Rivian Forums Owners Club - R1T Pickup and R1S SUV Forum
The Rivian Owners Forums are now back online! The forums were offline for awhile as can be seen by the legacy threads and member communications, but hopefully we can begin growing again and be a great outlet for all current and future Rivian owners without being force fed ads all in your face as other forums out there do.
CarPlay
- Thread starter North_Van
- Start date
I don’t think anything has been announced yet, but out of curiosity, why is this a “must have”? I’ve never used CarPlay, but I know in the Model X (all Teslas for that matter), everything is customizable and based on pictures I’ve seen of the Rivian- it will be the same.
Never used or fully understood the purpose of CarPlay either.
Guess I have yet to find out how to use the thing first.
I’ve been using CarPlay for a couple years now, and I’m hooked. Total integration with my iPhone for hands free and even screen free: Just hit the Siri button and you can have texts read back to you and reply, play anything on Apple Music, listen to podcasts, Audible audio books, and the phone interface is also flawless. The map interface is great, too — just tell Siri the address, or drive home, etc. It’s Apple - it just works and the UX is first rate.
I got tired of waiting for Toyota to support CarPlay so I could upgrade my Tacoma to the latest iteration (Entune is terrible), so I installed a Pioneer AVIC 8100NEX. Great rig, but will be upgrading to the 8400NEX as it supports Wireless CarPlay. I hear Toyota is finally getting around to waking up and having a CarPlay option, but too late for me - my next truck will be electric. My Tacoma has some good years in it left - I can wait...
I got tired of waiting for Toyota to support CarPlay so I could upgrade my Tacoma to the latest iteration (Entune is terrible), so I installed a Pioneer AVIC 8100NEX. Great rig, but will be upgrading to the 8400NEX as it supports Wireless CarPlay. I hear Toyota is finally getting around to waking up and having a CarPlay option, but too late for me - my next truck will be electric. My Tacoma has some good years in it left - I can wait...
That sounds nice- for Apple users, but Rivian could potentially alienate a good portion of their customers by installing something that is operating system specific like that. I own an iPhone, and I like the ease of use, but I also like the Tesla Linux interface that is completely customizable, voice activated (if I want it to be) and very user friendly. It also is not phone specific. Just my 2 cents though.
I’m only going by a few decks that I have seen, including my 8100 NEX, But CarPlay is just one feature of the system, it doesn’t replace the system as a CarPlay is just one “icon” on the main console. Just like “Android Auto” is another one, Sirius XM is another, etc. They all run on Linux (or some flavor of it), I believe.
CarPlay would definitely be nice, but not a requirement for me. I'm enjoying the Tesla interface even though I wish they would open it up a bit to trusted developers to add apps such as Pandora or Spotify for example. I do believe in due time it will happen and I would think Rivian would work with such developers to incorporate into their interface. Time will tell.
I think everyone has different phones and then within their different phones, they've got different apps. Take Tesla's implementation of Slacker. I have been with Slacker for years and absolutely love the service and will support Slacker always and forever (as one of the underdogs in music streaming). That being said, at least on the Model 3, the sound quality is TERRIBLE. What that means is that I end up connecting my phone through Bluetooth and using the Slacker app (which streams at 320 Kbps).
I'd rather Rivian do it how they want and give us options by way of Bluetooth. Then everyone gets what they want. I hope they have as intelligent a solution to docking/charging/displaying your phone as Tesla does in the Model 3.
I'd rather Rivian do it how they want and give us options by way of Bluetooth. Then everyone gets what they want. I hope they have as intelligent a solution to docking/charging/displaying your phone as Tesla does in the Model 3.
I don't mind giving up Carplay if the in house interface is up to par. I can't stand 90% of the tradition manufactures UI design.
Greatest thing about android auto and apple carplay is Waze displayed on your screen... love being able to see where people have marked cops on the highway.
Greatest thing about android auto and apple carplay is Waze displayed on your screen... love being able to see where people have marked cops on the highway.
Tesla provides some online music service (Slacker I believe), FM and satellite tuners (XM). Carplay is not, AFAIK, available on Tesla. And I believe that XM is not available on the 3 though it can be kluged up with blue ray/USB receivers. I hope that Rivien will, at least, supply the satellite and FM tuners. I have little doubt that some streaming service(s) will be made available. CarPlay seems most unattractive.
