Rivian will not support Apple CarPlay for its EVs: CEO

Rivian has ruled out the possibility of Apple’s CarPlay support in its vehicles to provide a new user experience for customers.

CEO, RJ Scaringe told TheVerge that Rivian is not going with CarPaly and is focusing on improving its software. He mentioned that both companies have a good partnership. However, CarPlay doesn’t fit the car maker’s requirement for a connected vehicle.

He gave an example of how CarPlay doesn’t expand around the car’s core features. For instance, the user will have to step out of CarPlay to access controls such as opening the front storage. This impacts user experience and breaks seamlessness.

Instead, Scaringe is inspired to take new features from CarPlay and suggests that most of these capabilities will eventually land in Rivians.

Apple CarPlay (Image Source – Apple)

CarPlay and Android Auto are the two top choices for the automotive industry. It enables users to connect mobile devices to the infotainment system and expand their features. Customers can use navigation, listen music, make and receive calls, send messages, and more from the car’s display.

EV giants Tesla and GM are not fond of CarPlay. Instead, they are working on in-house software to provide all necessary features onboard. That brings us to a major overhaul in Rivian’s software UI. Last month, it announced Refreshed R1S and R1T electric vehicles with a fully redesigned user interface powered by Unreal Engine.

Rivian R1S (Image Source – Rivian)

This new redesign provides interactive and real-time graphics simulations for an intuitive experience. You can check the visual change in every mode and it matches the mood. The view includes other dynamic components such as clouds, grass, flowers, and trees. This change has been appreciated by users and Rivian said to improve the software with future updates.

This new upgrade is based on a human-machine interface (HMI) display, which was released with the first R1T in October 2021. In June, Rivian announced Apple Music as part of Connect+ premium subscription services, the music app will come later this summer.