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[Aubs]

The Rivian inapp Spotify uses the trucks cell modem or wifi for the connection so it doesn't use your phones Bluetooth. It might be spotty if the cell connection (AT&T 4g) or wifi connection is spotty.

I have noticed losing connection on Spotify and navigation search as I pull out of my house. I'll try to disable wifi to see if that helps.

The phone version of Spotify allows you to pre-download Playlist songs in case of spotty connection. Hopefully Rivian adds this feature soon

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[MoreTrout]

Just got my truck today. I set up my Rivian playlist last week. No problems connecting the account, but it would only play the list in a random shuffle order. I had the list in a specific order I really wanted, especially for the first song. Had to be somewhere so didn't have much time to figure out if there was a way to play it in order instead of random. I just use the free account so that might be the issue. I know I have more control when using it on my computer than my phone. Either way, it was easy to connect and see my library. As for sound, I'm not picky. Nothing special at normal volumes, but sounded great when the volume was really cranked up. Unfortunately that didn't last long with my wife and inlaws in the truck with me.

 

[macwinpro]

Personally, I think the sound system is great. The Radio works fine in my truck, but sound quality is not as good as what I get from Amazon Music or Spotify. I ask Alexa to play stuff all the time "Alexa, play some classic rock:. It's very quick, easy, and sounds great. I am hoping the car will get Amazon music app in a future update for more options. Spotify also sounds great and I am only using the free subscription. The Spotify App is a more a simple version than whats on my iPhone and hopefully a better version will be installed soon. Oddly, Alexa on Rivian can't control Spotify even though the user manual says it can. Instead, Alexa tells me that the app needs to be updated.

 

[mgc0216]

The App is pretty marginal, but overall I'm happy with Spotify. Sound quality to my decaying ears is great.

However, the lack of XM is a real downer. You have an adventure vehicle that for many of us will spend a non-trivial amount of time out of cell service range. Sure, I can play sync'd playlists on my phone over BT (which I do), but I'd much rather have XM to ensure I have the widest array of choices.

One thing I've noticed on this trip is that Alexa won't start spotify - she tells me I need to update the app, which is impossible. So there's that.

 

[bd5400]

I considered signing up for Spotify but I'm an Apple Music user and didn't want to pay for another music service AND have to manage two libraries (there are ways to sync them but they all appear to be an additional costs on top of the subscription). It just isn't worth it to me, especially with the sound quality complaints. I'll be sticking to Apple Music and bluetooth with the hope that Rivian integrates Apple Music in the future.

Just got my truck today. I set up my Rivian playlist last week. No problems connecting the account, but it would only play the list in a random shuffle order. I had the list in a specific order I really wanted, especially for the first song. Had to be somewhere so didn't have much time to figure out if there was a way to play it in order instead of random. I just use the free account so that might be the issue. I know I have more control when using it on my computer than my phone. Either way, it was easy to connect and see my library. As for sound, I'm not picky. Nothing special at normal volumes, but sounded great when the volume was really cranked up. Unfortunately that didn't last long with my wife and inlaws in the truck with me.

It's definitely the free account issue. Free accounts are limited to shuffle and I believe six skips per hour.

 

[cbuckley]

It's definitely the free account issue. Free accounts are limited to shuffle and I believe six skips per hour.

Yes - I have family premium plan and have not had these issues with the playlist.

Even with premium, Alexa is no dice for Spotify… but I can’t get her to navigate to anything or do much of anything else either.

 

[Interferon]

The Rivian Spotify implementation is garbage. App is slow when using touch interface. Unsafe to interact with while driving. Alexa integration is 100% broken. And even when set to “Very High” quality the sound quality is unimpressive.

Bluetooth is also buggy (lots of cut-outs/skips when first starting streaming and album art plus song info bugs) but I find streaming Apple Music over bluetooth to overall be a better experience than Spotify on the native system. It sounds better, too, which really is an indictment of how awful Spotify quality is (since Bluetooth is lossy).

I love my R1T, but the audio system, in general, is among the worst aspects of the truck. Spotify is possibly the top offender.

If it makes you feel any better, Tesla's implementation of TuneIn and Spotify have about the same frustration level. It is basically unusable.
This is what happens when a car company tries to be all things to everyone and not allow third-party apps or CarPlay on their systems. No car company in the world has the resources to recreate all the Internet radio software out there with high quality.
They'll piss off all their customers before they'll give up some control over the UI.

 

[sickhews]

I've had SiriusXM in my car for about 5 years. I don't think I've listened to the radio for years.

Does anyone find Bluetooth streaming cumbersome? I like the satellite radio but I don't like screwing with it every time I get in and out of the car.

What's up with Spotify? Has anybody like, try that out because now it's in their car?

I think TuneIn might be okay but the graphics on the screen look like something my kid threw up in grade school.

Why does the radio sucks so bad?

What am I missing? Can anybody help me out to make life better?

I don’t have my truck yet, but I’m really excited about having a native-spotify app in my truck.

