RJ on CarPlay (Autoblog Post / Stratechery Interview)

[mkhuffman]

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?

This is the best argument for CP/AA I have seen so far.

I also own a lot of music, but I am forced to pay for it again, and again, to listen to it via the Rivian interface. (Yes, I can use Bluetooth, so it isn't a huge deal for me anyway...)

That said, playing stored music from a phone or USB drive is a capability that can be added to the Rivian built A/V system without causing the issues CP/AA cause. In fact, if they do it well, it could be vastly superior to using a secondary interface just to play stored content. I can imagine full quality playback of lossless files, with all the album art displayed.

Many vehicles we have owned (and still own) can do that without using CP or AA, so Rivian can also. I bet it is in their user story backlog somewhere.

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[JM.]

He and Wasym can keep repeating these lies, but lots of us aren't buying the bullshit. He sounds like our political "leaders" these days. Alternative facts.

 

[therealcmj]

Wasn't there just a complaint here about audio books from Libby not working well on the Rivian?

I have used Apple Music and Spotify on the Rivian dash and it was fine. But different from the native apps on my phone, and not necessarily in a good way. Rivian is going to implement the parts of the media playing UI that they think are important. And that may or may not be what users want and expect.

It's funny that they decided to go their own way with music apps but implemented Google Cast to play video when parked. Why not implement their own Netflix and Paramount+ and Peacock and HBO Max and 100 other services? It's weird that their argument about being the best people to implement the UI and wanting to own the entire experience to make sure it's great just doesn't apply to video, isn't it?

I am willing to bet they'll reluctantly adopt CarPlay and Android Auto in the future.

 

[camrunr]

1) My phone is online all the time. Rivian can’t stay connected. When I leave my house it takes 3-5 minutes for Apple Music to be able to do anything. Even if I stay in the driveway connected to Wifi, it’s broken until it “wakes up”. (And don’t get me started on remote app access in general.)

2) Once it does wake up, AM on Rivian is still a very poor experience.

3) I’d like to use other navigation and routing. Rivian’s is not great. Last time i left for a road trip, i had 95% charge. 300 mile trip into the mountains. First thing I need to do according to Rivian is stop for a charge in 15 miles. WTF? I’d much rather use ABRP or even just Apple maps.

4) I’d like to be able use other apps, like my podcast app. The one that lives with me. The one with all my podcasts and history. It will never happen. It’s not realistic. The only option is some sort of projection from my phone. Which will also never happen :-(

You say you want to skip ACP because you can give a more complete user experience. Prove it. Right now I’m forced to use a lesser experience.

 

[COdogman]

1) My phone is online all the time. Rivian can’t stay connected. When I leave my house it takes 3-5 minutes for Apple Music to be able to do anything. Even if I stay in the driveway connected to Wifi, it’s broken until it “wakes up”. (And don’t get me started on remote app access in general.)

2) Once it does wake up, AM on Rivian is still a very poor experience.

3) I’d like to use other navigation and routing. Rivian’s is not great. Last time i left for a road trip, i had 95% charge. 300 mile trip into the mountains. First thing I need to do according to Rivian is stop for a charge in 15 miles. WTF? I’d much rather use ABRP or even just Apple maps.

4) I’d like to be able use other apps, like my podcast app. The one that lives with me. The one with all my podcasts and history. It will never happen. It’s not realistic. The only option is some sort of projection from my phone. Which will also never happen :-(

You say you want to skip ACP because you can give a more complete user experience. Prove it. Right now I’m forced to use a lesser experience.

It's not "skipping" anything. Rivian has said from day 1 there would be no CarPlay

 

[camrunr]

It's not "skipping" anything. Rivian has said from day 1 there would be no CarPlay

I’m not sure skipping implies he promised it was coming, but sure. Thanks.

 

[SoCal Rob]

Regardless of our thoughts and feelings either way, all of this may become a moot point. Right now the only significant manufacturers selling in the U.S. without CarPlay are Tesla, GM (for EVs, presumably following Tesla’s stand), and Rivian.

If Tesla really does start offering CarPlay then I suspect that GM will quickly follow. That leaves Rivian as the lone holdout, and I don’t see them omitting a feature desired by many consumers and available on 100% of the competition.

