RJ on CarPlay (Autoblog Post / Stratechery Interview)

[Honey]

When will it end?

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[COdogman]

I’m as big an Apple fanboy as you will find out there and I really think CarPlay is bad. I’ve owned 3 vehicles that had it and rented countless others and IMO it’s probably the worst product Apple offers. It’s buggy and I find most of the CarPlay “apps” are poorly adapted versions of the apps I have on my phone - none of which I need to use while I’m driving.

If I want to order food to pick up on my way home, #1 I shouldn’t do that while trying to drive #2 I would rather do it on my phone than my vehicle display.

Waze has given me bad and/ or inaccurate directions just as often as my pre-Google Rivian navigation did. And as fun as it is to crowdsource traffic alerts or speed traps, it’s not safe to be doing that while driving.

I won’t open the voice texting can-o-worms again, but the studies are clear on that as well.

Apple is trying to fill a gap left by lazy automakers who don’t want to put in the work to make good software and UIs. I think it’s more important to push them to do better than let them off the hook by accepting bad CarPlay because it’s slightly better than their trash OEM effort.

 

[chrengel]

I have always been a fan of car play mainly for two reasons. I liked the ability to map out a route on my phone while in my house and then take that in the car and just go. The native map software on my Ford Explorer ST just sucks. The other reason was having access to my music apps like Apple Music. I suppose I've also enjoyed the ability to hear text messages right from the car display.

With my R1S (only an owner for 3 weeks), I do NOT miss Apple Car Play at all and I really thought I would. I find it simply to still map out my route on Apple Maps and then forward that route to my Rivian. Simple! Apple Music is built in and works flawlessly. And I can still play text messages but have to use Siri for hands-free capabilities. I do want to see some integration with phone/messaging and the Rivian. Otherwise, I can't complain and do like this Rivian interface a lot.

 

[iforbes]

You can also route in the Rivian app and send from there. Just in case you weren’t aware.

hot take, I miss the old maps

 

[hudesigns]

AA/CP is nothing more than a peek window to your phone where ALL your digital life resides. It has very little to do with Rivian’s unified interface. Just like Apple iPhone is a unified interface that allow tens of thousands 3rd party app developers to contribute to the platform. Imagine iPhone only permits Apple native apps — iPhone WILL die the next day.

 

[iforbes]

AA/CP is nothing more than a peek window to your phone where ALL your digital life resides. It has very little to do with Rivian’s unified interface. Just like Apple iPhone is a unified interface that allow tens of thousands 3rd party app developers to contribute to the platform. Imagine iPhone only permits Apple native apps — iPhone WILL die the next day.

Apples, please meet Oranges.

 

[Zoidz]

AA/CP is nothing more than a peek window to your phone where ALL your digital life resides. It has very little to do with Rivian’s unified interface. Just like Apple iPhone is a unified interface that allow tens of thousands 3rd party app developers to contribute to the platform. Imagine iPhone only permits Apple native apps — iPhone WILL die the next day.

Interesting historical fact - Steve Job's original plan was that the iPhone would always closed to developers and only Apple would release iPhone apps.

 

[CharonPDX]

Key Reasons for Skipping CarPlay

• Unified Experience:
• Reduced Complexity:
• Future-Proofing:

I'd argue all three of these points *ALSO* apply to using CarPlay.

• Unified Experience: You get the same experience across all your vehicles, regardless of make and model, as long as they support CarPlay.
• Reduced Complexity: You have one system to deal with, across all your vehicles. Once you learn it, you don't need to learn something different.
• Future-Proofing: You aren't stuck with the same system the carmaker sold you once they stop supporting it, you get improvements over time as Apple improves CarPlay and you upgrade phones, a much cheaper thing to upgrade than your car.

I'm not saying I agree with all three points, on either side. Just that the arguments being made work both ways, and thus aren't valid arguments for one side or the other.

 

[KBabione]

I'd argue all three of these points *ALSO* apply to using CarPlay.

• Unified Experience: You get the same experience across all your vehicles, regardless of make and model, as long as they support CarPlay.
• Reduced Complexity: You have one system to deal with, across all your vehicles. Once you learn it, you don't need to learn something different.
• Future-Proofing: You aren't stuck with the same system the carmaker sold you once they stop supporting it, you get improvements over time as Apple improves CarPlay and you upgrade phones, a much cheaper thing to upgrade than your car.

