Rivian Explains Why CarPlay Debate Will Become 'Completely Obsolete'

[rjohnstone]

If I hear the words "agentic AI" one more time I'm going to puke.
No one needs this garbage in their vehicle.
I drive a Ford. CarPlay can go into full screen mode or be windowed. It doesn't take "all the pixles".
I also don't want to be forced into things like subscriptions to use a map.
Ford gave me three years for free, but that expires in June. The quality sucks, map updates take forever, and routing is a joke.

 

[skiguy45]

Rivian is wrong

The fact they keep bringing it up is proof that their "no one is asking for it" claim is BS.

 

[HylianKnight]

It’s a shame, because overall I really like Rivians. Thing is, I really like Ioniq 5s too. While I was considering waiting for an R2, their stance on CarPlay immediately pushed them out of consideration for me. Offering screen mirroring cost them next to nothing, and they could provide users the option on what they want to use. They know this. All the excuses from various car companies on why they don’t plan to offer CarPlay all boil down to the same real reason, the car company wants your subscription money, and to be able to have your data.

 

[HylianKnight]

Coincidentally, i see this increasing demand for aftermarket solutions to get CarPlay and Android Auto working on vehicles that don’t offer native support.

 

[HylianKnight]

Let’s also remember that AI agents typically have another cost involved.

 

[HylianKnight]

You can have my CarPlay when you pry it from my cold, dead hands.

Just rented a car for a few days and was able to bring all my music, all my saved map places and everything else right there with me. Didn’t sync a damn thing with the random vehicle Avis gave me, didn’t spend a second setting anything up, didn’t log into any of my own services and worry about whether I’d signed out. When I was done with the rental, I just took my phone and walked away. This is what the Rivians of the world hate: the car being interchangable with no lock-in.

This is exactly the best thing about CarPlay. I love being able to hop into a rental and instantly be familiar with the infotainment and navigation, and never have to sync a thing. I will never purchase a car that doesn’t offer the option of using CarPlay or android Auto. If a company removes this choice for me, I remove myself from being a potential customer.

 

[Corefile]

People want consistency and that is gotten from familiarity to their smartphone. Having to learn a new UI for a car is just plain absurd, especially for old timers (people over 35).

 

[stevemiller]

On the latest episode of The Verge's Decoder podcast, Rivian's software chief Wassym Bensaid explained why the EV maker still refuses to offer Apple CarPlay.

In short, Bensaid said Rivian does not want CarPlay to fully take over the software experience.

"The challenge with screen mirroring solutions is that they take over every single pixel in the car," he said.

Instead, Rivian prefers to offer its own interface with "end-to-end integration."

Bensaid added that "deep AI integration into the car" will eventually make the debate over offering CarPlay in vehicles "completely obsolete." He believes that Rivian owners will be able to access the core functionality of many apps through an AI agent, rather than needing to rely on CarPlay or Android Auto.

"I really believe that the way you interact with apps which are mono-threaded, single buttons, single icons, a lot of that will be now completely reshaped into a world where it will become an agentic integration that presents itself into a wholesome user experience to the user," Bensaid explained. However, he admitted that an AI agent becoming an "alternative solution" to CarPlay apps will take time to materialize.

Already, Rivian owners are increasingly less interested in CarPlay, according to Bensaid. He said that Rivian's internal statistics showed that more than 70% of customers wanted CarPlay when their vehicles first launched around five years ago, but he said a recent survey showed that figure is apparently less than 25% now.

"With the level of features that we have shipped to customers, with the level of end-to-end integration, with the level of convenience that we are bringing, CarPlay is, or Android Auto to that extent, is no longer the topic of discussion," he said.

Article Link: Rivian Explains Why CarPlay Debate Will Become 'Completely Obsolete'

This line of bs actively diminishes my opinion of rivian. Saying “this is no longer the topic of discussion” like they get to decide instead of the market. Good luck with that, rivian.

 

[Devnul0]

Also a question for people, who use the navigation in the car, not CarPlay. How do you plan for trips? Personally I set up favourites in Apple Maps on a computer and then just click the stuff when in the car. How does that work in a Tesla, do you have to manually reenter everything?

You can do a good bit of planning in the Tesla app on the phone itself, with the advantage of it understanding charging stops, and then send a trip plan to the car. You can also use the share sheet from Apple Maps to send to the Tesla app, which will then send what you're sharing to the car. And you can set (and custom-name) favorites, too.

