Rivian adds Apple Music, but won't consider CarPlay

Rivian CEO says it's awesome having Apple Music in its cars, but the firm wants drivers to use its systems instead of switching in and out of CarPlay.

It's been said that Apple should buy Rivian, and it's certainly been said that General Motors made a mistake ditching CarPlay. But in a new interview, Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe says he "thinks the world" of Apple products but won't add CarPlay — and that Apple wouldn't do it in his position either.

"We have a great relationship with Apple," Scaringe told The Verge, "[but] imagine Apple was developing a Mac, and there was someone that had a software application — let's maybe call it Windows — and they said, 'We have a turnkey platform that everybody knows how to use,' would they have put that in their car?"

"Would they have developed their own iOS? We know how that played out," he continued. "So, as much as I love their products, there's a reason that ironically is very consistent with Apple ethos for us to want to control the ecosystem."

Scaringe's argument is that users have to switch out of CarPlay to control car functions. "For example, if you're in CarPlay and want to open the front trunk," he said, "you have to leave the application and go to another interface."

That ignores what Apple has been claiming for the future of CarPlay, despite Scaringe specifically being asked about that forthcoming version of Apple's software.

Instead, Scaringe answers only about the current state of CarPlay and argues that what customers actually want is for Rivian to match what Apple has. "I think the biggest complaint today around the lack of CarPlay is the improvements we need to make in mapping, whic are coming," he said.

"We recognize that it'll take us time to fully capture every feature that's in CarPlay, and hopefully, customers are seeing that," he added. "I think [CarPlay] often gets more noise than it deserves."

Rivian has, though, been adding Apple Music to its cars in 2024, and including Dolby Atmos. "It's a big step up improvement in the audio performance of the vehicle," said Scaringe, "it's awesome to have Apple Music in the car."

Apple did not mention CarPlay in its WWDC 2024 keynote. However, it has added some features to it for iOS 18.

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34 Comments

StrangeDays 12980 comments · 8 Years

About 4 months ago

These dudes still just don’t get it. I don’t want to use their coming-along infotainment systems. I don’t want to use a Rivian mapping app. I want to use the polished one I already use every day, that is feature-rich, and integrates with my devices and events.

“It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it.”

TimJobs 4 comments · 7 Years

They do get it. They don’t want to use apples proprietary software when trying to have you navigate the functions of the car. Why do you think Tesla hasn’t enabled android or CarPlay? Because these companies are putting the entire settings into the screen

StrangeDays said:

These dudes still just don’t get it. I don’t want to use their coming-along infotainment systems. I don’t want to use a Rivian mapping app. I want to use the polished one I already use every day, that is feature-rich, and integrates with my devices and events.

“It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it.”

xyzzy01 145 comments · 15 Years

StrangeDays said:

These dudes still just don’t get it. I don’t want to use their coming-along infotainment systems. I don’t want to use a Rivian mapping app. I want to use the polished one I already use every day, that is feature-rich, and integrates with my devices and events.

“It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it.”

Not only that, but many apps will be missing or feature reduced as well. For me, Carplay is one of the must-haves on a car - alongside being electric, 4WD, adaptive cruise control, an instrument panel or at a minimum a HUD, and good cameras.

twolf2919 149 comments · 2 Years

TimJobs said:

They do get it. They don’t want to use apples proprietary software when trying to have you navigate the functions of the car. Why do you think Tesla hasn’t enabled android or CarPlay? Because these companies are putting the entire settings into the screen

StrangeDays said:

These dudes still just don’t get it. I don’t want to use their coming-along infotainment systems. I don’t want to use a Rivian mapping app. I want to use the polished one I already use every day, that is feature-rich, and integrates with my devices and events.

“It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it.”

You seem like you've never used CarPlay or Android Auto. What "functions of the car" do you think CarPlay controls? I'll tell you - none. It's a pure money grab by these executives. They want you tied to their infotainment stack so you can, at some point, pony up for services you already get on your smartphone.

twolf2919 said:

TimJobs said:

They do get it. They don’t want to use apples proprietary software when trying to have you navigate the functions of the car. Why do you think Tesla hasn’t enabled android or CarPlay? Because these companies are putting the entire settings into the screen

StrangeDays said:

These dudes still just don’t get it. I don’t want to use their coming-along infotainment systems. I don’t want to use a Rivian mapping app. I want to use the polished one I already use every day, that is feature-rich, and integrates with my devices and events.

“It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it.”

You seem like you've never used CarPlay or Android Auto. What "functions of the car" do you think CarPlay controls? I'll tell you - none. It's a pure money grab by these executives. They want you tied to their infotainment stack so you can, at some point, pony up for services you already get on your smartphone.

To be fair, for EVs deep integration into maps can be useful. You can add charging stations to your route based on need and even preheat the battery (if needed) before you arrive for optimal charging speed.

But at least on my Jaguar, access to the native apps is just a click away inside Carplay.