When will Rivian get CarPlay? Need better Nav and hands free text

[perk13]

Rivian needs to get CarPlay STAT (and whatever non-apple analogue). The Rivian NAV is truly terrible. Right now we have to use the Rivian cartography just to have the map on the screen but have Apple Maps narrate through the phone, which is cloogey and distracting. Also need hands free text narration, this is basic safety functionality.

We got our R1S in April and were shocked that it doesn’t have CarPlay and text narration like every other car does. We travel a lot so we’re in rental cars a couple times a month, which serves as a large sample size for comparison. CarPlay is ideal because you just plug in and go without having to learn any car’s own Nav.

The Rivian is great to drive, we’re happy to be part of the revolution and we’re trying to be a good sport while it grows up.

CarPlay is the buy vs build decision we all learned in business school: build what your competitive advantage is and buy what isn’t. They make a great car that needs to prioritize engineering core functionality and reliability, they shouldn’t make their own Nav in the same way they shouldn’t make their own tires or paper clips at HQ.

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[savethemanual]

Obviously you are new around here , this topic has been brought up numerous times.

Long story short, it's NOT going to happen. Surprised you purchased without knowing this if it's that important to you.

 

[cbrcanuck]

Welcome to the forum. The search function is your friend. Ignore most of the flood of responses you’re about to get!

 

[EVTrukHog]

solid first post!

 

[wicked2112]

Rivian needs to get CarPlay STAT (and whatever non-apple analogue). The Rivian NAV is truly terrible. Right now we have to use the Rivian cartography just to have the map on the screen but have Apple Maps narrate through the phone, which is cloogey and distracting. Also need hands free text narration, this is basic safety functionality.

We got our R1S in April and were shocked that it doesn’t have CarPlay and text narration like every other car does. We travel a lot so we’re in rental cars a couple times a month, which serves as a large sample size for comparison. CarPlay is ideal because you just plug in and go without having to learn any car’s own Nav.

The Rivian is great to drive, we’re happy to be part of the revolution and we’re trying to be a good sport while it grows up.

CarPlay is the buy vs build decision we all learned in business school: build what your competitive advantage is and buy what isn’t. They make a great car that needs to prioritize engineering core functionality and reliability, they shouldn’t make their own Nav in the same way they shouldn’t make their own tires or paper clips at HQ.

RUT ROW SHAGGY!!! ITS A NEW PERSON AND THEY WANT APPLE CAR PLAY!!! WELCOME AND SORRY FOR WHAT COMES NEXT!

 

[Zorg]

Dead horse is back!!

 

[9527]

If CarPlay is so important, I’m surprised you found out the car does not have it AFTER you’ve taken delivery.

Perhaps the business school should also teach what the product has to offer before one commits to purchase?

 

[Rivian-E]

Oh no...this thread is quickly going to devolve into chaos!

Honestly, not having CarPlay is NOT that big of a deal. I've had my R1S for a month and have quickly gotten over it.

 

[Southern R1S]

When will Rivian get CarPlay

Tomorrow

(But seriously, since you're new here & we generally like to help out / you may have not known this is a hand grenade of a topic, something like the aftermarket EV Sportsline Kit (link) is the closest you're probably ever going to get on a Rivian. Keep in mind that's just a relatively generic dash screen & you're mostly paying for the custom bracket, so there's cheaper options if you want to DIY and it's never going to look clean in a $75K+ vehicle).

 

[ndmiller]

I've been using waze and text fine with my phone using siri for the last year. EZPZ, but not a huge texter when I drive. Can have siri read me texts and respond perfectly fine when necessary.

CarPlay is just the default answer, yet buggy as hell without a standard experience. Try renting a vehicle (or loaner car)...is it wireless, plug in? Did you bring the correct plug (USB-A or C)? A popular but total mess just like getting dropped calls or lousy connection on your cellphone. Maybe better than Rivian OEM or Tesla, but still pretty lousy.

 

[Hereforthesnacks]

As much as I love making fun of Rivian for no CarPlay, another thread on this will kill me.

 

[Zoidz]

 

[Dark-Fx]

Oi, there's a dead horse here that needs some beating!

 

[ThirteenElectrics]

Despite almost all decent cars offering CarPlay, Rivian will not. It’s the same pig headedness which has caused them to lose twenty two billion dollars. It turns out it that when one person has voting control of the company (RJ), you have a corporate governance disaster which leads to idiocy like this (in this case, blindly copying Tesla).

I bought two CarpodGo T3 Pro units for both Rivians and have been quite pleased with their CarPlay performance. The one downside is that Apple Music on the iPhone won’t stream Spatial Audio over Bluetooth but the infotainment system will.

 

[entsurv]

THIS! is the reason I come to rivianforums.

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