the Stratechery podcast (only available on Spotify, for $15 per month) is: “Other car maker’s software than Rivian and Telsa sucks and Carplay is the preferred escape path, but it’s not very good at the actual important car stuf and creating a window to it is just lazy and poor UI and UX.”

There is however a transcript of the interview at: https://stratechery.com/2025/an-int...ge-about-building-a-car-company-and-autonomy/

Note tthat the interviewer is another of those people that like to interrupt the guest.

 

[tkauftheil]

After using the Rivian UI, the only case I can really make for CarPlay is that it puts the clock on the correct side of the screen.

 

[Great Gatsby]

I don't get why people keep bringing this up. Rivian never came with Carplay and they never said Carplay was coming. I get it, people want choice, but why buy something that states it doesnt have something and doesnt plan on having said thing and then continue to complain about it? This is the equivalent of going to a steakhouse and getting upset that they don't cater to your vegan preferences. Go to a different restaurant. They are not interested.

 

[Nixapatfan]

Yup the constant begging for carplay is just getting ridiculous, if you wanted it that badly why did you buy a Rivian?

If you want to complain about lack of features in the Rivian UI go for it, just don't whine about a feature they never promised.

 

[KBabione]

I didn't realize that my post would be taken as a complaint about the Rivian not having CarPlay...I've edited it to show my intent to simply pass on information to those who might be interested.

 

[Dark-Fx]

Competitor vehicles need something else because their infotainment systems are down right garbage in a lot of cases. That's what a lot of people who haven't been in a Rivian have experience with. The majority of people who are looking at a new car are doing it because their old car is getting replaced. Their 3-5-10 year old car.

My 2018 Bolt EV's infotainment system was garbage and had no mapping system built into it. Thus, if I needed to navigate somewhere, I had to pull my phone out and connect it. That was the state of most vehicles then. Other cars of that era, or before, that did have built-in maps were pretty much unusable while actually driving. If you didn't prepare everything before starting the journey, it's a huge struggle.

This is what Rivian's goal seems to be. Someone who is unfamiliar with the vehicle can get in, start driving, and still be able to learn enough of the user interface in it to actually accomplish something at that moment. Especially considering Rivian is enabling the phone key stuff where you can basically just text someone a key so they can borrow your vehicle. You won't have any opportunity to teach them things about the car- they just need to be able to get in and figure it out.

 

[UnsungZero_OldTimeAdMan]

This horse just won't stay dead... because there are just enough people who don't think past the surface or knee-jerk emotions.

As infotainment in cars become more and more digitized, and computerized, car companies find themselves under increasing pressure to work on things they aren't experts in: UI/UX and software development. And as they are steep in hardware engineering tradition, as well as being laser focused on profits and losses, they find it more expedient/convenient to outsource that software stuff—rather than taking profits away from hands of boardroom members (and large investors) to invest in itself and its future. Enter Apple and Google (which decimated businesses of existing players like Garmin, Magellan, TomTom, Navigon, etc.).

That is precisely how people have come to know ACP and Android and become loyalists to these digital infotainment platforms. The loyalty has everything to with familiarity and not because nothing else has the potential to be better or just as good.

Rivian has an opportunity in this space (to break into the "monopoly" that Apple has created). And they (with additional funding from VW JV) have the software development expertise and resources to equal and surpass either. With time and continued effort, they will get there. Remember, Rome wasn't built in one day. Today's software is already much better than where it was in 2022. Keeping all of their software in-house allow them to move and react faster. There's no need to wade and wait through layers of reviews and approvals at One Apple Park Way, Cupertino CA. And believe me, a single photography image depicting a single ACP screen can take weeks from submission to approval. Imagine the inefficiencies involved when it's something much deeper and technical. Speaking of Rome, CarPlay and Apple Maps was once universally ridiculed for how bad it was. It didn't get to be where it is today in a blink. CarPlay was first launched in March of 2014.

Native CarPlay is NOT coming to the Rivian platform. Full stop. No amount of arguing or rationalizing is going to change that. Accept it or move on/away. You outgrew your childhood security blanket. You can do the same for ACP.

 

[Eeyore]

All that I want is the functionality that my 2009 Honda Civic had. That is I want to plug my iPhone into a USB port and be able to see my music on the phone and play said music. I want to play the music I have already paid for using the playlists I've made. Fuck streaming that cost $.

Also, I don't want to have to look at my phone while that happens. I want to use the "head unit" just like I did in my Civic. Is that too much to ask?

 

[UnsungZero_OldTimeAdMan]

All that I want is the functionality that my 2009 Honda Civic had. That is I want to plug my iPhone into a USB port and be able to see my music on the phone and play said music. I want to play the music I have already paid for using the playlists I've made. Fuck streaming that cost $.

Also, I don't want to have to look at my phone while that happens. I want to use the "head unit" just like I did in my Civic. Is that too much to ask?

Then you best buy a '09 Civic and convert it to electric drive with guts from a salvaged Model 3. The world has moved on to 2025 (cloud streaming and AI powered DJs). Might want to search secondhand bookstores too for a 2009 edition of the Thomas Guide—for navigation.

 

[Newtonrj]

Competitor vehicles need something else because their infotainment systems are down right garbage in a lot of cases. That's what a lot of people who haven't been in a Rivian have experience with. The majority of people who are looking at a new car are doing it because their old car is getting replaced. Their 3-5-10 year old car.

My 2018 Bolt EV's infotainment system was garbage and had no mapping system built into it. Thus, if I needed to navigate somewhere, I had to pull my phone out and connect it. That was the state of most vehicles then. Other cars of that era, or before, that did have built-in maps were pretty much unusable while actually driving. If you didn't prepare everything before starting the journey, it's a huge struggle.

This is what Rivian's goal seems to be. Someone who is unfamiliar with the vehicle can get in, start driving, and still be able to learn enough of the user interface in it to actually accomplish something at that moment. Especially considering Rivian is enabling the phone key stuff where you can basically just text someone a key so they can borrow your vehicle. You won't have any opportunity to teach them things about the car- they just need to be able to get in and figure it out.

What was especially enjoyable about your reply is Rivian never promised the last paragraph of obvious Apple enabled API features, ever. Yet Rivian provides them only within the context of the phone’s O/S being updated to support PAAK.

CP has features, they are useful to many, and are superior to Rivian who chose limited edition features that are crippled most of the time, if only because Apple has your subscription service already where Rivian is looking for a pass/fail grade on Apple Music, Amzn Audible, Google Waze/Maps and soon texting. Rivian is not looking to deliver parity or superior performance or services.

Here is something to consider, Rivian is limiting support for Gen1, built 1.5-4yrs ago. Apple supports 2x that with active updates.

IMHO, with Gemini able to write queries adhoc it may be soon able to natively create features Rivian specifically designed not to have. Time will tell, however it is possible for a Gemini subscription model to get basic and feature rich content over the API.

As proof, just remember how phone carriers walled garden browser and apps survived AA/CP.

 

[CANCERDOC]

Saying that Rivian owners rarely complain about no Apple CarPlay is selective sampling since they already purchased the vehicle, presumably accepting the fact that CarPlay will never happen.

CarPlay integrates the one gadget that contains your entire life, your phone. Until Rivian adds full texting support (I hope the AI interface works as advertised) and Waze, folks will pine for CarPlay.

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