Sponsored

Connect+.... I call bullshit

AMPRVA

Member
First Name
Andrew
Joined
Oct 19, 2023
Threads
4
Messages
20
Reaction score
18
Location
Richmond, VA
Vehicles
2024 R1T Forthcoming
Alexa works fine with tethering and no connect+
Hopefully the Spotify will as well. Having to squint to change music or podcasts on my (mounted) iPhone is dangerous enough to get the “keep both hands on the wheel” warning.
Sponsored

 

Partagas

Member
First Name
Danny
Joined
Feb 13, 2024
Threads
0
Messages
8
Reaction score
10
Location
Georgia
Vehicles
Rivian R1S
Hopefully the Spotify will as well. Having to squint to change music or podcasts on my (mounted) iPhone is dangerous enough to get the “keep both hands on the wheel” warning.
There’s a lot to unpack with your messages here. Class action lawsuits, squinting, Alexa being a safety feature.

Think of it this way. Connect+ is like p**nhub. It was free at the beginning but now you have to pay to get the juicy stuff. Sure, there are some with a vivid imagination that can get by with tethering and kudos to them. The rest will be left frustrated. You on the other hand my friend will probably need a full subscription to stop squinting but I doubt you’ll be able to keep both hands on the wheel. Does that help?
 
Last edited:

TexasBob

Well-Known Member
First Name
Bob
Joined
Jan 15, 2022
Threads
49
Messages
1,196
Reaction score
2,646
Location
Houston
Vehicles
2024 R1T DM LRG, 2025 R1S Dune
Hopefully the Spotify will as well. Having to squint to change music or podcasts on my (mounted) iPhone is dangerous enough to get the “keep both hands on the wheel” warning.
Spotify works perfectly for me. I do not use Apple Music so I have no comment on that, but Alexa, Spotify, Amazon music, nav, etc. all working without a hitch using my tethered iPhone. I do not know and do not care about any of the video services like youtube etc. I can imagine that connect+ would be super useful to people with little ones traveling in the back, but for me the tethering is a great option.
 

AMPRVA

Member
First Name
Andrew
Joined
Oct 19, 2023
Threads
4
Messages
20
Reaction score
18
Location
Richmond, VA
Vehicles
2024 R1T Forthcoming
Spotify works perfectly for me. I do not use Apple Music so I have no comment on that, but Alexa, Spotify, Amazon music, nav, etc. all working without a hitch using my tethered iPhone. I do not know and do not care about any of the video services like youtube etc. I can imagine that connect+ would be super useful to people with little ones traveling in the back, but for me the tethering is a great option.
I just tested the tethering and it seems to work well for Spotify & Alexa. Hopefully this will make Alexa more stable & require fewer reboots. It’s a shame losing the satellite nav maps & the gear guard live cam, but at least I’ve solved my most important features without having to pay for a subscription.
 

White Shadow

Well-Known Member
First Name
Thomas
Joined
Nov 11, 2021
Threads
13
Messages
1,406
Reaction score
1,159
Location
NJ
Vehicles
Jeep & Audi
Occupation
SP
Google Maps is actually a paid service. Rivian has to pay Google for the Maps API usage that users incur. Back in the heyday of Web 2.0, that was free (Google was covering the cost). But as of 2016ish, it's actually quite expensive:
https://mapsplatform.google.com/pricing/

There are enterprise/bulk rates that I'm sure Rivian and Uber and Tesla are paying, for sure. But it's a fundamental mistake to assume that because you can access satellite map imagery for free from a consumer web browser, that the same is true for a developer like Rivian integrating Maps into their third party service.
Google Maps makes it's money through ads. It's actually very profitable.
 

Sponsored

ElGuano

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 9, 2024
Threads
48
Messages
864
Reaction score
1,221
Location
Cali
Vehicles
R1T Trimax - Storm Blue, Driftwood, Sport Dark
Google Maps makes it's money through ads. It's actually very profitable.
You're thinking about your own consumer experience using Maps as an end user.

Developers leveraging Maps API for their own apps incur data/usage costs for Google, at scale for thousands/millions of users, and they don't show Maps ads. Google isn't shouldering that cost anymore, and it's why Google has a Maps enterprise model and developer pricing, linked above.

Lots of smaller devs got priced out of being able to offer Google Maps in their apps (particularly free apps) when Google started doing this. Google no longer relies on ads subsidies to enable free Maps API usage.
 

White Shadow

Well-Known Member
First Name
Thomas
Joined
Nov 11, 2021
Threads
13
Messages
1,406
Reaction score
1,159
Location
NJ
Vehicles
Jeep & Audi
Occupation
SP
That is only one of multiple revenue streams for Google Maps. They 100% also charge application providers license fees for usage and features per vehicle/user.
I know, but they make $11.000.000.000 (yes billion) from ad revenue. Crazy, huh?
 

TexasBob

Well-Known Member
First Name
Bob
Joined
Jan 15, 2022
Threads
49
Messages
1,196
Reaction score
2,646
Location
Houston
Vehicles
2024 R1T DM LRG, 2025 R1S Dune
Well, experiment over. Six days into the current billing cycle with ordinary use and I have already burned through 5GB of data! The Rivian is a little data hog. I am surrendering and subscribing to connect+. (The tethering does work fine, though!)
 

Lisa & Bob

Well-Known Member
First Name
Bob
Joined
Feb 29, 2020
Threads
7
Messages
120
Reaction score
162
Location
Escalante, Utah
Vehicles
20217 Toyota Highlander Hybrid, 2023 Rivian R1S
Occupation
theoldbaileyplace.com, Escalante, Utah.
Clubs
 
As a shareholder I want Rivian to make money. Anyone complaining about $150 hasn’t gone to the theatre lately or gone out for dinner.
Sponsored

 
 








Top