While this is hearsay, I have a neighbor who works in a relevant area for Volkswagen and they stated that they will absolutely be including CarPlay on their vehicles relying on Rivian tech. If true, this would place even more pressure on Rivian as a holdout by showing that CarPlay can peacefully coexist with Rivian tech in a way which multiple VAG brands consider desirable. It’s probably for the best that Rivian will be collaborating on this in the joint venture since it gives Rivian experience just in case a decision is made to change course.

edit: missed a word

 

[Eeyore]

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.

You completely miss my point., which was the if Honda could do it in 2009, why can't Rivian offer the same connectivity now? Use the big touch screen is safer than doing the controlling on the smaller phone screen.

Only offering streaming drives people to sign up for a subscription which is a financial benefit to Rivian, which is understandable. I just don't want that.

 

[UnsungZero_OldTimeAdMan]

You completely miss my point., which was the if Honda could do it in 2009, why can't Rivian offer the same connectivity now? Use the big touch screen is safer than doing the controlling on the smaller phone screen.

Only offering streaming drives people to sign up for a subscription which is a financial benefit to Rivian, which is understandable. I just don't want that.

Did not miss anything. I was joking. Point being: Times have changed and technology with it. Adapt. It is what it is and too many people choose to waste energy complaining instead.

 

[Eeyore]

Did not miss anything. I was joking.

Sorry, your humor wasn't obvious to me.

Point being: Times have changed and technology with it. Adapt. It is what it is and too many people choose to waste energy complaining instead.

Yes, I've been forced to adapt. I'm still going to complain/suggest features I want.

 

[hudesigns]

Talking about playing music you already paid for, what about playing music via USB drive. Such a simple application! A terabyte USB drive with hundreds of albums of my favorite music will provide high quality playback with or without cell signals especially when off roading which is Rivian meant to do — off grid, off cel tower!

 

[Newtonrj]

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.

Every example mentioned, is either the auto company deployment of Apple's second screen or the App Mfr trying to figure out what can be ported from a page-rich app to a single second screen projection.

Please don’t try and defend Rivian. They ship compromised infotainment software. 5 yrs in and CP still a big ask. It won’t go away. And the more Rivian ignores better integration, the less Apple has to do to keep improving CP. Meaning, fanboys are hyped enough without any more improvement needed.

We all suffer.

 

[COdogman]

Every example mentioned, is either the auto company deployment of Apple's second screen or the App Mfr trying to figure out what can be ported from a page-rich app to a single second screen projection.

Please don’t try and defend Rivian. They ship compromised infotainment software. 5 yrs in and CP still a big ask. It won’t go away. And the more Rivian ignores better integration, the less Apple has to do to keep improving CP. Meaning, fanboys are hyped enough without any more improvement needed.

We all suffer.

I'm not suffering, so please stop pretending to speak for anyone but yourself. Why does it matter if CP doesn't work properly across probably 20+ vehicles whether it's the software or the "deployment"? Apply the same standard.

The fanboy comment also applies to fanboys of CP

 

[captainjp]

How did we ever function without CarPlay?!

 

[UnsungZero_OldTimeAdMan]

Every example mentioned, is either the auto company deployment of Apple's second screen or the App Mfr trying to figure out what can be ported from a page-rich app to a single second screen projection.

Please don’t try and defend Rivian. They ship compromised infotainment software. 5 yrs in and CP still a big ask. It won’t go away. And the more Rivian ignores better integration, the less Apple has to do to keep improving CP. Meaning, fanboys are hyped enough without any more improvement needed.

We all suffer.

Somehow re-stating the fact Rivian will not, and have made it quite clear, and will never include native support for CarPlay is "defending Rivian"? There is little to no value in having discussions about ACP in Rivians to begin with. This infantile "my way or no way" logic makes it completely worthless to have any dialog.

If you don't want to see people "defend" Rivian, then why are you even here at rivianforums.com? to expose yourself to the very thing you don't want? Leave.

Do you call the local TV station to argue with the weatherman because the weather forecast hurt your feelings? Do you accuse them of defending and making excuses for the planet's atmosphere? its rotational speed and orbit around the sun? And "please stop talking about the weather!"?

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