Roll Call for the App - Android versus iOS

[svet-am]

I'm interested in people weighing in on their mobile device platform of choice. For a long time I saw Rivian focused on iOS development based on job postings but recently I see more Android developer positions.

What is the general demographic of this community? Is it split roughtly 50/50 like the larger populace or does this population skew one way or the other.

I'm also interested in the perspective of Tesla owners on how the Android / iOS apps differ in function.

I'll start - I'm currently an iOS user (though I was a long-time Android user going back to the original Google Nexus One). All things being equal I'd like to go back to Android when my current device warranty is up.

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[skyote]

You could actually start a poll, which would keep track automatically.

Android mobiles, Mac computers.

 

[svet-am]

You could actually start a poll, which would keep track automatically.

Android mobiles, Mac computers.

I tried and couldn't figure it out. It wasnt in any of the option I saw access to. Perhaps I don't have an "established" enough profile. If someone else wants to start one, I'd support it and kill this thread.

 

[R_1_T]

I'm going to say I don't care. I'd prefer an option that would disable all connectivity to the outside world.

 

[Attesan997]

My $.02 is it shouldn't matter. For a company entering the market in 2021 it's a lot easier to imagine an app experience on Android or iOS that will satisfy most people who choose to use it. There's been tons of feedback on how much people wish the Tesla app did this or that, so much so there's several paid companion apps out there. Even outside of the EV space many traditional auto manufacturers have decent enough apps to start and preconidtion. Duplicating Tesla functionality on iOS and Android should be table stakes at this point considering the product is more than $70k.

 

[electruck]

Even within my household we are split 50/50. I am on Android and my wife on iOS and that's not likely to ever change.

 

[CommodoreAmiga]

We're heavily invested in the Apple ecosystem, at this point. Computers, phones, tablets, watches, headphones... It'd be too hard to get out. Actually, the phones/tablets/watches are the primary reason I ended up with another Mac laptop instead of switching back to PC. Switching would have saved me a lot of money and opened up some gaming options that I'd like... But the integration between Apple devices was ultimately too good to lose.

I sincerely hope that Rivian offers first-class apps for both iOS and Android. Both platforms are too popular to ignore, and I hate the idea of an auto manufacturer trying to dictate what platform I use.

Same logic, for me, with Spotify. I anxiously await the day Rivian chooses to share their infotainment system with us... I don't use Spotify and I have zero interest in doing so. I don't want Rivian to dictate to me how I listen to music.

 

[svet-am]

Same logic, for me, with Spotify. I anxiously await the day Rivian chooses to share their infotainment system with us... I don't use Spotify and I have zero interest in doing so. I don't want Rivian to dictate to me how I listen to music.

I don't want to derail my own thread but I am also _very_ interested in the audio system. I want to be able to have a USB stick with my own content and play from that. In particular, I would like the system to support 5.1 surround AAC files. I tried asking Rivian CS about this and I got the typical s00n response.

 

[irish26]

iOS currently has about 57% of the total U.S. market. Also, the share of iPhone users increases as you increase household income. Considering these are luxury vehicles, I would expect iOS to be more popular than Android.

 

[SoCal Rob]

I'm interested in people weighing in on their mobile device platform of choice. For a long time I saw Rivian focused on iOS development based on job postings but recently I see more Android developer positions.

What is the general demographic of this community? Is it split roughtly 50/50 like the larger populace or does this population skew one way or the other.

I'm also interested in the perspective of Tesla owners on how the Android / iOS apps differ in function.

I'll start - I'm currently an iOS user (though I was a long-time Android user going back to the original Google Nexus One). All things being equal I'd like to go back to Android when my current device warranty is up.

I think that with Android and iOS as the two dominant smartphone OSes, the only viable option is to release both versions of the app simultaneously. Anything else is just asking for more “us vs. them” sniping and I, for one, would rather focus on commonality than difference.

 

[crashmtb]

I don't want to derail my own thread but I am also _very_ interested in the audio system. I want to be able to have a USB stick with my own content and play from that. In particular, I would like the system to support 5.1 surround AAC files. I tried asking Rivian CS about this and I got the typical s00n response.

FWIW when I asked about being able to play audio from a USB stick they couldn't say, but did mention there was an upcoming blog post which will go over the entertainment system in detail. Wonder when that will be.

 

[Jay]

I don't use Spotify and I have zero interest in doing so. I don't want Rivian to dictate to me how I listen to music.

Same here. I don't use Spotify at all. I use YouTube music for which I pay premium. Doesn't make any sense for me to pay to YouTube and again pay for Spotify premium just to avoid ads while listening to music in Rivian. Wish they allow us to download the yt music app or any other like pandora eventually.

 

[svet-am]

I think that with Android and iOS as the two dominant smartphone OSes, the only viable option is to release both versions of the app simultaneously. Anything else is just asking for more “us vs. them” sniping and I, for one, would rather focus on commonality than difference.

To be clear, my friends with Teslas said the Android app was less feature rich than the iOS version. I've also seen this in other cases where an app is available on both platforms. That's all I am trying to understand.

 

[Babbuino]

FWIW when I asked about being able to play audio from a USB stick they couldn't say, but did mention there was an upcoming blog post which will go over the entertainment system in detail. Wonder when that will be.

Soon...

 

[electruck]

To be clear, my friends with Teslas said the Android app was less feature rich than the iOS version. I've also seen this in other cases where an app is available on both platforms. That's all I am trying to understand.

That's a poor reflection on Tesla that they choose to focus more on one platform than the other. I would be curious to know exactly what features are available with iOS that aren't with Android. If Rivian doesn't provide nearly full parity between mobile platforms, it could very well be a deal breaker for me.

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