2025.46 Do Not Attempt Digitsl Key Setup Unless You are Sure Your Phone is Compatable

[ruleonard]

Ok. I have already seen the better response and that is nice but I'm not lending my Indigo Montoya to anyone
And everything else is still in the Rivian app. Someone else said this would enable you to go somewhere without your phone (if you had your watch connected) not going to do that either.

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[TTedP]

I finally attempted the digital key setup, even though I new it would fail. I have an older Samsun Z-flip phone

I don't know why you would even attempt this knowing you have an incompatible phone.

TBF, it wasn't smooth on a fancy, latest version iPhone either. I followed the prompts and it got to 99% but never completed out of the activation process. Waited 15 min, then backed out as far as I could and had to force quit the app. Under driver access it showed a digital key and I started getting the "added to wallet" prompt but no, it wasn't working. Info system and phone reboots didnt work to clear things up. Still stuck in a set up cycle.

Quickest solution (not saying it's the best answer, but as most things computer, it usually works) was a full "start over" > remove bluetooth pairing, delete the app, reinstall and start over. This time, it went through smoothly, installed and fully working in under 5 min. There were a bunch of additional permissions prompts on the phone that didnt appear when I just tried the upgrade route. Could be the Rivian app needs a little more work or I like to blame how awful iOS 26 is.

 

[TTedP]

I have an iPhone 16 Pro Max (which has UWB) and the setup failed for some reason. And that left me in the same state as you - I see both keys in the truck and app, but can't delete or change any of them. And what's worse the app is now saying "no cloud connection".

I've blocked an hour to call them this afternoon because I figure it'll take at least that long to sort out.

I had to resort to a full delete and reinstall of the app on my phone. Went through the whole setup process as if new, and it was smooth. The orphaned keys in the drivers / access section from the first go around (they had a ! icon on them) also cleared up.

 

[therealcmj]

I had to resort to a full delete and reinstall of the app on my phone. Went through the whole setup process as if new, and it was smooth. The orphaned keys in the drivers / access section from the first go around (they had a ! icon on them) also cleared up.

Thanks. Instead of fighting I deleted the bluetooth connection on my phone, removed the Rivian app, and re-installed. After signing back in it drove me right through a new setup / "happy path" and I'm up and running.

 

[Rade]

I have a 2025 OnePlus 13r Android phone and OnePlus model 3 sport watch. Both are NFC capable for "tap to pay" but do not have the UWB technology baked in. The phone manufacturer does no support UWB, on the current gen and new gen coming out.

I would... expect?... that as the Rivian digital key software evolves, so will the availability to use it through NFC-able devices. Sure, would have been nice to have it work right out of the gate, but at least we got "Sleigh Bells" for the holidays to make up for the it.... er... crud. Never mind.

 

[godfodder0901]

I have a 2025 OnePlus 13r Android phone and OnePlus model 3 sport watch. Both are NFC capable for "tap to pay" but do not have the UWB technology baked in. The phone manufacturer does no support UWB, on the current gen and new gen coming out.

I would... expect?... that as the Rivian digital key software evolves, so will the availability to use it through NFC-able devices. Sure, would have been nice to have it work right out of the gate, but at least we got "Sleigh Bells" for the holidays to make up for the it.... er... crud. Never mind.

I don't expect this to ever happen, otherwise it would have come to Gen 1. 99% chance a phone upgrade will be required for you.

 

[mkhuffman]

Several things. First, you can now gift up to 8 keys. So if you have a friend who wants to borrow your car, you can send them their own digital key and rescind it through the same app. Second, the accuracy and latency of proximity unlock have been substantially improved. UWB, the tech this is based on, can tell your distance from the receiver with far greater accuracy than Bluetooth.

Many complaints about laggy unlocks were due to inaccurate Bluetooth.

So the only way to utilize the UWB connection is to create a key in the wallet? I thought the key was for NFC unlock and drive and didn't realize UWB also uses the wallet. Or does it?

 

[portdirect]

There’s some really bad mis-information in this thread. You do NOT need UWB in your phone to use the digital key, it works with NFC only phones. Whats critical is that your phone supports either Google, Samsung or Apple Wallets with at least NFC support on iOS 18.5 or Android 15 or above. Its pretty well documented in the on-screen setup and called out in the docs as well that NFC only phones will work: https://rivian.com/support/article/what-is-rivian-digital-key

@Dasoss - The Z-Flip 3 introduced NFC, which also supports android 15 - so if you are on a phone older than that you are out of luck, but its certainly not the lack of UWB holding this back.


Edit:

Just so we are clear:

• NFC only digital key:
  • Kicks in when device is out of battery for UWB etc (and yes this is only a sure shot for a few hours after the phone/watch is out of battery - around 5 if I recall correctly in the apple ecosystem)
  • Used by phones without UWB but meet all the other criteria (OS version/Wallet support)
  • Acts like a keycard in Rivian Keycard in practice
  • Can be used alongside the Rivian BLE only implementation on phones with only NFC wallet support.
• UWB+BLE digital key:
  • Used when UWB and BLE is available.
  • Operates like Rivians BLE only (ie original PAAK) implementation in practice.
    • but much more refined in terms of range estimation, as it uses real ranging over UWB rather than BLE RSSI to position key relative to vehicle.

