Prospective Buyer - How Does Media from Phone Work?

[P.S.Mangelsdorf]

So some of you may recognize me from a few years ago when I was fairly active here. Well in the fall of '24 I decided rather than getting a Rivian or a Silverado EV, to order the Dodge Charger Daytona EV to replace my old Challenger. Its been an..... interesting experience and I'm now considering moving on and doing what I should have in the first place, and buying a Rivian (likely used). I briefly test drove one at an Electrify Expo in 2024, and loved how it drove and felt. But I didn't get into the infotainment system much, which brings me to my question:

In my Challenger and Charger, I have really liked using Apple CarPlay. For a myriad of reasons, I don't use streaming services for my media. I buy and download music, and I use the native Apple Podcasts app for my podcasts. I really don't want to change that, but I'm confused how that is accessed and actually used in the car. How difficult is it to play music from my phone? Can I start and change music from the screen, or do I have to go onto the phone to do that? What about podcasts?

Appreciate any insights you all can share. It might save me the multi-hour trip up to the Richmond Rivian location to figure this stuff out.

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[UnsungZero_OldTimeAdMan]

It doesn’t. Not really. For audio, infotainment system has its own streaming apps (Spotify, Tidal, Apple Music, XM/Pandora). Look on YouTube for UI walkthroughs for in-depth info. In addition, you can stream from Bluetooth connected phone, stored media or mobile apps on the phone. Control would mostly be done at the phone, while master volume remains with the car. For video there is Googlecast (for mobile platforms that allow it) and a built-in YouTube app. Watchable only while parked, of course.

This is just current state. Doesn’t mean it will remain this way in the future. Software updates are released several times per year.

And no CarPlay, ever. Let’s not beat that dead horse again. And again. And again. Apple is too large and powerful. It demands a level of Apple branded experience and do not give manufacturers enough freedom to build their own brands*. It’s the reason more and more brands are shunning CarPlay. The ones that still include it are ones who are afraid of building their own digital platforms, don’t want to invest in software development infrastructure, do not have confidence in their own abilities to develop digital platforms and are afraid to lose sales.

*While CarPlay Ultra aims to provide some freedom, it is deemed not enough for some OEMs. The diehard fans of CarPlay see/hear what they want to hear. Ignore anything different. I work for a OEM. I've seen positions from both sides, Apple and OEM. Brands who don't or can't create their own platforms, it's a necessary evil to have CarPlay.

 

[godfodder0901]

So some of you may recognize me from a few years ago when I was fairly active here. Well in the fall of '24 I decided rather than getting a Rivian or a Silverado EV, to order the Dodge Charger Daytona EV to replace my old Challenger. Its been an..... interesting experience and I'm now considering moving on and doing what I should have in the first place, and buying a Rivian (likely used). I briefly test drove one at an Electrify Expo in 2024, and loved how it drove and felt. But I didn't get into the infotainment system much, which brings me to my question:

In my Challenger and Charger, I have really liked using Apple CarPlay. For a myriad of reasons, I don't use streaming services for my media. I buy and download music, and I use the native Apple Podcasts app for my podcasts. I really don't want to change that, but I'm confused how that is accessed and actually used in the car. How difficult is it to play music from my phone? Can I start and change music from the screen, or do I have to go onto the phone to do that? What about podcasts?

Appreciate any insights you all can share. It might save me the multi-hour trip up to the Richmond Rivian location to figure this stuff out.

Local media is played via Bluetooth. Transport controls can be used on the phone, on the center screen, the rear screen, voice, or using the steering wheel buttons.

 

[Nixapatfan]

Have to use your phone to manage the media no carpaly/AA and Rivian doesn't have any local media options to play off USB or anything. Sounds really strange for a company that calls itself a software first company.

 

[BigSkies]

I love my Rivian, but the bluetooth player is one of the few things I find well below expectations. It sucks donkey balls to be honest. I hate streaming services, but the bluetooth player makes them feel good.

A list of music does show up on the screen, but it's locked to whatever you were last playing. If you were last playing music by a single artist, that's all you can access from the vehicel. If you were last playing a Podcast, that's all you'll see.

The audio frequently cuts in & out and gets staticy. Particularly around home for some reason.

It's not good. At all.

 

[usulio]

Bluetooth audio may not be "good", but it's "fine". Connects to the phone, plays whatever is playing on the phone (music, podcast, audiobook). That's all I'm asking for and it works fine.

 

[CANCERDOC]

If you are asking whether you can control your phone media from the Rivian screen the answer is no. You will need to control it from your phone. Everything else is native app on the Rivian screen but to my knowledge it’s all streaming, no stored media unless it’s from your phone but there’s zero phone navigation integration.

 

[Rade]

In my experience, Apple Music through the center console does not work. It will play 2, perhaps 3 songs then stop. When that happens, no steering wheel controls function (volume, pause, track movement). With every software refresh, it will work slightly better for a week or so, and usually about the time I realized that it hasn't frozen or stopped, it freezes and stops. I have to then take eyes off the road, reach across the to the far side of the screen and poke the play button a couple of times before it does something. I've talked with service reps numerous times; same response - "You need to log out, log back in" etc... that does not fix anything.

