Auto manufacturers are slowly putting smartphone-based infotainment systems Apple CarPlay and Android Auto in the rear-view mirror, and one of the newer companies on the starting grid reckons drivers will eventually thank them for it.
While General Motors has controversially transitioned to its own in-car software and two of the major EV makers Tesla and Rivian have never offered it in the first place. Many other luxury brands have backed away from Apple’s long-in the-works CarPlay Ultra platform. Ford has also expressed reservations about that tech.
The school of thought is that it’s far more beneficial for car manufacturers to gobble up driver data, rather than allow the Big Tech giants to continue to do so.
However, Rivian believes drivers who’re currently put off by the omission of the iOS-based software will eventually come around. Essentially, the company is saying it’s for our own good.
“We’ve made the decision, which I’m very confident about, that in the fullness of time, customers will appreciate, which is that we wanted to have a seamless digital experience,” CEO EJ Scaringe told the Decoder podcast (via 9to5Mac). “To not have the need to jump between CarPlay, which feels obviously like CarPlay, and so it feels the same in every car, and then what we create as a Rivian environment.”
The boss says feature integrations in the next 18 months will make all the difference and, no prizes for guessing, that it’s all about AI and the ability for an integrated homegrown solution to have a more innate understanding about the state of the vehicle.
Saringe added: “Over the next 18 months, we’re going to see a lot of new features that, by necessity, are performing tasks or making decisions to connect different applications. And so, knowledge of “what’s the vehicle state?” Knowledge of “is it in drive, or is it parked? What are the conditions outside the vehicle? What’s your driving history? What are your preferences?” Knowledge of all of that at an ecosystem level allows us to present a richer, better experience for you as a driver or occupant of the vehicle.”
Seeing will be believing on that front. Perhaps the decision will be fully justified eventually? But, currently speaking, when considering a car purchase, having no access to CarPlay would be an absolute dealbreaker for me.
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