 

[Dasoss]

Two different Rivian service agents spent several hours on the phone with me today,trying different things. One clue that that the entertainment screen and app showed the the Bluetooth was still there. Nothing worked. They say that my phone, a Samsung Z-flip 3 5G, is on their list of compatable devices. They checked the model number and software versions. They are stumped. They have a team of app developers working on it.

I checked on the internet, the Z-Flip 3 phones do not have the necessary UBW chip and antenna. They do have support for some UBW features but they lack the the hardware. The Z-fold phones do. Perhaps thats the confusions. The Z-flip phone es did not get a dedicated UBW chip until later.

That's not 100% true - I had a phone with Google Play on it that did NOT do tap and pay/touchless payment, as it didn't even have an NFC chip, much less UWB.

Tap to pay works perfectly on my Z-flip phone, using NFC. UWB is not necessary for tap to pay. I'm not sure tat most pay stations even have UWB.. I had an older phone that a coil antenna like NFC that it mimicked the magnetic signals produced by swiping a card. You just held the phone by the card slot.
It worked well on any pay terminal that you could pay by swiping.

 

[Dasoss]

There’s some really bad mis-information in this thread. You do NOT need UWB in your phone to use the digital key, it works with NFC only phones. Whats critical is that your phone supports either Google, Samsung or Apple Wallets with at least NFC support on iOS 18.5 or Android 15 or above. Its pretty well documented in the on-screen setup and called out in the docs as well that NFC only phones will work: https://rivian.com/support/article/what-is-rivian-digital-key

@Dasoss - The Z-Flip 3 introduced NFC, which also supports android 15 - so if you are on a phone older than that you are out of luck, but its certainly not the lack of UWB holding this back.


Edit:

Just so we are clear:

• NFC only digital key:
  • Kicks in when device is out of battery for UWB etc (and yes this is only a sure shot for a few hours after the phone/watch is out of battery - around 5 if I recall correctly in the apple ecosystem)
  • Used by phones without UWB but meet all the other criteria (OS version/Wallet support)
  • Acts like a keycard in Rivian Keycard in practice
  • Can be used alongside the Rivian BLE only implementation on phones with only NFC wallet support.
• UWB+BLE digital key:
  • Used when UWB and BLE is available.
  • Operates like Rivians BLE only (ie original PAAK) implementation in practice.
    • but much more refined in terms of range estimation, as it uses real ranging over UWB rather than BLE RSSI to position key relative to vehicle.

Some information on digital communication technologies that might be helpful:
Bluetooth uses radio waves in the 2.54 GHz license free Industrial, Scientific, Medical (ISM) band, which is also used for things like Wi-Fi, microwave ovens, and medical telemetry. It uses frequency hopping spread'-spectrun technology with phase modulation to reduce interference and enhance security. Originally developed to provide a wireless connection between a headset and a mobile phone, there are now several different standardized protocols for various uses. Blutooth has a range of about 10 meters. Your Rivian uses Bluetooth for hands-free telephone calls, streaming audio in stereo, proximity unlock, and keyfob remote controll. Rivian Bluetooth proximity detection relies solely on signal strength. That's why it seems unreliable.
Near Field Communications (NFC): Uses magnetic inductive coupling, not electromagnetic radiation or radio. It's called near field because Maxwell's equations are really messy near an antenna, and are more conviently treated as representing seperate electric and magnetic fields. (Whew, sorry about that, but the best that I can do. I got into an argument over this with a USPTO patent examiner in the 70's and ended up abandoning the application because we couldn't afford the legal fees to continue). Modern NFC can also uses magnet coupling to provide power to rhe device. NFC works over short range. Maybe a foot max. It is used for key cards, key fobs , tap to pay and so forth. Rivian uses NFC in the key cards and key fobs for locking and unlocking because it doesn't require batteries in the devices. The power is supplied fron the readers in the door handle and the charging pad.. Incidently, inductive charging technology is similar to NFC.
Ultrawideband (UWB): Is radio that uses very short pulses like radar, only shorter.. It varies. The timing of the pulses in a coded manner to reduce interference. Data can also be included in the timing. Very short pulses spread the radiated energy over a wide frequency range. Hence ultrawidband. (I first became aware of UBW in the early 80's. Adoption took so long mostly because of difficulty and uncertainty in resolving regulatory issues.) UBW can have a pretty long range-miles actually--while using little power, provided that the data rate is low. (There is a fundamental tradeoff between power, information rate, bandwidth, and latency.) The wide bandwidth allows for accurate time-of-flight (therefore, distance) measurements. Rivian uses UBW for more precise proximity measurement than Bluetooth The remote control from the phone app is also more reliable at longer range. Newer mobile telephone use UBW for wireless payment systems, so that's why UBW resides in the wallet function of the phone.
I hope that this post helps with confusion in this thread.

