Software Team Needs a Revamp

[KW_88_SS]

OMG could you be any more dramatic? You are literally complaining about people having different opinions while admitting that you don’t actually have any evidence of what you claim happens. So when someone with a positive experience posts about it and those who disagree chime in, does that qualify as a “swarm”? Or is that ok with you?

Now you are asking me to prove your point for you because YOU say it’s a “pattern”, not “explicit”

Dramatic? That’s rich coming from someone spiraling because I pointed out a recurring pattern. I’m not “complaining about different opinions”—I’m calling out how this forum predictably turns hostile the second someone shares a negative experience. That’s not diversity of thought; it’s insecurity in disguise.

And no, I don’t need to provide courtroom-level “evidence” for a behavior that’s painfully obvious to anyone with basic observational skills. The pile-on happens every time criticism is posted—instantly met with defensiveness, "downvotes", and condescension. If that’s too complex a pattern for you to recognize, maybe this discussion is a bit beyond your level.

I’m not asking you to prove anything. You’ve already done that just by replying exactly how I predicted. Thanks for playing.

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[COdogman]

Dramatic? That’s rich coming from someone spiraling because I pointed out a recurring pattern. I’m not “complaining about different opinions”—I’m calling out how this forum predictably turns hostile the second someone shares a negative experience. That’s not diversity of thought; it’s insecurity in disguise.

And no, I don’t need to provide courtroom-level “evidence” for a behavior that’s painfully obvious to anyone with basic observational skills. The pile-on happens every time criticism is posted—instantly met with defensiveness, downvotes, and condescension. If that’s too complex a pattern for you to recognize, maybe this discussion is a bit beyond your level.

I’m not asking you to prove anything. You’ve already done that just by replying exactly how I predicted. Thanks for playing.

You asked me to show where you “explicitly” said what you clearly said

And the fact that you keep making silly statements about people “spiraling” and claiming your opinion is “obvious” just makes it that much more entertaining.

If you claim this phenomenon of “hostility” is so “obvious” it should be very easy for you to prove it exists outside of your own imagination.

 

[R1Yes]

Welp…

 

[KW_88_SS]

You asked me to show where you “explicitly” said what you clearly said

And the fact that you keep making silly statements about people “spiraling” and claiming your opinion is “obvious” just makes it that much more entertaining.

If you claim this phenomenon of “hostility” is so “obvious” it should be very easy for you to prove it exists outside of your own imagination.

You keep fixating on the word “explicit” like it’s a magic shield against being wrong. I never said someone literally typed “criticism is heresy.” I said that’s the vibe—and anyone with two brain cells to rub together can see it. The second someone posts a negative experience, the same crew shows up with sarcasm, and snide remarks. That’s the “hostility” I mentioned, and you’re smack in the middle of it.

You want me to prove what’s plain as day to anyone not suffering from brand-induced tunnel vision? No thanks. I’m not here to spoon-feed reality to someone who can’t even grasp the basics of implication and tone.

You're not debunking anything. You're just too slow to follow the conversation and too fragile to admit the forum has an obvious pattern of defensiveness. But go on, keep embarrassing yourself—it’s honestly more validating than anything I could say. #MurderedByWords

 

[COdogman]

You keep fixating on the word “explicit” like it’s a magic shield against being wrong. I never said someone literally typed “criticism is heresy.” I said that’s the vibe—and anyone with two brain cells to rub together can see it. The second someone posts a negative experience, the same crew shows up with sarcasm, and snide remarks. That’s the “hostility” I mentioned, and you’re smack in the middle of it.

You want me to prove what’s plain as day to anyone not suffering from brand-induced tunnel vision? No thanks. I’m not here to spoon-feed reality to someone who can’t even grasp the basics of implication and tone.