CarPlay is fantastic if you’ve never used it. It lets you use whatever you want including podcast and audiobook apps which are not great to control via Bluetooth. Then you aren’t dependent on the manufacturer to support YOUR preferred streaming service - you get them all and more.
I have Android Auto (AA) running on Pioneer decks in both my truck and Jeep. It would be great to have AA integration on the Rivian. At least for the use of the Navigation/traffic info Google provides with AA. If I can access traffic, phonebook and my music by voice control I will be happy.
Can't help but wonder how much Google support apps/services will be available in a Rivian EAV seeing that Amazon has invested $700m in Rivian.
Maybe, but they have worked together before. Amazon music is integrated in Android Auto. Google Navigation and Waze (also Google) are still the easiest ways to get real-time traffic.
The kicker with refusing to do Apple CarPlay and Android Auto support is that it is a customer-hostile stance. The implementation of either is trivial. 99% of what happens in Apple CarPlay and Android Auto happens on the phone and upgrades when you upgrade your phone. The infotainment system just acts like a dumb screen and sends inputs back to the phone. Both appear like an app in the infotainment system and within either there is an icon to go back to the standard infotainment system. Much easier than the Pandora implementations that proliferated a few years ago and certainly easier to implement than Sirius XM. I bought a cheap Alpine deck for my old 2008 Honda Accord and added Apple CarPlay and Android Auto for a few hundred dollars so the kids could inherit that car and have smartphone integration (and a backup camera).
So when Tesla (or previously Toyota) say they are not going to implement either Apple CarPlay or Android Auto they are telling their customers that they want to lock them in and force them to use the user interface that they provide. Elon Musk even talks about a Tesla App Store -- like somehow that is going to take off and make millions of dollars for him -- downloading games to your Tesla is a joke. You don't need games on your Tesla touch screen to pass the time while charging -- you already own a smartphone for games -- and you certainly cannot play games while driving. It is as annoying as Apple's iOS not letting change the default browser or mail client (which is supposedly changing in iOS 14 -- finally) -- but at least with iOS we are talking about a $1000 smartphone with a lifespan of 3 years -- not a $100,000 SUV with a lifespan of 8 to 10 years.
Customers who are dropping $40,000 to $120,000 on a new car should have the freedom to use full smartphone integration and not be trapped into the factory infotainment system for the sake capturing all their usage data. On the big Tesla screen you could even do smartphone integration on part of the screen and leave many of the native Tesla elements up on the screen.
Hopefully Rivian supports both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. And Porsche, if you are listening, you should add Android Auto support -- because you can and your cars are expensive.
So when Tesla (or previously Toyota) say they are not going to implement either Apple CarPlay or Android Auto they are telling their customers that they want to lock them in and force them to use the user interface that they provide. Elon Musk even talks about a Tesla App Store -- like somehow that is going to take off and make millions of dollars for him -- downloading games to your Tesla is a joke. You don't need games on your Tesla touch screen to pass the time while charging -- you already own a smartphone for games -- and you certainly cannot play games while driving. It is as annoying as Apple's iOS not letting change the default browser or mail client (which is supposedly changing in iOS 14 -- finally) -- but at least with iOS we are talking about a $1000 smartphone with a lifespan of 3 years -- not a $100,000 SUV with a lifespan of 8 to 10 years.
Customers who are dropping $40,000 to $120,000 on a new car should have the freedom to use full smartphone integration and not be trapped into the factory infotainment system for the sake capturing all their usage data. On the big Tesla screen you could even do smartphone integration on part of the screen and leave many of the native Tesla elements up on the screen.
Hopefully Rivian supports both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. And Porsche, if you are listening, you should add Android Auto support -- because you can and your cars are expensive.
I have stated many times on Electrek and InsideEVs that the Tesla infotainment system is not a selling point to most people because our phones already do far more, are cheaper, and are always with us. But nothing that is perceived as an "attack“ on Tesla is allowed there. I have been banned from both sites for stuff like stating the Taycan gets far more range than the EPA claims, and that it is a far better EV than the Model S.