 

[mkhuffman]

Some information on digital communication technologies that might be helpful:
Bluetooth uses radio waves in the 2.54 GHz license free Industrial, Scientific, Medical (ISM) band, which is also used for things like Wi-Fi, microwave ovens, and medical telemetry. It uses frequency hopping spread'-spectrun technology with phase modulation to reduce interference and enhance security. Originally developed to provide a wireless connection between a headset and a mobile phone, there are now several different standardized protocols for various uses. Blutooth has a range of about 10 meters. Your Rivian uses Bluetooth for hands-free telephone calls, streaming audio in stereo, proximity unlock, and keyfob remote controll. Rivian Bluetooth proximity detection relies solely on signal strength. That's why it seems unreliable.
Near Field Communications (NFC): Uses magnetic inductive coupling, not electromagnetic radiation or radio. It's called near field because Maxwell's equations are really messy near an antenna, and are more conviently treated as representing seperate electric and magnetic fields. (Whew, sorry about that, but the best that I can do. I got into an argument over this with a USPTO patent examiner in the 70's and ended up abandoning the application because we couldn't afford the legal fees to continue). Modern NFC can also uses magnet coupling to provide power to rhe device. NFC works over short range. Maybe a foot max. It is used for key cards, key fobs , tap to pay and so forth. Rivian uses NFC in the key cards and key fobs for locking and unlocking because it doesn't require batteries in the devices. The power is supplied fron the readers in the door handle and the charging pad.. Incidently, inductive charging technology is similar to NFC.
Ultrawideband (UWB): Is radio that uses very short pulses like radar, only shorter.. It varies. The timing of the pulses in a coded manner to reduce interference. Data can also be included in the timing. Very short pulses spread the radiated energy over a wide frequency range. Hence ultrawidband. (I first became aware of UBW in the early 80's. Adoption took so long mostly because of difficulty and uncertainty in resolving regulatory issues.) UBW can have a pretty long range-miles actually--while using little power, provided that the data rate is low. (There is a fundamental tradeoff between power, information rate, bandwidth, and latency.) The wide bandwidth allows for accurate time-of-flight (therefore, distance) measurements. Rivian uses UBW for more precise proximity measurement than Bluetooth The remote control from the phone app is also more reliable at longer range. Newer mobile telephone use UBW for wireless payment systems, so that's why UBW resides in the wallet function of the phone.
I hope that this post helps with confusion in this thread.

It helps but I believe the correct acronym is "UWB".

 

[Dasoss]

It helps but I believe the correct acronym is "UWB".

Sorry for fat finger. I got it right once.. whaddyou want.

 

[therealcmj]

A "Rivian Guide" called me on Friday (Dec 26) and explained that a number of customers had problems setting up the digital key and he was calling to make sure I was able to get it working. He didn't say that he knew I had problems but it was sort of implied that my account had been flagged as having a problem.

 

[Dasoss]

After the 2025.46 update installed, the phone app started nagging me to set up my digital key; saying that without it some functions would be unavailable. I finally attempted the digital key setup, even though I new it would fail. I have an older Samsun Z-flip phone. The setup failed. However, there is no provision for fallback. The app just keeps telling you to try again. (Remember Einstein's definition of insanity?) The digital key setup removes the Bluetooth Key, although both the phone key and the digital key now show in the list of keys under the security tab in both the app and the vehicle. Now any app function that used to use Bluetooth fails, includeng proximity lock/unlock and the function on the keyfob. I could not find a way to re-install the Bluetooth key function. I tried uninstalling the installing the app. Big mistake. Now none of the functions of the app work at all. The lock, unlock, hood, liftdate, and more buttons are no longer displayed on the home screen. All of the other finctions are either greyed out or don't work. I cant vier the cameras, adjust the climate control, or view the energy status. The app will not attempt to wake the vehicle. The status is never updated. The app is now a useless piece of garbage. It just keeps insisting that I install my digital key.

I tried a service request. The AI troubleshooter just offered to set up an appointment next year, as if that would do any good.

I'm happy for all the users with new expensive phones and Apple watches, who now have better keys, but I wish that Rivian had considered what would happen if the digital key installation failed and provided a fallback or recovery provision. They certainly had time, considering how long they took to roll-out the digital key. Don't they ever test changes to the app with older phones?

By the way, the key card, and the key fob still work, so the vehicle is usable, although it's inconvenient.

My advise is do not attempt to set up the digital key unless you are absolutely sure your phone is compatible, and have verifiedi it with the phone manufacturer. Do not allow the app to remove your Bluetooth key. Do not install the new version of the app, either. Of course, I this could be an excuse to buy a new phone, but i object to being arbitrarily forced into spending $1,000 or more.

Has anyone had a similar experience? Did you get it resolved?

The problem has been fixed. Engineering reverted the key portion of the entry code to the previous version by pushing change to my vehicle. I then followed the steps to set up my phone as a (Bluetooth) key as in the previous version. Everything works now; except I cannot set up a digital key--I don't want to because my current phone lacks UWB.
It turns out that my phone's lacking UWB was a red herring. The problem is believed to be a known bug in the version of Samsung Wallet currently residing on my phone {6.2.73). In some circumstances wallet is unable to add new cards.

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