Software Team Needs a Revamp

[Pwrman]

And that's false - you get these for free.

You don't have to take my word for it, there are various forum posts complaining about the voice service not working well any longer.

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[VSG]

You're right I don't have to take your word for it - I know it works because I've been using it every day for the past 3 years while driving my R1T.

 

[Pwrman]

You're right I don't have to take your word for it - I know it works because I've been using it every day for the past 3 years while driving my R1T.

For those that want real information, not to be mis-led by a troll. What I said is accurate (see attachment). However, it is true that you can also get around that limitation by tethering every time you connect to your vehicle.

 

[godfodder0901]

I'm not going to entertain your trolling if you can't even read accurately, and then when corrected, you can't even take the time to re-read and understand a statement. Here is a hint to the incompetent: connectivity = data access.

Cool story bro.

For those that want real information, not to be mis-led by a troll. What I said is accurate (see attachment). However, it is true that you can also get around that limitation by tethering every time you connect to your vehicle.

It's pretty clear that the only one struggling with the concept of Connect+ is you...

 

[RRRivian]

I'm a software/hardware engineer and engineering manager in my professional life. I've been very pleased with my Rivian -- hardware and software. I've driven over 9000 miles in 8 months of ownership of my gen2 R1S. I've done one manual software reboot. I can think of some improvements ideas for the UI, especially sequences and hand-positions that take my eyes off the road for a couple seconds longer than I'm comfortable with. (I'm still hoping for libro.fm for audiobooks and/or a developer API.) There are also some very cool and thoughtful aspects of the software that are a delight. And I appreciate iterative improvements in the monthly updates and the recent iPhone app update. If other drivers/owners are experiencing more bugs than I have run across, please continue to report those so that the software team and the QA team can improve their testing use cases. In general, I feel that the team creating Rivian's software is doing a great job moving forward incrementally, safely, with user experiences in mind.

 

[SANZC02]

For those that want real information, not to be mis-led by a troll. What I said is accurate (see attachment). However, it is true that you can also get around that limitation by tethering every time you connect to your vehicle.

I read that differently, I read it as connect+ is a dedicated in vehicle data connection.

The second part explains what is available with a data connection but I do not read it as it is not available if you provide a different data connection such as tethering to a mobile hotspot or phone.

 

[dleepnw]

UI/usability is fine (thats subjective anyways). Main problem are the bugs and lag. With Wassym being CEO of the VW-Rivian joint venture and the R2 upcoming, I'm sure the software team is stretched thin. They are constantly taking 2 steps forward and 1 step back with updates.

 

[runwithscissors]

Why does a soft reset, reset the cameras to a default overhead view? No one uses that when backing up, why is it default? How come it can't remember my prior preferences and apply them when restarting the UI? So annoying on every upgrade or soft reset which I had to do the other day because the regen UI was completely empty on the screen and wouldn't show orange/green at all until it was rebooted.

 

[jrproli]

Over the past few months I’ve had to do several reboots per week, it’s been for Navi issues, brightness issues, memory lag, or just flat out locking up. The UI takes several touches to get to where you want to go and we’re lacking so may features other vehicles have (text messaging, etc). If I was on version 1.0 then I get it, but we’re pretty much 5 years in now. Just feel like we should be a lot more polished than we are now.

3rd reboot of the week here… now it’s the internet. Spent the whole weekend with no navigation. I did spend this much to use waze in my phone

 

[kdn]

I hope that’s not the stick you are using to measure a development team.

No. Its results. That's how we succeeded.

 

[klsiegel]

This is why I was hesitant to post anything here about this, because I've seen others in the past attack an OP if they dared say anything wrong about the vehicle. As I mentioned I love my R1S and is/was planning on getting an R2; with Rivian still on the brink we should be trying to assist and point out flaws, rather attack anyone who points them out. I mean yesterday when the Navi Bug hit, I had 2 other Tesla drivers with me and were really questioning the vehicle (Obviously Telsa has issues too but it wasn't a shining moment)

To answer some questions I am on 2025.14; In the past couple of months these are just the bugs I've had (also I've seen others have the same issues in various posts here, reddit, or FB group)


