Software Team Needs a Revamp

[SeaDawgBob]

This is why I was hesitant to post anything here about this, because I've seen others in the past attack an OP if they dared say anything wrong about the vehicle. As I mentioned I love my R1S and is/was planning on getting an R2; with Rivian still on the brink we should be trying to assist and point out flaws, rather attack anyone who points them out. I mean yesterday when the Navi Bug hit, I had 2 other Tesla drivers with me and were really questioning the vehicle (Obviously Telsa has issues too but it wasn't a shining moment)

To answer some questions I am on 2025.14; In the past couple of months these are just the bugs I've had (also I've seen others have the same issues in various posts here, reddit, or FB group)


-Navi will zoom all the way out to show the entire US (This is what happened yesterday and was really frustrating as I was trying to find a charger), only way to fix it is reboot. This has happened to be 3x so far (I think since the update). This will happen to you soon unless its fixed in .18
- The brightness will go all the way down to the lowest setting even in the middle of the day. This bug has been reported by many, I've had it happen 2x so far. Again only way to fix it is a reboot
- I got a "tire pressure monitoring not working" error that I called to set an appointment with the SC and was told this is known error and reboot. I've gotten the error 3x so far in the past 2 months
-Apple Music isn't useless but trying to use that interface (as others have mentioned) is very laggy and has actually completely locked up my infotainment several times will driving (It then reboots but flying blind for a 1-2 minutes isn't the funnest thing)
- When using Driver+ I've run into a processing/memory bug where similar to apple music bug, where the entire system starts lagging and lagging until it reboots (while still using driver+ and you have to immediately take over) this has happened to be 3x so far
- Maybe a personal preference but having to make multiple clicks to the furthest part of the screen when you want to shuffle a playlist is a little crazy (there's no way this was beta tested)
- Regarding Text Messaging, I mean regardless if you would use it or not most cars can do this (i know many use AA or CP but still its been a thing forever), also Wassym has said this was coming years ago.


Yes, Rivian's software is superior to most other car manufacturers, but most customers don't use their cars software anymore, I would say the vast majority are using AA or CP (and I'm not calling for Rivian to use that, I'm just saying if you compare Rivian's software to CP or AA most (not all) would pick CP or AA.

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[Redline]

This is why I was hesitant to post anything here about this, because I've seen others in the past attack an OP if they dared say anything wrong about the vehicle. As I mentioned I love my R1S and is/was planning on getting an R2; with Rivian still on the brink we should be trying to assist and point out flaws, rather attack anyone who points them out. I mean yesterday when the Navi Bug hit, I had 2 other Tesla drivers with me and were really questioning the vehicle (Obviously Telsa has issues too but it wasn't a shining moment)

To answer some questions I am on 2025.14; In the past couple of months these are just the bugs I've had (also I've seen others have the same issues in various posts here, reddit, or FB group)


-Navi will zoom all the way out to show the entire US (This is what happened yesterday and was really frustrating as I was trying to find a charger), only way to fix it is reboot. This has happened to be 3x so far (I think since the update). This will happen to you soon unless its fixed in .18
- The brightness will go all the way down to the lowest setting even in the middle of the day. This bug has been reported by many, I've had it happen 2x so far. Again only way to fix it is a reboot
- I got a "tire pressure monitoring not working" error that I called to set an appointment with the SC and was told this is known error and reboot. I've gotten the error 3x so far in the past 2 months
-Apple Music isn't useless but trying to use that interface (as others have mentioned) is very laggy and has actually completely locked up my infotainment several times will driving (It then reboots but flying blind for a 1-2 minutes isn't the funnest thing)
- When using Driver+ I've run into a processing/memory bug where similar to apple music bug, where the entire system starts lagging and lagging until it reboots (while still using driver+ and you have to immediately take over) this has happened to be 3x so far
- Maybe a personal preference but having to make multiple clicks to the furthest part of the screen when you want to shuffle a playlist is a little crazy (there's no way this was beta tested)
- Regarding Text Messaging, I mean regardless if you would use it or not most cars can do this (i know many use AA or CP but still its been a thing forever), also Wassym has said this was coming years ago.


Yes, Rivian's software is superior to most other car manufacturers, but most customers don't use their cars software anymore, I would say the vast majority are using AA or CP (and I'm not calling for Rivian to use that, I'm just saying if you compare Rivian's software to CP or AA most (not all) would pick CP or AA.