I probably listen to spotify more than most, last year I apparently listened to 134,584 minutes on spotify. It has everything I’ve ever wanted. I’m big into making trip playlists, work playlists, I have playlists for all sorts of stuff. I also love listing to full albums / discographies on there as well. Podcasts and shows of that sort are a huge bonus for me in spotify and may suit radio listeners better than others.

One major concern I have is streaming over spotify vs being able to download or cache aspects of my spotify library to the truck. My phone tells me I have 13.5gb of music downloaded from spotify alone.

I plan on taking this truck all the places I’ve taken my Outback, many of those places don’t have cell service. I may have to revert to streaming music via the spotify app on my phone via bluetooth if the truck doesn’t natively offer a similar feature. To me that’s a HUGE miss if Rivian didn’t (or isn’t able to) implement downloading / caching media from spotify.

 

[MNLightning]

I don’t have my truck yet, but I’m really excited about having a native-spotify app in my truck.

I probably listen to spotify more than most, last year I apparently listened to 134,584 minutes on spotify. It has everything I’ve ever wanted. I’m big into making trip playlists, work playlists, I have playlists for all sorts of stuff. I also love listing to full albums / discographies on there as well. Podcasts and shows of that sort are a huge bonus for me in spotify and may suit radio listeners better than others.

One major concern I have is streaming over spotify vs being able to download or cache aspects of my spotify library to the truck. My phone tells me I have 13.5gb of music downloaded from spotify alone.

I plan on taking this truck all the places I’ve taken my Outback, many of those places don’t have cell service. I may have to revert to streaming music via the spotify app on my phone via bluetooth if the truck doesn’t natively offer a similar feature. To me that’s a HUGE miss if Rivian didn’t (or isn’t able to) implement downloading / caching media from spotify.

Welp, you are going to be disappointed if you like to have things organized. I haven’t played with the latest minor update which is supposed to offer some improvement though

 

[MNLightning]

I've had SiriusXM in my car for about 5 years. I don't think I've listened to the radio for years.

Does anyone find Bluetooth streaming cumbersome? I like the satellite radio but I don't like screwing with it every time I get in and out of the car.

What's up with Spotify? Has anybody like, try that out because now it's in their car?

I think TuneIn might be okay but the graphics on the screen look like something my kid threw up in grade school.

Why does the radio sucks so bad?

What am I missing? Can anybody help me out to make life better?

I stream the XM app and Qobuz from my phone.
Yes the infotainment system is a huge letdown

 

[sickhews]

Welp, you are going to be disappointed if you like to have things organized. I haven’t played with the latest minor update which is supposed to offer some improvement though

Bummer. I’m fully expecting Rivian‘s infotainment system to be limited at first but one can only hope they improve and invest into it as time goes by.

It‘s still possible to stream bluetooth audio like in a typical vehicle, right? I’m hoping that’s the case..

 

[CommodoreAmiga]

It‘s still possible to stream bluetooth audio like in a typical vehicle, right? I’m hoping that’s the case..

It is possible. It's quite buggy, in my experience. But it technically has the feature.

Issues I see with bluetooth:

1. Bluetooth audio stutters and cuts out EVERY time I get in the truck. After a minute it settles in and works better. But that first song is a bad experience.
2. Album art is buggy. Sometimes it doesn't load, at all. Sometimes it loads the WRONG art.
3. Song info is buggy. Sometimes it will not update the song title. Sometimes it says the song is 23:59:59 long.

 

[sickhews]

It is possible. It's quite buggy, in my experience. But it technically has the feature.

Issues I see with bluetooth:

1. Bluetooth audio stutters and cuts out EVERY time I get in the truck. After a minute it settles in and works better. But that first song is a bad experience.
2. Album art is buggy. Sometimes it doesn't load, at all. Sometimes it loads the WRONG art.
3. Song info is buggy. Sometimes it will not update the song title. Sometimes it says the song is 23:59:59 long.

Ugh, that’s annoying to hear. Not the end of the world for me as I’m coming from a 2016 outback with basically the same issues on 2 & 3 in your list. One would expect a 2022 $75/80/90k truck to be better than that, but at least for my situation it won’t be a complete regression (just a lack of progress).

Definitely going to be embarrassing if friends and family see that though. At least with the R1T it can improve over time, unlike my Outback which is stuck in 2016!

 

[MNLightning]

I’ve had better luck than @CommodoreAmiga as I stream XM, Qobuz & TIDAL a lot and haven’t had many issues. I’m not a Spotify listener as their SQ isn’t a strong suit

 

[sickhews]

I’ve had better luck than @CommodoreAmiga as I stream XM, Qobuz & TIDAL a lot and haven’t had many issues. I’m not a Spotify listener as their SQ isn’t a strong suit

Hmm. Good to know! Helps to hear people are having different experiences. I’ve never had any complaints when streaming from spotify (from myself or others), but I also have my audio streaming quality set to “Very high”, bandwidth be damned.

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