Apple Music does work, controls and all, when you stream it off your phone via Bluetooth. For the best sound quality, turn off "Sound Check" in the app settings on the phone.

We use Apple Music because we can build playlists from owned media content on the home PC's and share them with the phone apps (and vehicles).

I do not use any other subscription music service, so I cannot comment on how other options function.

The other media features work well. While waiting on my husband, I will watch a YouTube video or use the casting function to put something on the screen from a streaming service. Those functions are only available while the vehicle is parked.

As for controlling the phone; you can send and receive calls through the center console, when you pair your phone to the vehicle, you can give it access to the phones address book, but any form of SMS text control does not work.

I do hold out hope that, as the vehicle operating system continues to evolve, so will the media controls. I am not familiar and have no experience with Apple Car Play or similar Google functions, to yearn for anything from there, though some rudimentary voice to text functions would be nice.

 

[therealcmj]

And no CarPlay, ever. Let’s not beat that dead horse again. And again. And again.

and then proceeds to beat the dead horse, say things that aren't factually true, and espouse opinions about the subject.

Good job!

 

[P.S.Mangelsdorf]

Thanks all for the input!

Unfortunately, it sounds like what I was afraid of, which is a major step backwards in terms of phone/media integration if I don't want to give in to streaming. It sounds barely a step above where my old 2009 GMC was.

I don't want to beat a dead horse or get into a giant CarPlay debate, but I do want to make one point: I think the automakers' excuse of "Apple wants too much control" is BS. On both my old Challenger and my current Charger, phone integration is just one tab in the center screen. There's a tab for media, climate, settings, drive modes, and "phone". Only on the phone tab does Apple "control" the "experience" and it pretty seamlessly integrates into the rest of the car's volume and next/previous track controls. The rest is all Stellantis' Uconnect system (for better or worse).

 

[therealcmj]

the automakers' excuse of "Apple wants too much control" is BS. On both my old Challenger and my current Charger, phone integration is just one tab in the center screen. There's a tab for media, climate, settings, drive modes, and "phone". Only on the phone tab does Apple "control" the "experience" and it pretty seamlessly integrates into the rest of the car's volume and next/previous track controls. The rest is all Stellantis' Uconnect system (for better or worse).

This is the right take.

CarPlay has a few "flavors" now. What you describe is the original and is still a completely valid option that automakers can choose. On the other end of the spectrum us CarPlay Ultra where your phone takes over all the screens and controls all car user interface functions. In between there's actually a bit of a spectrum of other implementation options (dual screens for example). People like to pretend that the classic CarPlay option isn't available anymore and all cars have to either do CarPlay Ultra or stop doing CarPlay at all. But that's just not the case.

Why some car manufacturers are dropping CarPlay is a big area of discussion. As always what a company's executives say is the reason for any particular decision and the real reason are never truly the same. And they "what they say" and the truth can diverge by quite a bit. And this situation is no different.

That said, CarPlay was a dealbreaker for me and I said that I wouldn't buy any car without it. For various reasons I relented and bought my 2025 R1S despite the lack of CarPlay. Fast forward a year of experience and I think the truck is great and the UI is very good. I use Spotify for music and Overcast (a third party podcast app on my phone) for podcasts. The former via the native app is very good but not the same as the native app. Unfortunately the latter over bluetooth is sometimes annoyingly frustrating. Once you're listening play, pause, and ff/rw work via the steering wheel controls perfectly. But to choose the podcast or playlist you have to use the phone screen - which is "suboptimal".

If I could go back 18 months knowing what I know now from experience would I buy the R1 again ? Probably.

But will I buy another car without CarPlay - Rivian or other? No.

Tesla was the 500 lb gorilla that kicked off the "no CarPlay ever" and gave other manufacturers an excuse to do the same. But back in November a pretty well substantiated, and all but confirmed, rumor started circulating that they were backing down and were working on adding it.

My personal expectation is that Rivian will back down. My bet is some time not that long after they launch the R2 which is intended to be a mass market product.

• A 2024 McKinsey & Co. study found that 35% of combustion engine car buyers and 30% of electric vehicle (EV) buyers would refuse to purchase a vehicle without Apple CarPlay or Android Auto.
• In the U.S., 38% of combustion car buyers and 25% of EV buyers said smartphone mirroring is a deal-breaker.

People really, really, really want CarPlay. Rivian can't afford to miss out on even 1/2 of the above numbers of potential customers.

 

[Hereforthesnacks]

I’m starting to think you are either a bot or a plant lol

 

[Whale Blubber]

OMG the fuse has been reignited.

I find the music situation (not just this bluetooth/owned music libraries thing, but also the lack of a decent EQ and poor performance and support for the onboard Tidal and Apple apps), along with the text situation (coming soon!), to be the last vestigial low points in the car UI. There's been many improvements, however, so I'm not mad. It's just facts that it has taken a long time to address these obvious couple shortfalls.

Now let's not start talking about the design of the 2nd row seats in the R1S....

 

[Whale Blubber]

Wait..... "1940 Chevy EV conversion" -- what is this??? I'm much more interested in this than music streaming.

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