Have you made any services requests for any of these issues?

 

[SeaDawgBob]

Also I agree calling for anyone to be fired probably wasn't a shining moment more out of frustration from all the bugs i face. I really wasn't expressing he (or anyone should be fired) but their release team (or whomever they use for Q/A and beta testing) isn't exactly crushing it right now

 

[dralanirusa]

I love my R1S but the only thing keeping me from getting another Rivian in the future is the software. There’s still way too many bugs at this stage of the vehicle’s lifespan. Not to mention the UI design and usability. I really feel like Rivian needs to make some tough staffing decisions in this department if they really want to take the next big step. Anyone else feel the same? Trying not to be a hater just trying to have an honest discussion.

The software on my Gen1 2023 R1T working just fine. I like it. Absolutely no bugs. Maybe your car system has some issues and needs to be addressed

 

[R1S88]

My software is also fine and I appreciate the pace of improvements. I'm sorry you're experiencing issues and I hope they get sorted quickly.

 

[VandalSibs]

... I really feel like Rivian needs to make some tough staffing decisions...

Also I wasn't calling for Wassym (or anyone) to be fired...

These statements are in direct conflict with each other.

Unless there is some other use of the phrase "tough staffing decisions" that isn't a euphemism for layoffs or firings...

 

[socaladam]

G2 R1S here.

We’ve only had a few issues with screen lockup, delayed response or no response from touching the screen.

However, the last update failed to update multiple times and once Rivian support was on the phone, there were unable to get me fixed up and suggested we take the S back to service (2 days after we picked it up from nearly 1 month in service).!By some miracle, the software installed that morning while we were sleeping.

Now ere are dealing with the suspension again not raising the vehicle to standard after the upgrade. I’ve started activating the logging and recording the date and time so they can have dev go through the debug stack.

 

[SeaDawgBob]

Yes, I agree I edited my reply, in my initial post it was more out of frustration and having a sleep to cool off changed my outlook. We still have issues at hand, and yes to the others have asked I was in the SC last week actually for the broken torsion rod and this is when i brought up the tire pressure monitor and the reboots and was told these are known issues that the software team is working to resolve in future updates...

 

[Dirtman]

I occasionally just use Siri, “hey siri Text _______.”

My software is stable and hasn’t been a problem. I believe I have rebooted twice but it wasn’t urgent and it was when I was in the garage.

The Navigation and interface are aesthetically pleasing but I do long for Apple Maps. It isn’t as responsive and voice recognition often misses the query and I end up typing My query.

This is why I was hesitant to post anything here about this, because I've seen others in the past attack an OP if they dared say anything wrong about the vehicle. As I mentioned I love my R1S and is/was planning on getting an R2; with Rivian still on the brink we should be trying to assist and point out flaws, rather attack anyone who points them out. I mean yesterday when the Navi Bug hit, I had 2 other Tesla drivers with me and were really questioning the vehicle (Obviously Telsa has issues too but it wasn't a shining moment)

To answer some questions I am on 2025.14; In the past couple of months these are just the bugs I've had (also I've seen others have the same issues in various posts here, reddit, or FB group)


-Navi will zoom all the way out to show the entire US (This is what happened yesterday and was really frustrating as I was trying to find a charger), only way to fix it is reboot. This has happened to be 3x so far (I think since the update). This will happen to you soon unless its fixed in .18
- The brightness will go all the way down to the lowest setting even in the middle of the day. This bug has been reported by many, I've had it happen 2x so far. Again only way to fix it is a reboot
- I got a "tire pressure monitoring not working" error that I called to set an appointment with the SC and was told this is known error and reboot. I've gotten the error 3x so far in the past 2 months
-Apple Music isn't useless but trying to use that interface (as others have mentioned) is very laggy and has actually completely locked up my infotainment several times will driving (It then reboots but flying blind for a 1-2 minutes isn't the funnest thing)
- When using Driver+ I've run into a processing/memory bug where similar to apple music bug, where the entire system starts lagging and lagging until it reboots (while still using driver+ and you have to immediately take over) this has happened to be 3x so far
- Maybe a personal preference but having to make multiple clicks to the furthest part of the screen when you want to shuffle a playlist is a little crazy (there's no way this was beta tested)
- Regarding Text Messaging, I mean regardless if you would use it or not most cars can do this (i know many use AA or CP but still its been a thing forever), also Wassym has said this was coming years ago.