I'm not saying I agree with all three points, on either side. Just that the arguments being made work both ways, and thus aren't valid arguments for one side or the other.

Absolutely - his arguments go both ways. And there's no way for RJ to know how many people didn't consider Rivian (or Tesla for that matter) because CarPlay is a major factor (for their own reasons) in determining which vehicle to buy. I had my daughter wait a month to buy her Subaru in late 2017 because the 2018 HAD CarPlay and the 2017 didn't. She argued that she didn't need it - my counter-argument was that she'd have the choice whether or not to use it in the 2018 model. Just because it's there doesn't mean you HAVE to use it. That's what I love about the EVPlay solution...It's there for a long trip when I want it and invisible for my local driving when I don't.

 

[Captain JB]

2nd biggest mistake after nto having a full size spare in the R1S was not having Carplay. MY MISTAKE was not realizing and knowing it would not be available,!! I own it but never dreamed such a superior product would not be available on such a tech vehicle. My BAD.

 

[Dark-Fx]

AA/CP is nothing more than a peek window to your phone where ALL your digital life resides. It has very little to do with Rivian’s unified interface. Just like Apple iPhone is a unified interface that allow tens of thousands 3rd party app developers to contribute to the platform. Imagine iPhone only permits Apple native apps — iPhone WILL die the next day.

Maybe that's why it's not that big of a deal to me. My phone is just a peek into my digital life.

The other thing often overlooked is the fact that both Apple and Google put restrictions on how their phone to car adapted software works. Rivian doesn't disable the keyboard when typing just because you're moving. My passenger is able to do all the typing necessary on the display.

 

[BCondrey]

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.

Any post about CarPlay, no matter the intent, is like blood in the water for the CarPlay fanatics. My favorite posts are from people who buy a Rivian and then indignantly say they are going to sell it if it doesn't get CarPlay.

 

[KBabione]

My in-laws (78 & 80), have each stuck with the same make car (Mercedes for her and Porsche for him) for the past 15 years. They jumped on the CarPlay bandwagon as soon as it was available from both manufacturers because it gave them a common interface and limited what they needed to learn every 2-3 years when they got a new model OR when they switched to the other vehicle. They have a R2 reserved, but are concerned because they're not sure they'll be able to use the Rivian UI to do what they need to do. It's really not fair that they watch what we do while driving, including:

• Switching from All Purpose to Conserve and back on longer trips
• Changing the charge limit back to 70% after we've been on a long trip
• Choosing where to stop and charge - either letting the Rivian nav do it or us making other choices
• Manually initiating battery preconditioning if the system doesn't recognize our charge stop

We TRY to explain that the system will do everything for them and that we're making other choices and that they won't have to do any of it. As they're in our Rivian on local trips obviously none of that happens, but they don't notice when we don't touch the screen! It's just the "delta" from the ICE world to the EV world - the make of the car (and whether or not it has CarPlay) doesn't change that. There's a learning curve involved in switching to an EV.

 

[mkhuffman]

My in-laws (78 & 80), have each stuck with the same make car (Mercedes for her and Porsche for him) for the past 15 years. They jumped on the CarPlay bandwagon as soon as it was available from both manufacturers because it gave them a common interface and limited what they needed to learn every 2-3 years when they got a new model OR when they switched to the other vehicle. They have a R2 reserved, but are concerned because they're not sure they'll be able to use the Rivian UI to do what they need to do. It's really not fair that they watch what we do while driving, including:

• Switching from All Purpose to Conserve and back on longer trips
• Changing the charge limit back to 70% after we've been on a long trip
• Choosing where to stop and charge - either letting the Rivian nav do it or us making other choices
• Manually initiating battery preconditioning if the system doesn't recognize our charge stop

We TRY to explain that the system will do everything for them and that we're making other choices and that they won't have to do any of it. As they're in our Rivian on local trips obviously none of that happens, but they don't notice when we don't touch the screen! It's just the "delta" from the ICE world to the EV world - the make of the car (and whether or not it has CarPlay) doesn't change that. There's a learning curve involved in switching to an EV.

My much younger, beautiful wife also struggles with this. So she pretty much refuses to drive my truck.

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