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Rivian should focus on features that set them apart from the rest of the industry, not AA/CP.

chandlerr85

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AA ran horribly in the Hummer EV. But yeah, go legacy manufacturers I guess.



Absolutely huge difference between taking a radio off the dash looking for a hardwired input to adapt versus what I'm suggesting. I've got friends that would be capable of doing what I'm suggesting, but they're not the type that would care enough about being able to use their phone on the screen either.
ok that's fair, I also have a background in systems engineering, work as a systems integrator, done a decent amount of electrical work, and built/repaired my own cars and computers for the last 20 years. I'm probably decently capable of taking it apart and trying to figure it out. The point remains, I still wouldn't attempt it because I do not have the time/resources (money) to correct any mistake I might make.
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ok that's fair, I also have a background in systems engineering, work as a systems integrator, done a decent amount of electrical work, and built/repaired my own cars and computers for the last 20 years. I'm probably decently capable of taking it apart and trying to figure it out. The point remains, I still wouldn't attempt it because I do not have the time/resources (money) to correct any mistake I might make.
Basically, I expect that the Rivian uses an LCD panel that has a bog-standard LVDS connector on it and something overlaying the screen that produces touch input. Depending on the controller board driving the panel, there might be a way to solder an extra port onto the board to drive it with your own input source. An alternative might be replacing the driver board completely and having a way to switch between them. Both of these things are way above my head, but some of my EE friends could probably pull it off.

I looked through FCC's applications but couldn't find anything for Rivian's headunit at all. Also haven't seen photos of one pulled apart (those are usually in the FCC certification documents). So it's probably produced by someone else.
 

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So back to the AA in the Rivian thing, you guys keep coming up with ridiculous arguments based on resource allocation assumptions to keep arguing against Rivian putting AA/CP in the truck. If all the software challenged legacy auto companies can integrate it, you don't think Rivian could easily do it as well?
Google and Apple spend lots of money employing engineers, architects, project managers and consultants to work directly with those software challenged automakers to get AA/CP integrated. (Red flag #1)

But again, what Rivian says about their intentions:
Over-the-air updates continuously enhance your drive, updating everything from driving dynamics to the entertainment on your touchscreen.
 
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Getting back to the original point of the thread: "Rivian should focus on features that set them apart from the rest of the industry, not AA/CP" that seems to be contradictory statement. Do we want them to spend time on features that set them apart, or do we want them spending time re-inventing the wheel with spending development time on building text integrations, Apple Music integration, ABRP Integrations, etc. Those are conflicting priorities given they have a limited number of developers.

We can't compare Tesla to Rivian in this instance because AA/CP didn't exist when Tesla started. People were okay with not having basic features like text integrations because it wasn't available at all on any platform, so it was revolutionary. Now it's expected (much like adaptive cruise is expected in a 50K+ vehicle) and is a pretty bad look for Rivian to not have basic features like text integration. The vast majority of people are going to get into it, ask where there text messages are and laugh when being told it's not supported. We (the collective we, as in all of us on this forum) are excluded from that because we're early adapters. But if they want to compete with companies like Tesla and Ford, then the general public is going to expect these things.

I want Rivian to do things that set it apart like Tank turn, and other very useful features. I don't want them spending years rebuilding a text integration that already exists in the world and can easily be adapted into the infotainment.
 

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Getting back to the original point of the thread: "Rivian should focus on features that set them apart from the rest of the industry, not AA/CP" that seems to be contradictory statement. Do we want them to spend time on features that set them apart, or do we want them spending time re-inventing the wheel with spending development time on building text integrations, Apple Music integration, ABRP Integrations, etc. Those are conflicting priorities given they have a limited number of developers.
I disagree that they are contradictory at all. Those are third party apps and the primary workload should be born by the third party if they want them to exist on Rivian's infotainment system. Since it's not a completely custom rolled operating system, it's probably not going to be incredibly difficult for the app developers to do the integration, they will just have to conform to Rivian's style guidelines. That Tesla now has a native Apple Music app says a lot here.
 
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We can't compare Tesla to Rivian in this instance because AA/CP didn't exist when Tesla started. People were okay with not having basic features like text integrations because it wasn't available at all on any platform, so it was revolutionary. Now it's expected (much like adaptive cruise is expected in a 50K+ vehicle) and is a pretty bad look for Rivian to not have basic features like text integration. The vast majority of people are going to get into it, ask where there text messages are and laugh when being told it's not supported. We (the collective we, as in all of us on this forum) are excluded from that because we're early adapters. But if they want to compete with companies like Tesla and Ford, then the general public is going to expect these things.

I want Rivian to do things that set it apart like Tank turn, and other very useful features. I don't want them spending years rebuilding a text integration that already exists in the world and can easily be adapted into the infotainment.
I thought I was going to miss not having text messaging integration, or other app notifications, but it's so nice not to be constantly bombarded by unimportant things while I'm driving these days.
 

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I disagree that they are contradictory at all. Those are third party apps and the primary workload should be born by the third party if they want them to exist on Rivian's infotainment system. Since it's not a completely custom rolled operating system, it's probably not going to be incredibly difficult for the app developers to do the integration, they will just have to conform to Rivian's style guidelines. That Tesla now has a native Apple Music app says a lot here.
It took Tesla, a company with a massive dev team and over 10 years of experience, a ridiculously long time to add Apple Music support instead of just adding screen projection that would have enabled that and several others. Still no Apple Podcasts support. No Amazon or YouTube Music apps.