Yes, Rivian's software is superior to most other car manufacturers, but most customers don't use their cars software anymore, I would say the vast majority are using AA or CP (and I'm not calling for Rivian to use that, I'm just saying if you compare Rivian's software to CP or AA most (not all) would pick CP or AA.

 

[ATLRivvy]

This is why I was hesitant to post anything here about this, because I've seen others in the past attack an OP if they dared say anything wrong about the vehicle. As I mentioned I love my R1S and is/was planning on getting an R2; with Rivian still on the brink we should be trying to assist and point out flaws, rather attack anyone who points them out. I mean yesterday when the Navi Bug hit, I had 2 other Tesla drivers with me and were really questioning the vehicle (Obviously Telsa has issues too but it wasn't a shining moment)

To answer some questions I am on 2025.14; In the past couple of months these are just the bugs I've had (also I've seen others have the same issues in various posts here, reddit, or FB group)


-Navi will zoom all the way out to show the entire US (This is what happened yesterday and was really frustrating as I was trying to find a charger), only way to fix it is reboot. This has happened to be 3x so far (I think since the update). This will happen to you soon unless its fixed in .18
- The brightness will go all the way down to the lowest setting even in the middle of the day. This bug has been reported by many, I've had it happen 2x so far. Again only way to fix it is a reboot
- I got a "tire pressure monitoring not working" error that I called to set an appointment with the SC and was told this is known error and reboot. I've gotten the error 3x so far in the past 2 months
-Apple Music isn't useless but trying to use that interface (as others have mentioned) is very laggy and has actually completely locked up my infotainment several times will driving (It then reboots but flying blind for a 1-2 minutes isn't the funnest thing)
- When using Driver+ I've run into a processing/memory bug where similar to apple music bug, where the entire system starts lagging and lagging until it reboots (while still using driver+ and you have to immediately take over) this has happened to be 3x so far
- Maybe a personal preference but having to make multiple clicks to the furthest part of the screen when you want to shuffle a playlist is a little crazy (there's no way this was beta tested)
- Regarding Text Messaging, I mean regardless if you would use it or not most cars can do this (i know many use AA or CP but still its been a thing forever), also Wassym has said this was coming years ago.


Yes, Rivian's software is superior to most other car manufacturers, but most customers don't use their cars software anymore, I would say the vast majority are using AA or CP (and I'm not calling for Rivian to use that, I'm just saying if you compare Rivian's software to CP or AA most (not all) would pick CP or AA.

FWIW - if you frequent any car forum you are going to hear the same or similar complaints about the UI in most any EV. My Mach-E went through bouts of resets (now resolved for me ), the Tesla Spotify app has sucked for many many years, and sensors even in Teslas do all kinds of random stuff.

I haven’t had most of the bugs you mentioned in my Gen2 R1S. But I will say the lack of text messaging at this point is a crazy miss by the team. Should have been a high priority feature from the outset

 

[Irish76]

I love my R1S but the only thing keeping me from getting another Rivian in the future is the software. There’s still way too many bugs at this stage of the vehicle’s lifespan. Not to mention the UI design and usability. I really feel like Rivian needs to make some tough staffing decisions in this department if they really want to take the next big step. Anyone else feel the same? Trying not to be a hater just trying to have an honest discussion.

As an 8 year former Tesla owner (3 &Y), and current ‘25 R1S owner, my opinion is that Rivian is much farther ahead in the SW development life cycle than Tesla was at this point. That should be expected, since they had a lot of lessons learned from Tesla. But they also don’t seem to reach beyond their current capabilities either. I had Teslas reboot while driving as well. Sure, there are lags and glitches, but they aren’t lying about FSD dates and touting capabilities they may never get. Rivian, on the other hand, with LIDAR, RADAR and 2x the # of cameras, just might. I frankly wouldn’t be a bit surprised if Rivian beats them to a level of autonomy that we all find acceptable. Hang in there. Rivian is committed. JMHO

 

[portdirect]

what, you don’t like your entertainment cluster fully rebooting while doing 70 down the highway?

Doesn’t need to be on public roads.

