I found myself in a Toyota recently and it was like driving a museum to the past.
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Rivian Explains Why CarPlay Debate Will Become 'Completely Obsolete'
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I found myself in a Toyota recently and it was like driving a museum to the past.
jml12286
macrumors regular
Many people don't realize until after purchase that Tesla doesn't have carplay. I see it asked all the time in every Tesla group I'm in. We bought a Tesla because it was the only EV that made sense for all the features in the price range. I also figured there might be a way to add Carplay aftermarket after the fact, and there is... but the thing I tried sucked. So now we have a Car we enjoy, but I slightly dislike because the built in apps just plain suck compared to having my messages and apple music work the same as on my phone.
I actually enjoy just driving my 26 year old 4runner with a $100 aftermarket wireless carplay stereo more because of the ease of connection and apps from my phone.
mattopotamus
macrumors Pentium
Lack of knowledge here. It's way safer, statistically, being in FSD.
mattopotamus
macrumors Pentium
Again, uneducated response. People who do not use the tech should be the last ones providing "insight"
I don’t doubt at all that FSD is safer than humans among the kind of drivers who would choose to use it.
Happy_John
Suspended
Pretty much the same reason why people buy AppleTVs even when similar apps snd functionality are baked into their SmartTV.
Eh, big difference.
On a TV the primary function is watching TV.
In a car, the primary function is driving, not texting or watching YouTube.
“I wON’t bUY a fRiDGe witHOUt fridgeplay!” I have to text from my fridge!
I have heard people ask about CarPlay, but what I universally hear in return is confidence that they are going to like the built in UI better then CarPlay. That is my experience, going from a car with a great big display for CarPlay on a 2021 Outback, then getting a 2021 Tesla Y through work and getting rid of my Outback. Immediately the UI is so much smoother and slick. Nothing lags or stutters, just works as I want things to work. Now on this point I am not sure how CarPlay works on newer vehicles, if things are smoother as the tech gets better. Not sure who would say the Apple Music native app in a Tesla sucks, if they think that then they basically think Apple Music on your desktop sucks as they are basically identical. Screen shots are not from my computer or Tesla but showcase what you see on both desktop app and Tesla app.
Apple users generally can be a bit sensitive about the hardware and software. CarPlay is not bad, but it is not the best thing out there. It definitely is better then a lot of Car's built in UI, I know my Outback was abysmal in comparison to CarPlay. But when it comes to the Tesla I think they have done it better over all. Having it all in the car without needing the phone to connect at all is just so nice. Again as has been mentioned before is Messages is the only thing lacking and for some like me that is not a big deal at all. This can also be fixed and made better with software updates, so Tesla could literally be an update away from having an all around better system. I don't have hopes that they will for Messaging but you never know. I am trying to remember what the music app looked like in my Outback under CarPlay. The image below is close if memory serves me. I had a large portrait screen but think it just basically extended this. Have things changed now? If they have not then I am not sure how you can even compare the native Apple Music app in a Tesla to What Apple Music through CarPlay shows. I was trying to find images of a Home Screen for the music app but did not come up with anything.
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I have a 2012 Jeep Rubicon where I did the same thing. Alpine head unit with wireless carplay, and all new speakers. No car payment but all the comforts and tech I need.
kpgalligan
macrumors newbie
Agents are great... where they make sense. While driving, you generally want like four things: audio entertainment, a map (not verbal directions), phone ... OK, I want three things, and not even phone because I hate talking in the car. In this context, an agent can't do much that voice recognition can. An agent is useful to do unique work, or pull together disparate info. Like if it needed to talk to multiple apps and search the web. Sure, you *might* say "find the closest charging station", but that's just voice rec in the maps app.
On the survey of customers, that's great. Survey people who *didn't* buy your vehicle.
