Interview with Rivian/Volkswagen Software Chief

[ke2]

That will be a little better but still not a great screen size for the entirety of an interface, and still largely wasting the screen real estate on the bottom screen.

Yes, I know that's a limitation set by Google and Apple, but Lucid was (or should have been) well aware of that limitation when they chose their screen layout.

Eventually one day, I hope somebody gets the holy trifecta of driving dynamics, driver UX/UI experience/capability/stability (that includes hardware buttons/interfaces), and service experience right. That day, that manufacturer gets me as a customer for life.

So why would a car company design their car to maximize the experience for carplay/android auto? The car company would basically be making themselves into a commodity with little to no differentiating features as the features would be controlled by Apple/Google. Furthermore you would be handing all of the data from the car over to a third party to monetize said data (and they assuredly would monetize the data, data monetization is essentially Google's core business)

 

[gaskiller]

The only reason I'm not using Android Auto much in my Air is because Lucid decided to use 2 screens, the upper one of which is tiny and non-rectangular - thus forcing them to use only part of the screen. If there was a single, decent-sized screen, I'd be using AA every time, but as it is, I'm now faced with a choice between:

1. Full use of multiple screens, with good looking graphics, but no native apps for my preferred music service(s) (YouTube Music, Pandora, PlexAmp), and wildly inaccurate routing by HERE Navigation (the most random wrong turns it suggests, or today claiming an EA location had 7 chargers including 350kW - but it really only had 4 x 150kW stations, only two Favorites can be stored, etc), and SMS messaging that won't even let me dictate a reply, vs
2. AA with all the features and functionality I need, Waze/Google Maps (with all my history of favorites/locations - hazard notifications, etc), all my music apps, plus other apps that are nice to have (a weather radar app, a radio scanner app, etc), and I can dictate reponses to texts in multiple apps - but all limited to PART of an already not-terribly-large screen.


Not exactly a great choice to have to make. All things being equal, I'd take Android Auto/Carplay every time - unfortunately, the deck is stacked against it in Lucid vehicles.

Screen size? I just swipe across when I want other apps. I’m not bothered that much. Rather use CarPlay than any car software, and that includes Tesla.

 

[doubletwist]

Screen size? I just swipe across when I want other apps. I’m not bothered that much. Rather use CarPlay than any car software, and that includes Tesla.

It's not about switching apps. It's about ending up with a nav interface that's barely larger than a late-90s TomTom.

Trust me, I'd MUCH rather continue to use AA, but with the current screen limitations on my Air, it just sucks. Half of what little screen there is gets taken up by interface buttons, plus you've got this short (vertically) screen displaying in landscape mode one of the few things that works much better in a taller portrait-mode, so you can't see anything on your route past the next turn.

 

[gaskiller]

It's not about switching apps. It's about ending up with a nav interface that's barely larger than a late-90s TomTom.

Trust me, I'd MUCH rather continue to use AA, but with the current screen limitations on my Air, it just sucks. Half of what little screen there is gets taken up by interface buttons, plus you've got this short (vertically) screen displaying in landscape mode one of the few things that works much better in a taller portrait-mode, so you can't see anything on your route past the next turn.

Doesn’t bother me one bit. What would a larger navy screen accomplish? Maybe you see the whole trip? You can pinch in to see that. Large screen would be nice, but no big deal for me.

 

[illopp00]

I absolutely, positively am not remotely interested in Lucid or Rivian's or anyone's native solution. Every "app" a car has beyond navigation and Carplay is a detriment to me.
Really, I'd prefer my car didn't connect to the Internet except at my specific request. I understand others feel differently
Most of all, I think it is complete and utter madness to be pursuing this stuff until you get the basic functions of the car working right- hard to find a better example than Lucid.

I agree, I don't wany to pay any OEM again for cell I already get. I like Volvo's solution that once their free connectivity ran out you could tether your phone to use their native system. The only time native makes sense is for ADAS/autonomy. But since I see no reason to buy an autonomous vehicle over renting a service, it's software is too useless. My phone and all the settings is portable, responsive and fast. I can use the same thing across all vehicles I drive, I can tether my kids on a road trip and get them 1000s of apps.

 

[illopp00]

The only reason I'm not using Android Auto much in my Air is because Lucid decided to use 2 screens, the upper one of which is tiny and non-rectangular - thus forcing them to use only part of the screen. If there was a single, decent-sized screen, I'd be using AA every time, but as it is, I'm now faced with a choice between:

1. Full use of multiple screens, with good looking graphics, but no native apps for my preferred music service(s) (YouTube Music, Pandora, PlexAmp), and wildly inaccurate routing by HERE Navigation (the most random wrong turns it suggests, or today claiming an EA location had 7 chargers including 350kW - but it really only had 4 x 150kW stations, only two Favorites can be stored, etc), and SMS messaging that won't even let me dictate a reply, vs
2. AA with all the features and functionality I need, Waze/Google Maps (with all my history of favorites/locations - hazard notifications, etc), all my music apps, plus other apps that are nice to have (a weather radar app, a radio scanner app, etc), and I can dictate reponses to texts in multiple apps - but all limited to PART of an already not-terribly-large screen.


Not exactly a great choice to have to make. All things being equal, I'd take Android Auto/Carplay every time - unfortunately, the deck is stacked against it in Lucid vehicles.

Right, I just use Gemini on my phone with a prompt to setup a multi-route waypoint to Google Maps for daily errands, that all works better than any OEM software or voice assistance.

 

[doubletwist]

Doesn’t bother me one bit. What would a larger navy screen accomplish? Maybe you see the whole trip? You can pinch in to see that. Large screen would be nice, but no big deal for me.

I don't need to see the whole route, but more than the next 100yards would be nice, without having to take my attention even further off the road and reach up and manually zoom out. But I'm starting to feel your arguments are somewhat disingenuous so I'm just going to leave it at that. Just because you are happy with a severely limited interface, doesn't mean everyone is, or should be, especially when there's plenty of vehicles that have properly sized and shaped screens to support an excellent AA/CP user experience.