If Rivian did open up their platform to specific third parties why would they spend time developing an app for a platform with limited reach/appeal?
 

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....the primary workload should be born by the third party if they want them to exist on Rivian's infotainment system...
What market share does Rivian have to dictate that? Apple/Audible/insert streaming service here doesn't need Rivian, but Rivian is constantly getting black eyes from the media because they don't support basic features. Tesla is large enough that they can probably swing their market share around and use it as leverage, but Rivian has none.

If I'm Audible, i'm sure as hell not going to spend time building anything on Rivian's system until they can develop an SDK and a best practices at a bare minimum, and even then why spend money on it when it's Rivian that needs it?

So yeah, for the foreseeable future it is going to be on Rivian to spend R&D time on building these apps. If they want to control the entire UX, then they have to control it top to bottom and it's going to take development time from other things that would be unique compared to others.
 
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What market share does Rivian have to dictate that? Apple/Audible/insert streaming service here doesn't need Rivian, but Rivian is constantly getting black eyes from the media because they don't support basic features. Tesla is large enough that they can probably swing their market share around and use it as leverage, but Rivian has none.

If I'm Audible, i'm sure as hell not going to spend time building anything on Rivian's system until they can develop an SDK and a best practices at a bare minimum, and even then why spend money on it when it's Rivian that needs it?

So yeah, for the foreseeable future it is going to be on Rivian to spend R&D time on building these apps. If they want to control the entire UX, then they have to control it top to bottom and it's going to take development time from other things that would be unique compared to others.
You're just making assumptions in this space as much as I am. Neither of us have proof of what Rivian is or isn't willing to do or what is or isn't required from a third party.
 

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You're just making assumptions in this space as much as I am. Neither of us have proof of what Rivian is or isn't willing to do or what is or isn't required from a third party.
Here's what I know about Tune-In's integration:

https://audioxpress.com/news/new-tu...ases-the-future-of-mobile-audio-entertainment

"We are incredibly excited to be adding Rivian to our existing lineup of automotive and connected car technology partners," says Richard Stern, CEO of TuneIn. "At TuneIn, we’re working with the world’s most innovative automotive companies to reinvent radio and live premium audio entertainment for the connected car. Our deep partnerships in the automotive industry enable drivers to discover and access the best audio content from around the world, directly through their dashboard, via a simple touch or voice command via Alexa.”

Harman and TuneIn joined forces to create a pre-integrated implementation of the TuneIn service, to Harman's Ignite Store, a connected vehicle platform that enables automakers to develop, manage and operate their own in-vehicle app store.
It's a bit curious that they'd get off track about Rivian to start talking about this app store from Harman. Other news sources seem to reference the same store that I hadn't heard of and really don't feel like digging down the rabbit hole of right now, but...

https://car.harman.com/solutions/harman-ignite
 

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Here's what I know about Tune-In's integration:

https://audioxpress.com/news/new-tu...ases-the-future-of-mobile-audio-entertainment



It's a bit curious that they'd get off track about Rivian to start talking about this app store from Harman. Other news sources seem to reference the same store that I hadn't heard of and really don't feel like digging down the rabbit hole of right now, but...

https://car.harman.com/solutions/harman-ignite
The other tidbit of info regarding the tune-in app is that according to Tune-in themselves, Rivian built it. They (tune-in) didn't build it:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/edgars...other-evolution-of-car-radio/?sh=60718d5413b3
“Rivian shares a very similar philosophy to say they wanted to have a live audio experience in the vehicle that reflected the design sensibility and the advanced technology of the vehicle, so they built a beautiful experience,” explained Stern. “We power it. They're using our APIs and our technology and access to our catalog but inside the cabin the user experience they built is probably one of the most beautiful radio experiences I've ever seen.”
 

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It took Tesla, a company with a massive dev team and over 10 years of experience, a ridiculously long time to add Apple Music support instead of just adding screen projection that would have enabled that and several others. Still no Apple Podcasts support. No Amazon or YouTube Music apps.

If Rivian did open up their platform to specific third parties why would they spend time developing an app for a platform with limited reach/appeal?
To add to this point, and something I forgot to mention, but might've been mentioned elsewhere in this thread is there is no comparison between Tesla's navigation and Google's navigation, and this is simply due to the amount of resources Google allocates to maps. I would imagine Rivian is behind Tesla in this regard as well. But with AA integration, this would be an immediate upgrade to one of the most widely used aspects of the infotainment system.
 

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Let’s go with the thread topic. Only focus on features that differentiate Rivian. Here’s a list of features common to most manufacturers they should get rid of so they can focus on being unique:

Radio
Bluetooth
Air suspension
Heated seats
Air conditioning
Automatic headlights
Auto wipers
Driver+
CarPlay

I’m sure I’ve missed a few.

While were at it, trucks and SUVs are so yesterday. I think they should focus on flying unicorns.
 
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To add to this point, and something I forgot to mention, but might've been mentioned elsewhere in this thread is there is no comparison between Tesla's navigation and Google's navigation, and this is simply due to the amount of resources Google allocates to maps. I would imagine Rivian is behind Tesla in this regard as well. But with AA integration, this would be an immediate upgrade to one of the most widely used aspects of the infotainment system.
Despite having what is widely regarded as the most feature-rich and well-developed infotainment system, there is still consumer demand for CarPlay in Teslas: https://carlinkitcarplay.com/products/carlinkit-t2c-tesla-wireless-apple-carplay-adapter
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