I got a zipcar recently that either had a broken panel, or the car was so cheap it didn't have one installed. It was my first non-CarPlay experience in years. Horrible. Granted, the Rivian will have some kind of maps, and some kind of audio, but I simply do not buy into the idea that Rivian can *also* build rival apps as well as Apple/Google. Same with Tesla. Having said that, they seems to be good enough for most drivers. But "agents!" sounds much better than "good enough".
On the survey of customers, that's great. Survey people who *didn't* buy your vehicle.
I got a zipcar recently that either had a broken panel, or the car was so cheap it didn't have one installed. It was my first non-CarPlay experience in years. Horrible. Granted, the Rivian will have some kind of maps, and some kind of audio, but I simply do not buy into the idea that Rivian can *also* build rival apps as well as Apple/Google. Same with Tesla. Having said that, they seems to be good enough for most drivers. But "agents!" sounds much better than "good enough".
My BMW saves trip details- recents, favorite destinations and does points of interest based on your travel history, etc. I can use voice assistant or send it an itinerary from my phone in advance - there's little carplay does that my BMW's built in system doesn't already do.
Happy_John
Suspended
Nope, that wasn’t the point.
People buy AppleTVs, even when they have a smartYV, because they want to keep their data, settings and interactions within the AppleTV, not on the smart tag.
People like CarPlay for the same reason. Everything is in the phone, which you take with you.
In Rivian it’s basically the same. The nav runs Google Maps and you can save favorites, recents, search etc. Live traffic, planned charging stops etc. you can also plan a route from your phone and send it to the truck.
Toyota wasn't discussed so I'm not sure what you are responding to but Toyota's infotainment has always lagged behind competitors because they focus on reliability, longevity and functionality of the actual car, infotainment is not critical to that.
That's a testament to how good Tesla's UI is - its easy to not realize until later it doesn't have carplay when its system is that good.
When i test drove teslas, whether it had carplay or not didn't cross my mind - but to be honest that's true for all vehicles I've test driven - it's not a deciding factor for me.
jml12286
macrumors regular
I guess I dont really use my desktop app much at all to compare. I agree it looks similar to the phone app in theory. The Tesla app doesn't have the DJ mixing or downloading offline music. Then there are the different Tesla profiles between wife and I, and many times we get logged out out the Apple Music app randomly, and its like many minutes of getting it to scan the code and log in if it even works the first time. We live in a remote area where cell reception is spotty for many trips, and the app just straight up pauses and never resumes, often it just switches back to the whole general music selection of different apps to play music...
It would just be so much easier if it were a mirror of my phone app with all the features that work for me.
Its little difference in the Tesla android appness that just are annoyances when all would be well with a little carplay interface in part of the huge screen 😎
And their sales have been cut in half as well… If half the respondents left, and all of them wanted CarPlay, that would match up with the new statistics being quoted! Task failed successfully! Can’t wait to see how many more leave when they try to sell people on an AI car.
I didnt plan on ever having a car without CarPlay because it is great, but then I found out about Tesla FSD, got a Tesla, and I dont see a need for CarPlay. Apple is worlds beyond the legacy automakers but the EV companies are doing alright. I am sure Rivian will do fine just like Tesla on their interfaces.
Happy_John
Suspended
I didn’t say you did. But you’re a person, you are not “people in general”. Your reasons for purchasing may not be the same as others.
to:dr - all posts might not be about you.
Of course.
I was responding to your proclamation about The Reason People Buy AppleTV.
If you’d told us why you bought an AppleTV, I wouldn’t have responded.
What Rivian misses, I think, is the ability to do things on my phone away from my car and have them immediately available to me through CarPlay. Things like appointments (with embedded addresses) that I can just press, music preferences and favorites in for example, XM radio, and audiobooks which are just there in case I want listen on a long drive. I know my apps are updated fairly regularly and work. CarPlay is more than maps and music. I have some esoteric choices on CarPlay: onX Offroad, Libby, ChatGPT, Car Scanner, PowerSwitch, and iExit. My guess there is zero chance these are available on any car manufacturer's OS. It's the choice I like.