 

[Lark]

2025 Tri, after 6 months. Love the Rivian and think it is truly an amazing machine. Most of the time the software works without issue and when it does "Glitch" We have not had any safety issues.
There is certainly room for improvement in the interface and functionality. For me, It's the little things such as having to select the ac to see the fan to adjust the fan speed instead of having a split icon with fan and temp always on display. There are many functions like that that take two, three or more inputs before making the change you want to make. Though this is not a big deal when you become proficient, it is still inefficient and every second you interact with the interface is one taken from your focus on the environment around you.
Some of the functions/classifications in the interface also seem to be a little out of order to me as well. Being able to easily search on the main screen for anything, with an audio option without Alexis would be a nice feature.
Some other issues slightly off thread but in keeping with Kaizen/constant improvement of the car and company are things such as:
The car not identifying the correct driver (even when the other key holder is in another state).
The auto height adjusting up or down at the wrong time or direction.
Having an override available to adjust the AC, radio or other function in reverse, especially when a passenger wants to assist.
I could write far longer and much more passionately about the things we love about our R1s Tri and we still feel very fortunate to enjoy it every day.

 

[Bullwinkle]

I love my R1S but the only thing keeping me from getting another Rivian in the future is the software. There’s still way too many bugs at this stage of the vehicle’s lifespan. Not to mention the UI design and usability. I really feel like Rivian needs to make some tough staffing decisions in this department if they really want to take the next big step. Anyone else feel the same? Trying not to be a hater just trying to have an honest discussion.

I have a Gen 1 R1S and find the UI design fantastic. It is lauded as being among the best by most reviewers including Kyle at Out-of-Spec, who is probably the best and most experienced car geek in the world. Kyle has some pretty frank and critical opinions about cars he reviews including Rivian, but the UI has received high praise from him.

You may be the first person I have heard pan the overall UI ergonomics. VW thinks enough of Rivaian software integration to have invested billions. Do you have any specific complaints?

Occasional resets don't bother me and it has been 6 months since I have needed one.

 

[theonetruestripes]

This is exaggerated. Compared to every other vehicle manufacturer besides Tesla, Rivian's software is superior in every way.

Absolutely correct. So much so that Rivian is likely only afloat because of how much better their software is then VW’s and the CEO’s ability to sell access to that software to VW.

Every computer I've ever owned has required a reboot at least once a week. I don't see how this is unusual or unexpected.

As incorrect as the first statement was correct. I’m not even talking about Linux machines sitting on a shelf quietly doing work for years (or decades) without an unscheduled reboot, and months between scheduled reboots. I have a steam deck that has never glitched out and needed a reboot, it has been rebooted for a software update. Once (to be honest I’ve only owned it a month). I have a Mac that hasn’t rebooted itself or been rebooted by me to “fix stuff” since I bought it around a year ago. It replaces another that had a similar history for three years (replaced because it is my primary work computer and faster is better and I work for myself so I asked my boss to make me more productive since I’m his only employee...).

Computer systems can be made stable, and they can be made with very few bugs. Both things require a commitment that the industry leaders tend to lack.

I expect if Rivian wanted to make “reboots” a thing of the past they could focus on that and have it done in six months or so, but at the expense of basically anything else. Which might be a good tradeoff, except that very likely also includes “work they committed to do on behalf of VW” and given the size of VW’s loan/investments based on software I suspect that would end Rivian just as surly as if they decided to cancel the R2 and the public announcement was “because it doesn’t match my pants”.

Likewise if Rivian decided that making the infotainment system buttery smooth and instantly responsive (say 1/20th of a second response tip to any tap) they could make that happen as well. It would require a pause on other efforts and a commitment. The “other efforts” suffering from lack of attention would include bringup of the R2 and R3 software stacks and VW work. So that is a non-starter. However I think this at least could actually be done in parallel, but it would take a lot longer.

Personally as important as “the infotainment system should never crash while I’m driving” is, and as important as “it should never take so long to respond to a tap that I wonder if the infotainment system HAS crashed” both are, making the actual part of the software stack that controls the motors rock solid, and bringing it up for R2/R3 and VW are all more important.

Hell, making “Alexa navigate to McDonald’s in Darby VT” not decide some address in PA is the ideal target is arguably more important then a buttery smooth UI (for people unfamiliar with new england geography, Darby VT is in north east Vermont, PA isn’t even in New England, although it touched New England, and I was in north central VT when I asked for the route and at the time I was on a route that took me somewhere in north west VT, so this was a miss by hundreds of miles that should have been a fairly easy hit...and it wasn’t even an explicable miss like finding a McD’s close to my current position)

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