TuneIn: I have Questions

[PappaBolt]

Having used TuneIn for a few weeks I have few questions based on my experience thus far. Let’s not debate cell vs satellite vs XM vs CarPlay. Lots of discussion on that elsewhere.

So with TuneIn a few Q’s:

1. Is the default app experience the paid premium experience (commercial free)? I don’t recall creating an account yet I can listen to ad-free channels
2. Any advantage to creating an account and starting a paid subscription?
3. Is there a setting for streaming quality (similar to Spotify)?
4. Are there features in the Apple/Android app that weren’t implemented in the Rivian app?
5. If I leave/lock the vehicle while TuneIn is streaming, what happens to the buffer while I’m gone? Does it fill and time out or pause and resume? Is ghost streaming still occurring?

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[RivianMN]

1. I don't remember if I created an account or not, but some of the channels do have commercials from time to time. It's not very common, though.
2. Not sure.
3. I have not seen any setting like this.
4. I'm sure there are, but I don't know.
5. The buffer remains until you get back in the truck. It pauses while the truck is "off". Then when the buffer runs out, there is this jarring switch to the middle of a new song which is likely in the middle of a song you want to hear to the end.

The TuneIn integration can use some work, but it's what I listen to most of the time (and I even have a Spotify account). For instance, the displayed album cover is often for the "next" song.. and sometimes it's not for a song that has been played or will be played. It's strange.

 

[COdogman]

Having used TuneIn for a few weeks I have few questions based on my experience thus far. Let’s not debate cell vs satellite vs XM vs CarPlay. Lots of discussion on that elsewhere.

So with TuneIn a few Q’s:

1. Is the default app experience the paid premium experience (commercial free)? I don’t recall creating an account yet I can listen to ad-free channels
2. Any advantage to creating an account and starting a paid subscription?
3. Is there a setting for streaming quality (similar to Spotify)?
4. Are there features in the Apple/Android app that weren’t implemented in the Rivian app?
5. If I leave/lock the vehicle while TuneIn is streaming, what happens to the buffer while I’m gone? Does it fill and time out or pause and resume? Is ghost streaming still occurring?

1. The unpaid version has some with ads and some without. Premium has no ads.
2. I actually started the premium a few months ago to try it out and it does get you access to more news and sports channels, as well as some additional music. I think it's worth it, depending on what you listen to.
https://tunein.com/radio/premium/
3. Yes, the app allows you to choose between highest/ standard/ lowest quality audio.
4. I haven't tried the Rivian app yet so I don't know.
5. If I leave my phone in my truck with TuneIn open and streaming to run into a store or something, it picks up where I left off when I get back in and turn the truck on again, provided I don't close out the app. Since I don't have my Rivian yet I don't know how their app would behave.

 

[PappaBolt]

1. The unpaid version has some with ads and some without. Premium has no ads.
2. I actually started the premium a few months ago to try it out and it does get you access to more news and sports channels, as well as some additional music. I think it's worth it, depending on what you listen to.
https://tunein.com/radio/premium/
3. Yes, the app allows you to choose between highest/ standard/ lowest quality audio.
4. I haven't tried the Rivian app yet so I don't know.
5. If I leave my phone in my truck with TuneIn open and streaming to run into a store or something, it picks up where I left off when I get back in and turn the truck on again, provided I don't close out the app. Since I don't have my Rivian yet I don't know how their app would behave.

It is odd to see the title of the next track displayed instead of the one currently playing. I’m not sure what the intent is if the current track is one I want to listen to. I’m not going to preemptively change channels.

The buffering between drive cycles is just weird. A jarring shift in tracks when returning to the vehicle.

I also experience frequent streaming stops when changing channels. Buffering breaks and nothing but time broken will eventually fix it. It starts working again next drive cycle.

 

[COdogman]

It is odd to see the title of the next track displayed instead of the one currently playing. I’m not sure what the intent is if the current track is one I want to listen to. I’m not going to preemptively change channels.

The buffering between drive cycles is just weird. A jarring shift in tracks when returning to the vehicle.

I also experience frequent streaming stops when changing channels. Buffering breaks and nothing but time broken will eventually fix it. It starts working again next drive cycle.

I really have only used it to listen to sports or news so I haven’t experienced the next track issue. But it sounds like the Rivian app’s UI looks different from what I see using TuneIn on CarPlay in my Tacoma.

I do experience the streaming freezes or stops sometimes. Seems like if I hit a dead spot it has trouble picking up again after.

I decided to try the Premium since Rivian doesn’t have Sirius and those are the things I usually would use it for. It’s obviously not the same thing and the drops do make it a bit of a pain. Overall for the price I think it’s ok. It’s not really fair to compare it to satellite radio anyway.

 

[EVTrukHog]

I've never used TuneIn either until receiving the Rivian. Is there a setting to disable the function where it stops the streaming upon vehicle shut-off and then resumes it hours later upon restart? On a news channel, it is difficult to know whether you're listening to live broadcast or a delayed stream...

 

[COdogman]

I've never used TuneIn either until receiving the Rivian. Is there a setting to disable the function where it stops the streaming upon vehicle shut-off and then resumes it hours later upon restart? On a news channel, it is difficult to know whether you're listening to live broadcast or a delayed stream...

in the phone app it has an “autoplay” setting that says to “turn ON to resume your last stream when TuneIn launches” which leads me to believe turning it off would prevent that from happening.

I don’t know what settings they have in the Rivian app.

 

[PappaBolt]

in the phone app it has an “autoplay” setting that says to “turn ON to resume your last stream when TuneIn launches” which leads me to believe turning it off would prevent that from happening.

I don’t know what settings they have in the Rivian app.

I don’t believe that setting was implemented in Rivian’s version of the app

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