Alexa can't control Apple Music?

[DTown3011]

I've never been able to get Alexa to do anything when I actually need it to...

This. Stopped using Alexa a long time ago.

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[SwampNut]

Just use Siri, it works even without CarPlay.

 

[stevekstevek]

Just use Siri, it works even without CarPlay.

video matches my experience

is there a way to have Siri play something on the Apple Music app in the rivian? “Siri play so and so on my Rivian”?

 

[SwampNut]

video matches my experience

is there a way to have Siri play something on the Apple Music app in the rivian? “Siri play so and so on my Rivian”?

Oh, right, probably not. There's probably no way. Also, note that there are a number of bugs with playlists, the all music list, search history, and more. Nothing may work as expected. We won't be using the built in player for a while, too many problems. The quality difference is pretty tiny.

 

[stevekstevek]

Oh, right, probably not. There's probably no way. Also, note that there are a number of bugs with playlists, the all music list, search history, and more. Nothing may work as expected. We won't be using the built in player for a while, too many problems. The quality difference is pretty tiny.

compared to Bluetooth?

Bluetooth normally is bad for audio quality, but I end up with all kinds of skips and drops in the Rivian.

 

[SwampNut]

compared to Bluetooth?

Yes, my wife and I spent some time specifically switching the same media back and forth for a couple hours. And then also comparing it to the same media using a Scarlet DAC and studio monitor headphones. We've both been into music and audio systems for a long time; I used to compete in autosound competition. The Rivian's system isn't great enough to show what you miss over BT. And BT isn't as bad at used to be, or as bad as people claim it is.

This weekend I'll tune it with an RTA and see if that can detect differences in THD, response curves, and whatever can be measured objectively.

 

[SwampNut]

Aside from comparing the audio yourself to see what you think (and it's hard since they boosted volume and bass which many people mistakenly perceive as "quality"), consider the bugginess and limitations in comparison. Nearly all our playlists are larger than 100; that's the limit in the car. So dumb.

 

[racekarl]

Not really. I primarily listen to podcasts and the Spotify experience has been the worst I have used. For two years the truck's Spotify has failed to load podcast episodes and is generally just horrible. With the OTA update I am trying Audible as my in-truck podcast solution. It has already passed one test by loading episodes for a podcast the ALWAYS results in "No Media Found" error in Spotify.

?‍ As with everything, your mileage may vary. I have not had any of those issues and Spotify has been decent for podcasts (on the other hand it has been absolutely terrible for music for me)

 

[rodhx]

?‍ As with everything, your mileage may vary. I have not had any of those issues and Spotify has been decent for podcasts (on the other hand it has been absolutely terrible for music for me)

of course. looking forward to finally having a podcast option on board. Two minutes with Audible leads me to believe I will never open Spotify again. Well... unless Rogan has a guest I want to hear.?

 

[PhatDaddy]

Swampnut, very much looking forward to your actual sound testing feedback. Without the ability to control new Rivian native Apple Music streaming via voice commands (Alexa, or preferably Siri) then (for me) the only upside to switching from Siri via BT would be substantially higher quality music. Would be nice to be able to quantify the actual sound quality differences (on which everyone seems to have an opinion).

 

[PhatDaddy]

Swampnut… any updates? Really anxious to hear what you found re: ACTUAL Bluetooth quality (via iPhone mounted to dash and easily controllable and searchable with Siri voice commands), as delivered through the Rivian sound system(s)… compared to the new Rivian native Apple Music (with searching only available via keyboard input and no voice commands thru Alexa). I assume no one can control Apple Music via Alexa, correct?
Also, not sure if it is just early bugs or unique to my R1T, but so far for me Apple Music has also been ‘offline’ about 1/3 of the time since the update, even after multiple infotainment reboots, and in areas where there is otherwise strong cellular service.

 

[Ngkgb]

Just updated the truck and still no Alexa support for Apple Music. Anybody else have any luck? Really takes away from the experience in my opinion. Was nice to just tell Alexa what I wanted to hear.

 

[Sundar]

bumping this thread. Anyone find a way to control Rivian native Apple Music with voice commands? It seems to me like the right solution would be if the Rivian app could interact with the infotainment system - then Apple intelligence/Siri could pass the intent to the Rivian app which would then control it within the car. And the same could be done with Google or any other voice enabled assistant via a phone key paired mobile device. Or just put chat-gpt into the infotainment and give it hooks into all of the apps. Obviously easier said than done but imho voice control for Apple Music and other media apps is sort of a safety feature more than a convenience feature.

 

[Cycliste]

Alexa and Siri aren’t on good terms. Check TikTok for the latest

 

[UnsungZero_OldTimeAdMan]

I thought Amazon was essentially ditching or greatly cutting back resources on Alexa or did I misread that?

While they can’t figure out how to make it successful, they have never made decision to kill it. What they pulled back is the hardware part of the business. There was an excellent podcast about it (WSJ I think). The entire Alexa platform was conceived to deliver paid ads and sell goods on Amazon. The voice assistant functionality is secondary.

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