 

[Aichon]

Already, Rivian owners are increasingly less interested in CarPlay, according to Bensaid. He said that Rivian's internal statistics showed that more than 70% of customers wanted CarPlay when their vehicles first launched around five years ago, but he said a recent survey showed that figure is apparently less than 25% now.

It was widely reported back in mid-2024 that a lack of CarPlay/Android Auto was a dealbreaker for roughly a third of new car buyers. A study from late-2025 indicated that number had grown to roughly half of all new car buyers.

Their CEO has been doubling-down on the no-CarPlay stance in public statements and interviews since early 2024. When you've told a third, and now half, of all buyers to get lost, it's no surprise that your numbers don't reflect broader trends. But when you're just tossing out that sort of number like it’s a good thing, without an awareness that such a gross disconnect from the industry trend represents a dangerous situation for your company, that tells me you drank the Kool-Aid.

But let's ground this a bit. Here are the numbers from before they made their stance crystal clear (back when people might have held out hope for a software update to support CarPlay):

• 2021: ??? projected, 1K vehicles produced
• 2022: 25K projected, 24K vehicles produced
• 2023: 50K projected, 57K vehicles produced

Not bad! That's some solid growth. And here are their numbers since:

• 2024: 57K projected, 49K vehicles produced
• 2025: 46K–51K projected, 42K vehicles produced

Not just lower: lower than their projections. Hmm.

To be fair, there are other, significant factors at play, so we can't pin it all on a lack of CarPlay, but you”d have to be unmoored from reality to think those numbers are proving your point.

 

[xander49x]

and that is why I will never get a rivian.

 

[QuarterSwede]

people that miss Carplay have never used a real car interface. In 2017 I was one of you, I would not buy any car if it didn't have Carplay. Then I bought my Tesla, and there is not a single day where I wish I had Carplay.

Demand more from the car manufacturers

That’s great for you but it doesn’t reflect how everyone feels and it also neglects jumping from vehicle to vehicle in rental or even the fleet world. CarPlay/AA has more advantages than just its UI. You pick up where you are on your phone in any vehicle with the same interface between vehicle brands, that’s a major advantage.

 

[mrgrdn]

Same old story. They can tell that to their grandmother. Rivian isn’t the first carmaker to dream of "pixel dominance." But let’s be real: car manufacturers are hardware companies. Whenever they try to act like software houses, the result is always the same: half-baked setups, sluggish UIs, and app stores that look like ghost towns. They simply don’t have the know-how for top-tier app development.

The smartphonem, whether Apple or Android ... is and remains the user's digital brain. That’s where all the data, habits, and processing power live. And that’s exactly where the shoe pinches: this isn’t about better design or "AI agents," it’s about pure greed. The manufacturers just want a piece of that juicy data pie and a way to monetize features down the road.

As long as in-house systems can’t even closely match the usability of a smartphone, dropping CarPlay isn't a "feature", it’s a massive UX downgrade for the customer. I seriously hope one of their strategists reads this.

 

[tbayrgs]

Test drive a tesla on model 4 hardware, we are basically there. Makes driving an ease and reduces stress.

Yes, it males your driving less stressful but it’s not even close to full self driving—it’s still classified as level 2. We are decades away from mass availability of level five self driving.

 

[Icehawk]

But I don't want an AI agent. I just want my thingy to show up, so I can focus on driving. What's next? An AI agent to tell me when to flush. Well, I'm sorry. I'm too busy doomscrolling instead of handling my business.

 

[McScooby]

FAFO

 

[Anonymous Freak]

"The challenge with screen mirroring solutions is that they take over every single pixel in the car," he said.

I love my Rivian. It's the best vehicle I've ever owned.

But this is a bull$#!† excuse. In my Ford Mach-E, CarPlay doesn't take over every single pixel on even the display it runs on, much less "the whole car."

And Rivian *STILL* doesn't have native apps for all major music services, and the only two options for video playback are YouTube and ChromeCasting - and even though ChromeCasting is over local connection to vehicle WiFi, with no internet connection needed, you have to pay Rivian $20 a month for their "Connect+" subscription to use it. Even the music apps require that, even if you want to use your phone's hotspot instead of vehicle cellular.

Just say you want full control over your user experience and don't want to give it up any of it to another company. That's the truth. Don't make up BS excuses.