You're not debunking anything. You're just too slow to follow the conversation and too fragile to admit the forum has an obvious pattern of defensiveness. But go on, keep embarrassing yourself—it’s honestly more validating than anything I could say. #MurderedByWords

Oh no… someone who claims others are ”fragile” and “spiraling” is now resorting to calling me ”too slow” to understand his extremely high level opinion that is SO obvious he doesn’t need to even attempt to prove it

Now it’s a “vibe”

 

[defcon888]

To clarify, are you saying you have Apple Music+ and Spotify because you subscribe to Rivian Connect+, or that you have them on your phone?

Have them on our phones so we can use it in our other car

 

[Dave Cundiff]

@KW_88_SS and @COdogman: At this point, I don't CARE which of you is right.

Can at least one of you be the first to let it go?

Thanks and best wishes!

 

[portdirect]

Trust @Dave Cundiff to arrive here with the voice of calm reason. As always, instead of choosing the more mature (or wiser) path, I asked Copilot to summarize this thread visually—and I think it nailed it:

 

[freshpow]

You keep fixating on the word “explicit” like it’s a magic shield against being wrong. I never said someone literally typed “criticism is heresy.” I said that’s the vibe—and anyone with two brain cells to rub together can see it. The second someone posts a negative experience, the same crew shows up with sarcasm, and snide remarks. That’s the “hostility” I mentioned, and you’re smack in the middle of it.

You want me to prove what’s plain as day to anyone not suffering from brand-induced tunnel vision? No thanks. I’m not here to spoon-feed reality to someone who can’t even grasp the basics of implication and tone.

You're not debunking anything. You're just too slow to follow the conversation and too fragile to admit the forum has an obvious pattern of defensiveness. But go on, keep embarrassing yourself—it’s honestly more validating than anything I could say. #MurderedByWords

I don't think the sarcasm and snide remarks you're referring to are born out of defensiveness. Rather, they're in response to sensationalist posts and titles like "my truck is experiencing some software issues so the entire software team at Rivian needs to be fired/restructured". Many owners jumped in to point out that they don't experience those same issues and OP took that as an attack. Talk about defensive.

 

[KW_88_SS]

I don't think the sarcasm and snide remarks you're referring to are born out of defensiveness. Rather, they're in response to sensationalist posts and titles like "my truck is experiencing some software issues so the entire software team at Rivian needs to be fired/restructured". Many owners jumped in to point out that they don't experience those same issues and OP took that as an attack. Talk about defensive.

To be clear, yes—the OP did say the entire software team should be fired. But again, there's context behind that sentiment. He’s not simply saying, “My truck has issues, so fire everyone.” He’s responding to what is clearly a broader, ongoing problem that’s affected many owners—like trucks rebooting while driving, which, frankly, is inexcusable.

You don’t have to agree with the severity of his stance, but dismissing it as purely sensational or defensive misses the point. His frustration is rooted in a pattern of issues that are well-documented both on this forum, Reddit and beyond. A quick search shows this isn’t an isolated experience. Assuming he’s speaking only from his own situation, and not drawing from a wider context, is a bit of a stretch.

As I’ve said in other threads, I actually agree with his broader assessment(kind-of). There’s a measurable gap in how Rivian compensates its software engineers—especially relative to top-tier tech companies in the Palo Alto area. Lower salaries and less competitive stock packages make it difficult to attract and retain top talent, and that can absolutely manifest in the product.

If Rivian isn’t going to pay to compete for top engineers, they might consider relocating the software org to a market where they can be competitive.

Do I like my Rivian? Yes. Do I want the company to succeed? Absolutely. But supporting a brand doesn’t mean ignoring its flaws. Criticism isn’t disloyalty—it’s part of holding a company accountable so it can get better.

 

[freshpow]

To be clear, yes—the OP did say the entire software team should be fired. But again, there's context behind that sentiment. He’s not simply saying, “My truck has issues, so fire everyone.” He’s responding to what is clearly a broader, ongoing problem that’s affected many owners—like trucks rebooting while driving, which, frankly, is inexcusable.

