Rivian’s Chief Software Officer Wassym Bensaid announced today that the .46 OTA update will introduce Digital Key support for the second-generation R1S and R1T. Here’s what this entails.
## Unlock using the iPhone and Apple Watch, even with a dead battery
With today’s announcement, Bensaid confirmed that later this month, the .46 OTA update will enable iPhone users to save their key for a Gen 2 Rivian in their Apple Wallet, and utilize their iPhone or Apple Watch to lock and unlock their vehicle.
The update will provide full Digital Key support, including UWB capabilities for high precision, and NFC support, which, as he stated, “unlocks (…) even if your phone battery dies” for up to 5 hours using Power Reserve on compatible devices.
Additionally, the update will allow for sending a digital key via text, permitting a friend or contact to approach the vehicle and lock, unlock, or start it.
Furthermore, the update will increase the maximum number of digital keys per vehicle from 4 to 8, “making it simpler than ever to manage access for family and friends,” as per Rivian.
Besides the iPhone and Apple Watch, the .46 update will also extend full Digital Key support to Google and Samsung digital wallets.
## But wasn’t this already available?
Not exactly. Until now, Rivian’s digital key on first-gen R1T and R1S models depended on their app via Bluetooth, instead of a native system-level key.
In simpler terms, there was no integration with Apple Wallet, no support for Google or Samsung Wallet, no UWB for precise proximity, and no method to unlock the vehicle with your phone when the battery was depleted.
With the Gen 2 hardware platform (particularly the new UWB modules), Rivian is transitioning to true OS-level digital keys in the Wallet app, which operate over UWB, can be shared via text, and continue to function even when the iPhone is out of battery.