And "AI agents" isn't the answer to everything, either. I can't use an AI agent to play Disney+ while stopped charging.

 

[splifingate]

On the latest episode of The Verge's Decoder podcast, Rivian's software chief Wassym Bensaid explained why the EV maker still refuses to offer Apple CarPlay.

In short, Bensaid said Rivian does not want CarPlay to fully take over the software experience.

"The challenge with screen mirroring solutions is that they take over every single pixel in the car," he said.

Instead, Rivian prefers to offer its own interface with "end-to-end integration."

Bensaid added that "deep AI integration into the car" will eventually make the debate over offering CarPlay in vehicles "completely obsolete." He believes that Rivian owners will be able to access the core functionality of many apps through an AI agent, rather than needing to rely on CarPlay or Android Auto.

"I really believe that the way you interact with apps which are mono-threaded, single buttons, single icons, a lot of that will be now completely reshaped into a world where it will become an agentic integration that presents itself into a wholesome user experience to the user," Bensaid explained. However, he admitted that an AI agent becoming an "alternative solution" to CarPlay apps will take time to materialize.

Already, Rivian owners are increasingly less interested in CarPlay, according to Bensaid. He said that Rivian's internal statistics showed that more than 70% of customers wanted CarPlay when their vehicles first launched around five years ago, but he said a recent survey showed that figure is apparently less than 25% now.

"With the level of features that we have shipped to customers, with the level of end-to-end integration, with the level of convenience that we are bringing, CarPlay is, or Android Auto to that extent, is no longer the topic of discussion," he said.

Article Link: Rivian Explains Why CarPlay Debate Will Become 'Completely Obsolete'

*GridLid has entered the chat*

 

[red elma]

It is baffling that Rivian, among all car manufacturers, makes such claims. Why not have both systems coexist?
Personally, when evaluating a new vehicle, the primary factor I consider is the availability of CarPlay.

 

[codewrangler]

It why a Rivian is not a car I would buy...sorry, I'm an Apple guy. I'll stick with the auto makers that put out cars with Carplay and Android Auto.

 

[Milquetoast]

This is exactly the best thing about CarPlay. I love being able to hop into a rental and instantly be familiar with the infotainment and navigation, and never have to sync a thing. I will never purchase a car that doesn’t offer the option of using CarPlay or android Auto. If a company removes this choice for me, I remove myself from being a potential customer.

Yes, it's all about integration. WHen I climb into a CarPlay-capable car, the appoointments/locations in Calendar show up in Maps on the dash and smartly allows me to easily choose to natigate to my next destination. If I'm not paying attention to the dash, my Apple Watch haptically thumps my wrist to warn me of a turn. Music and podcasts follow me into the car. All of my software updates are taken care of before I am in the car. I want my invested ecosystem to follow me into my car and make my life easier. The othwer way around really does not work well.

If I were an Android person, I'd likely feel the same way about that ecosystem.

I've bought into the Apple ecosystem. I want to use it in my car as seamlessly as possible.

 

[haemolysis]

As this is an enthusiast forum, of course everyone is angry, but I think it's probably true that few people actually care. It seems auto makers of many brands have been coming to this conclusion at some point or another.

I suspect the average consumer doesn't really ask "does this have CarPlay" where the answer is "no" but they instead ask "will this work with my phone" where the answer is "yes." The detail is lost for normie consumers.

That said, this framing is insane lol:

"it will become an agentic integration that presents itself into a wholesome user experience to the user," Bensaid explained.

A wholesome experience!

 

[ignatius345]

people that miss Carplay have never used a real car interface. In 2017 I was one of you, I would not buy any car if it didn't have Carplay. Then I bought my Tesla, and there is not a single day where I wish I had Carplay.

Demand more from the car manufacturers

And yet even longtime CarPlay holdout Tesla is rumored to be finally adding it to their vehicles.

Honestly, it’s not even an either/or situation. If an automaker wants to compete on the merits of their own system, great, but if they do it by boxing out CarPlay (which a lot of people really like) then people are going to resent not having the choice.

 

[Killbill2]

“It’s Official: Cars Are the Worst Product Category We Have Ever Reviewed for Privacy“ Mozilla foundation. ​

 

[MBHockey]

0% chance it's lower than 25%. everyone who has a rivian wants CarPlay, aside from the RJ bootlickers who have deluded themselves into thinking the RIvian software is useful in any way.