-Navi will zoom all the way out to show the entire US (This is what happened yesterday and was really frustrating as I was trying to find a charger), only way to fix it is reboot. This has happened to be 3x so far (I think since the update). This will happen to you soon unless its fixed in .18
- The brightness will go all the way down to the lowest setting even in the middle of the day. This bug has been reported by many, I've had it happen 2x so far. Again only way to fix it is a reboot
- I got a "tire pressure monitoring not working" error that I called to set an appointment with the SC and was told this is known error and reboot. I've gotten the error 3x so far in the past 2 months
-Apple Music isn't useless but trying to use that interface (as others have mentioned) is very laggy and has actually completely locked up my infotainment several times will driving (It then reboots but flying blind for a 1-2 minutes isn't the funnest thing)
- When using Driver+ I've run into a processing/memory bug where similar to apple music bug, where the entire system starts lagging and lagging until it reboots (while still using driver+ and you have to immediately take over) this has happened to be 3x so far
- Maybe a personal preference but having to make multiple clicks to the furthest part of the screen when you want to shuffle a playlist is a little crazy (there's no way this was beta tested)
- Regarding Text Messaging, I mean regardless if you would use it or not most cars can do this (i know many use AA or CP but still its been a thing forever), also Wassym has said this was coming years ago.


Yes, Rivian's software is superior to most other car manufacturers, but most customers don't use their cars software anymore, I would say the vast majority are using AA or CP (and I'm not calling for Rivian to use that, I'm just saying if you compare Rivian's software to CP or AA most (not all) would pick CP or AA.

I have had a decent software experience until the most recent update. My Gen1 R1S quad infotainment display gets stuck in night mode and will not show satellite images; only a green background. When the navigation is in a route it zooms in and out to a view of the entire planet and spins around a few times then goes back to a zoomed in view. I lost connection to the navigation satellite for days and had a message that said we were off the grid so no traffic information or end of trip range. I had to soft reboot while connected to my home WiFi to get everything back working only to have to do it all over again every 24 hours or so. This is after multiple soft and hard reboots while traveling away from home. I have an SC appointment in just under a month so we will see.

 

[defcon888]

We have the Gen1 R1T.

Personally I think it is fine. At first I was one of those people that screamed "WE WANT CARPLAY".....now, I am screaming "I don't want carplay, just a messaging app". Yes, I know I can say "Hey Alexa", but I am talking about the messaging app notification with the red dot that apple uses. I have my phone on silent 99.9999% of the time and unless I look at my phone while driving, I don't see any messages (mainly from my wife).

I have Apple Music+ and Spotify...that covers all my needs. I don't charge in public so I don't really need to be able to stream Netflix while stopped.

I do wish they would allow the PLAY screen on Apple Music and Spotify to be moved over to the drivers side of the screen.

 

[Taco Corp]

Zero issues on my gen1. I’ve only had 1 soft reset and 1 unexpected infotainment reset in 2.5yrs and 30k miles.

I think this is part of the frustration, my Gen1 experience was the same as what you're describing; it was pretty solid and reliable if I put aside the maps not being all that great of a product.

In Gen2, the software has been more buggy in my experience, slow to switch between apps, and music tends to give me the "Library unavailable" type of error at least once a day, even while it's actively playing. Additionally, cameras often display black screens, requiring a full reboot about every two weeks to resolve the issue.

 

[KW_88_SS]

This is exaggerated. Compared to every other vehicle manufacturer besides Tesla, Rivian's software is superior in every way. Teslas have drawbacks for different reasons, and their software lacks basic features that Rivian offers. In my opinion, it's a wash. You bought a computer with wheels. Sometimes computers need to be rebooted.

Every computer I've ever owned has required a reboot at least once a week. I don't see how this is unusual or unexpected.

Calls the OP's concerns "exaggerated" while making a handful of his own. Classic.

 

[Taco Corp]

I completely agree. It will take many years for Rivian’s navigation to mature to the level of Google’s. I recently took a trip from Richmond, VA to Philadelphia and it took me on the most bizarre route through Washington DC. It added 2 hours to my trip. The problem is that you need nav to integrate with the car for recharging stops. The best solution would be to license Google’s nav software and integrate it with the car.
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It would take them years to reach the level of Google today, and in the meantime, Google will spend hundreds of millions of dollars further refining and improving its product.

The only thing I use Rivian's onboard navigation for is routing from wherever I'm at to specific chargers so the pre-conditioning works, but I rarely follow the directions it provides and just use Google Maps on my phone.

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