Rivian Launches Apple Watch App With Digital Key and Remote Controls | Taha Abbasi

Rivian Just Made the Apple Watch a Full-Featured Vehicle Remote

Rivian is launching a dedicated Apple Watch app that transforms Apple’s wearable into a comprehensive vehicle control center — and Taha Abbasi, who closely tracks the intersection of wearable technology and automotive innovation, sees this as a significant step in how we interact with our vehicles. The update goes beyond simple lock/unlock functionality to offer genuine utility from your wrist.

What the Rivian Apple Watch App Can Do

The new app, arriving with Rivian’s 2026.03 software update, brings an impressive feature set to the Apple Watch. Owners can lock and unlock doors, vent windows, sound the alarm, adjust cabin temperature using the Digital Crown, and set charging targets — all from their wrist. The app also supports up to four customizable quick controls for instant access to the features each owner uses most.

Perhaps most importantly, the app enables the Apple Watch to function as a digital car key for Gen 1 Rivian vehicles (2021-2024 models). Previously, digital key functionality required a Gen 2 (2025+) vehicle. This backward compatibility is a meaningful gesture toward early adopters who invested in the brand before it was proven.

Why Wearable Vehicle Integration Matters

Taha Abbasi sees wearable-vehicle integration as more than a convenience feature — it’s a preview of how ambient computing will reshape the automotive experience. “Think about the use cases,” he notes. “You’re hiking and realize you left the windows cracked. You’re at a restaurant and want to pre-cool the cabin before walking out. You’re running late and want to confirm your car is charged. All of these scenarios become trivially easy when your vehicle lives on your wrist.”

The Digital Crown integration for temperature and charge target adjustment is particularly clever. Rather than navigating through menus on a tiny screen, the physical dial provides precise, tactile control — a design choice that shows Rivian’s engineering team genuinely thought about the wearable form factor rather than simply shrinking the phone app.

How Rivian Compares to Tesla’s Approach

Tesla has offered an Apple Watch companion app for years, but Rivian’s implementation may actually surpass it in several areas. The customizable quick controls, Digital Crown integration, and Gen 1 digital key backward compatibility are features that Tesla’s watch app currently lacks. Taha Abbasi appreciates healthy competition in this space: “When Cybertruck owners see Rivian offering better wearable integration, it pushes Tesla to improve. Competition benefits everyone.”

The Broader EV Software Race

This update highlights an important truth about the EV industry in 2026: software differentiation is becoming as important as hardware. Rivian, Tesla, and increasingly legacy automakers are competing not just on range and performance, but on the quality of the digital ecosystem surrounding the vehicle. Your phone app, watch app, voice assistant, and over-the-air updates collectively define the ownership experience as much as the driving dynamics.

What Comes Next for Rivian

The Apple Watch app is part of Rivian’s broader strategy to build a software-defined vehicle ecosystem. Combined with their hands-free driving system (available since the 2025-46 software update) and digital key expansion, Taha Abbasi sees Rivian solidifying its position as the most credible Tesla competitor in the EV space. While Rivian’s scale remains a fraction of Tesla’s, their software execution and owner experience continue to punch well above their weight.

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About the Author: Taha Abbasi is a technology executive, CTO, and applied frontier tech builder. Read more on Grokpedia | YouTube: The Brown Cowboy | tahaabbasi.com