Why Rivian Assistant Can’t Reply to Group Texts Over Bluetooth

Rivian Assistant Messaging

Quick note for anyone using Rivian Assistant to send and receive texts in the truck. If you’ve tried to reply to a group thread through Rivian Assistant and noticed it doesn’t actually send the message to the group message, you’re not imagining it. Bluetooth messaging in the vehicle only supports one on one conversations. Group threads come through as notifications, but there’s no way to respond to them from the vehicle.

This isn’t a Rivian quirk. It’s a limitation baked into the Bluetooth protocol that cars use for messaging, called MAP (Message Access Profile). MAP was designed years ago around single sender, single recipient text exchanges, and it was never updated to handle group messaging. Both iOS and Android enforce that limit on their end, which is why you’ll see the same behavior across basically every vehicle that relies on Bluetooth for texts. Tesla owners run into the exact same issue, since they’re working with the same protocol constraints.

The good news is Rivian is reportedly working with Apple and Google to find a way around this so group messaging can eventually be supported natively in the vehicle. No timeline that’s been shared publicly, but it’s on the radar, which is more than most automakers can say about this particular gap.

For now, the workaround is what it’s always been. If a group thread comes in while you’re driving, you’ll have to wait until you’re parked to reply, or use voice commands directly from your phone. Annoying, sure, especially for owners who do a lot of family or friend group chats, but it’s a software and protocol problem more than a hardware one. Whenever Rivian, Apple, and Google land on a fix, it should roll out the same way most messaging improvements do, quietly in the background through an update.

Worth knowing about if you’ve been scratching your head wondering why some texts let you reply and others don’t. And yes, for what it’s worth, this is one of those small things CarPlay and Android Auto happen to handle just fine.

7 Comments

  1. I’ve had carplay in my last 3 vehicles before the Rivian and don’t get the hate. Years ago it was buggy but its pretty solid now, albeit not a ton of innovation happening. Still the best in vehicle OS on the market (yes I’d still vote for it over Tesla or Rivian).

  2. Small things? Do you think it’s more important to drivers today to be able to text in a group while driving or need the ability to change the ride height via a voice command? I have an R1S and have been hearing of voice to text coming for well over a year and half. To ship a half baked solution for such an essential feature is heart breaking.

    Don’t get me wrong. I’m happy RA can do the things it does. Just think that full blown support for all forms of texting should have been way higher than some of the functionality released. Like you said, CarPlay and Android do it. And have done it for years.

  4. While Rivian Assistant can do some cool things, this gap is the first time I’ve felt CarPlay might be the better play for Rivian. Hope is not a strategy, and right now that’s all Rivian has to address group messaging. Apple and Google have little incentive to address this, which is probably what made Tesla change direction towards CarPlay as well…

  6. BTW … this is the kind of thing that will hurt vehicle sales of mass market cars like the R2.

  7. I put a Kenwood receiver in my 2010 vehicle and it included wireless Carplay and Android Auto. Might be a good solution for Rivian to include that as an option. It works great and sounds fantastic.

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