Most car brands have no problem building CarPlay into their cars, but some stubbornly refuse. Now, a Volkswagen partner has announced that it will not support CarPlay. Here’s what’s going on.
No CarPlay in this car
Apple’s integration with cars, CarPlay, is extremely popular among motorists. At iPhoned we have already heard from people who have made their purchasing decision purely based on the availability of CarPlay. Despite its popularity, some car brands are stubborn and refuse to build CarPlay into their cars. Prominent examples are Tesla and GM. Both companies have indicated that they prefer to keep the software of their cars in-house. Now a strategic partner of Volkswagen, the American brand Rivian, is following in the footsteps of Tesla and GM. Will this also have consequences for the brands of the Volkswagen group, such as Audi, Seat and Škoda?
Rivian steps away from CarPlay
In addition to Tesla, the American competitor Rivian as particularly innovative in terms of electric cars – for example with the R1T pickup. However, anyone hoping for CarPlay integration to use their iPhone in the vehicle will be disappointed: the company has no plans for this in the near future. Rivian boss RJ Scaringe has now confirmed this in a podcast. He told The Verge that there are ‘reasons’ for this and was open and honest about it.
There’s one reason that, ironically, is very consistent with Apple’s own ethos: we want to control the ecosystem.
In other words, Rivian sees the vehicle’s operating system and interface as a major selling point (too) and an opportunity to sell services later. In doing so, the company is modeling itself on what Tesla is already doing. Tesla has also refused to support CarPlay from the start—let alone CarPlay 2.0, which takes over the vehicle’s entire UI.
What do users think?
Users are usually annoyed about the lack of CarPlay. They often see the integration of Apple’s iPhone in the vehicle as a better interface than what car manufacturers offer. Tesla and Rivian, however, do not rely on a ready-made OS, but invest a lot of time and money in their systems. Traditional car manufacturers are also trying this, but – at least it seems – have less success. Volkswagen is also busy with it and is now integrating ChatGPT into the operating system of its cars.
For Rivian, it is also about the central place in the car, which the brand does not want to give up. The company wants to solve problems with, for example, navigation and charging card functions itself, even though CarPlay can do that even better in some cases. Rivian has also acquired its own service provider for this. Rivian does want to integrate services from Apple, for example via an Apple Music app that can even handle Dolby Atmos audio. In the meantime, there were even rumors that Apple could collaborate with Rivian after the end of its own car project. However, the company now has a different partner, namely Volkswagen.
What will Volkswagen do with CarPlay?
Rivian and Volkswagen recently established an in-depth partnership. The German car brand wants to gain more know-how for making electric cars, Rivian benefits from the extra resources of the much larger brand. Could a Rivian convince Volkswagen to also distance itself from CarPlay? It is certainly conceivable!
As mentioned, Volkswagen is also busy with the operating system for its own cars. If the company sees that Rivian is celebrating success with its strategy, then it is very likely that the future Golf, A3 and Fabia will also have to do without CarPlay. Personally, we hope that iPhoned that it will never come to that, but you never know.
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