PSA for Pixel users with Rivian vehicle: Upcoming Rivian software update aims to improve lock & unlock features

Rivian, the renowned electric car manufacturer, has recently released a software upgrade internally that helps improve the lock and unlock functionality on its vehicles. The company’s automobiles use the ‘Phone as a Key’ (PaaK) feature, which allows owners to use their smartphone as a digital key, offering enhanced flexibility and convenience.

With the help of this feature, they can also provide others with easy access to their cars. One simply needs to create a new ‘key’ on their phones. Along with this, they can input their preferred settings for the steering wheel and seat position. When the authorized driver arrives, the car automatically adjusts to these pre-defined settings. However, this feature has received its fair share of criticism.

Allegations from numerous people suggest that the company failed to properly implement the Phone as a key (PaaK) feature in their EVs. They have observed instances where their vehicle would take a variable amount of time to recognize a registered user. As per the allegations, the functionality works better when one approaches the automobile from the front.

Wassym Bensaid, Rivian’s chief of software, had admitted that Android phones in general have a larger PaaK failure rate as compared to iOS. Sadly, phones from Samsung and other brands are the most affected. Even though the Pixel phones are least affected by the faulty implementation, the upcoming upgrade will help make things much smoother.

According to the internal patch notes, the v.2023.42 update will bring significant improvements, making it easier for users to access their vehicles in general. The company appears to have tested this update with all the major flagships released by Apple, Google, and Samsung in the past few years.

The new patch enhances the proximity unlock speed for passive entry with mobile phones and the key fob. It also introduces a ‘lock only’ option in the ‘Proximity Locking at Home’ menu. With this update, the company has reduced the number of false ‘present key to drive’ notifications and added a new service notification for access-sensor related issues.

Furthermore, the upgrade also rectifies a glitch that made the Phone-as-a-Key (Paak) functionality inaccessible on Android. In addition to this, various bug fixes and optimizations to the infotainment unit, including Bluetooth connectivity and media playback issues, have been made.

The performance and error detection of the automatic All-Wheel Drive (AWD) system for both dual-motor and performance dual-motor vehicles have been enhanced as well. As of now, we don’t have an official release date, but we are hopeful that Rivian will release this update soon.

Via: autoevolution.com