Legacy carmakers may have struggled to build new and user-friendly software for their vehicles, but a crop of new car companies have come along with different ideas on how car software should be approached. The likes of Tesla and, more recently, Rivian are just as much tech companies as they are car companies, putting a heavy emphasis on the software in their vehicles and how it can be improved in the wider automotive industry. And traditional carmakers are taking notice. Rivian and Volkswagen just signed a big deal to create next-generation software platforms, a move that’s likely to benefit Volkswagen a whole lot.
So, when Rivian executives constantly get asked about adding CarPlay to their vehicles, it makes sense that the answer is a resounding “no.” Rivian has invested in its software, and it doesn’t want to hand over that aspect of the driver experience to the likes of Apple and Google. Customers still regularly ask for CarPlay, but I don’t see Rivian ever adding Apple’s automotive infotainment system. And after test driving a second-generation Rivian R1S for a week, I’m OK with that.
Rivian may not ever add CarPlay, but I don’t really think it needs to.
The Rivian software experience
The biggest reason why I don’t care if Rivian never adds CarPlay to its vehicles is the fact that Rivian’s software is actually quite good. Now, to be clear, the car industry in general is still figuring out exactly what makes car software great, and I think even the Rivian software of 2030 is likely to be a whole lot different than it is today. But at least compared to almost every other automaker, Rivian’s infotainment software is excellent.
The main interface that you’ll likely spend time with in your Rivian is the map interface. From here, it’s easy to search for locations, add stops along the way, and follow directions. The way that Rivian’s maps zoom in and out when you get close to turns has been deemed confusing by other automotive journalists, but I didn’t really have that experience. I found it perfectly intuitive. But the best thing about the map isn’t that it’s a good mapping system; it’s the fact that it still allows you to easily access other controls and settings with a simple tap. Media playback controls can be found on the display itself, along with information like album art or whatever podcast you’re listening to. Initially, I didn’t love the fact that the media controls on the display were all the way on the right of the screen, but after a day or two of driving the R1S, I got used to using the controls on the steering wheel instead, and it made a whole lot more sense.
The other main interfaces in the software of second-generation Rivian vehicles are the media interface, which allows you to control EQ and audio settings; the car information interface, which lets you change drive modes and see information about things like tire pressure and energy consumption; and the camera interface, which can easily be accessed by tapping the camera button and kicks in automatically when you put the car in reverse.
Another component of what makes Rivian software so great is that it’s so tied to you as the driver. All kinds of presets can be saved in the software, including things like seat position, which isn’t that uncommon, but also things like fan position, which is very uncommon. The drawback to having motorized fan positioning is the fact that you have to control it from inside the screen. But when it’s always set to your preferences, you may not need to control it at all.
To be clear, even Rivian’s second-generation software isn’t perfect. It’s nice that there are always controls for climate temperature on the display, but I would have also liked constant access to fan speed, which you’ll have to open a menu to access, for example.
iPhone integration
Coming from driving cars with CarPlay, I was a little concerned about how the Rivian software would integrate with the rest of the software I use on a day-to-day basis. However, I found it very easy to get used to controlling aspects of Rivian software straight from my phone. That starts with the Rivian app, which is slightly bare-bones, but very easy to navigate. It offers a solid selection of features to those who want to be able to control their vehicle remotely. From the Rivian app, you can access information like the location of your car and its charging status, but you can also initiate cooling or heating so that the vehicle is comfortable when you get in. And you can open and close the tailgate and the front trunk.
Your phone even serves as a key to the vehicle, meaning that you don’t have to actually carry keys with you to drive it. As someone who already uses a smart lock for my front door and Apple Wallet for my credit cards, this meant that I didn’t have to take anything with me except for my phone — along with a few credits cards for backup and my driver’s license attached to the back of my phone with a MagSafe wallet. Generally, the R1S unlocked automatically when it detected my phone nearby. However, you will have to keep the Rivian app open in the background, and from time to time, you may find that it doesn’t unlock quite as quickly. These few instances were a little annoying, but not a major issue.
I also really like the widget that accompanies the Rivian app. This widget offers quick access to things like climate settings, as well as opening and closing the tailgate and front trunk. Plus, it’ll show charging status. I did find that this widget was occasionally not the most responsive, but to be fair, I’m also running an iOS 18 beta, so it’s a little unclear what’s to blame for that.
In CarPlay, I’m used to opening up a map on my phone and starting navigation before I even get in the car. And while you can’t do that exactly with a car like the Rivian R1S, you can open up Apple Maps on an iPhone and share the destination to your Rivian through the iPhone’s share menu. It worked seamlessly every time and meant that as soon as I got in the car, it was ready to navigate. And, when it came to media playback, all I had to do was get in the car and press play on the steering wheel to keep playing my latest podcasts — though for anything that isn’t already playing on your device, you will have to use Siri or your phone itself to start playback. That will change a little when the announced Apple Music app is released to Rivian vehicles later this year — though it won’t help with my podcast addiction.
What will you miss?
Of course, there are still things that you’ll miss in Rivian software if you move from a vehicle with CarPlay. Perhaps the biggest of these relates to messages. In CarPlay, when you get a message, a notification pops up on the screen that you can tap to have Siri read it to you. No such thing happens on a Rivian, of course, because your phone is really only connected to the car through Bluetooth, and Apple’s Announce Notifications feature only works with AirPods. This isn’t as big of a problem when you want to send a message, as you can simply ask Siri to do so. But when you receive a response, you’re out of luck. Even if Announce Notifications did work on basic Bluetooth connections, I’m not sure I’d want to use it, as it would mean having Siri automatically read messages as they come in, even when others are in the vehicle.
Using Siri for other things also doesn’t work all that well in Rivian vehicles. You can use hot words to activate Siri, but there are no buttons that can trigger the voice assistant, unlike plenty of other Bluetooth devices out there. This seems like an issue that could be resolved, and to be fair, it’s not a major problem considering the fact that you can still activate Siri with your voice, and you’re going to have to use your voice to make the command anyway. But, Siri is a little slow over Bluetooth, compared to in CarPlay.
There are other small things that you’ll miss too. My wife and I regularly use the Share ETA feature in Apple Maps, but of course, you won’t be using Apple Maps when you’re driving a Rivian, so you won’t have access to that feature. Instead, you’re back to the good old days of simply telling people when you expect to arrive over text message or phone call. This actually seems like something Rivian and others could find a workaround for, such as through a service that messages recipients with updates to an ETA.
The future of car software
More and more drivers want to use CarPlay, but over time, it’s actually more likely that more automakers will do away with support for it. Whether or not this is a good idea hinges completely on the carmaker’s ability to actually build good software. GM, for example, announced that it was moving away from CarPlay last year, and that was clearly a terrible decision as GM seemingly has no idea how to build well-designed software.
But if car software is as good as it is in Rivian vehicles, not only could it soften the blow of not having access to CarPlay, but it could help push car software to the next level and to a point of competition for car manufacturers. As drivers, we’ll just have to get used to not having those super Apple-specific features or push automakers to find workarounds. In the meantime, rest assured that if you get a Rivian, you’re getting a vehicle with what could be the best car software out there right now.
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