You don’t have to agree with the severity of his stance, but dismissing it as purely sensational or defensive misses the point. His frustration is rooted in a pattern of issues that are well-documented both on this forum, Reddit and beyond. A quick search shows this isn’t an isolated experience. Assuming he’s speaking only from his own situation, and not drawing from a wider context, is a bit of a stretch.

As I’ve said in other threads, I actually agree with his broader assessment(kind-of). There’s a measurable gap in how Rivian compensates its software engineers—especially relative to top-tier tech companies in the Palo Alto area. Lower salaries and less competitive stock packages make it difficult to attract and retain top talent, and that can absolutely manifest in the product.

If Rivian isn’t going to pay to compete for top engineers, they might consider relocating the software org to a market where they can be competitive.

Do I like my Rivian? Yes. Do I want the company to succeed? Absolutely. But supporting a brand doesn’t mean ignoring its flaws. Criticism isn’t disloyalty—it’s part of holding a company accountable so it can get better.

Mostly fair points but I disagree that a few threads on Reddit and other online forums constitute a pattern or widespread issue. We know there is an inherent bias for people to report more problems/negative experiences than positives. It’s not surprising that owners feel the need to chime in with their positive experiences to point out the absurdity of calling for such extreme measures based on a relatively small and skewed sampling.

These problems should absolutely be reported and made known to the broader community so that Rivian can continue to get better but there’s clearly a better way to go about that than the route OP chose.

Also disagree that the truck rebooting while driving is “inexcusable”. It’s happened to me once or twice and was a little unsettling the first time but it’s easy to see they’ve designed around it to make sure it’s completely safe and the most important systems are not affected.

Drive well.

 

[TM1]

Didn't read all of these threads as it quickly ballooned to 9 pages, but coming from a Tesla 2015 model S with only a backup camera visible to me (front camera is in place, but I don't get to view what it views) and a bunch of radar sensors and a HW4 model Y, I miss the useability of the Tesla voice commands that work when I don't have internet and the programmability of the scroll wheels, as well as the information rich energy consumption when on trips.

The R1S gen 2's audio system is really really nice and makes the Tesla's sound awful.

But back to software, I have to carry the key card around as the R1S will periodically tell me it can't drive because it doesn't detect a key card. My garage door opener works about 60 % of the time. I have to turn the camera on about 50% of the time when parking, and then turn it back to navigate. Unplugging the portable charger requires me to open on of the doors partially to speed up waking the car so the buttons on the charging cable handle and the button on the car to release will respond. Lane keep assist not available on surface streets, and when on a highway, it often gets lane stripes confused with tar repair stripes and drives out of the lane or tells me to take over. Alexa is too picky about the structure of commands - gotta say key words in just the right order or it doesn't understand (like setting the fan speed). I don't have a recommendation on how Rivian can get this software better, but something has to improve.

 

[pamalabama]

The R1S gen 2's audio system is really really nice and makes the Tesla's sound awful.

Tesla improved their sound systems after the model 3 launched. They are all good now

They have in-house sound system designers and the systems are excellent

 

[iamnid]

I also came from a Tesla and am disappointed by the bugginess of the Rivian software. This is especially so when it comes to the app which is all but USELESS. It never seems to be able to do anything unless I'm physically next to the vehicle. Want to turn the AC on while you're in the store? Sorry, "vehicle is offline" (or some similar error). Want to view the gear guard cameras to see what's going on around your vehicle? Sorry, failed to load. 8/10 times, none of the functions work in the app.

Don't get me started on the litany of other random errors that pop up and go away on their own. I had a month or two where the adaptive highbeams were "unavailable, service soon." That was fixed with an update. Surround sensors unavailable, service soon. Occasionally I get a "trailer brake controller malfunction, service soon." All of these errors go away on their own but it isn't exactly confidence inspiring.

 

[TM1]

Tesla improved their sound systems after the model 3 launched. They are all good now

They have in-house sound system designers and the systems are excellent

Our 2024 Model Y HW4 (1.5 yrs old) only has the standard sound system - no upgrade. It sounded OK to me until I got the R1S...

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