Two drivers: Rivian picks wrong phone

[Dianoga]

This has been one of my biggest frustrations with the R1T coming from a Model Y. I just want a priority driver setting. If we're both in the car it is 99% certain that I'm driving. But the truck will choose her profile about 90% of the time.

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[johnj2803]

IF they can have the priority profile selection that would be great. My 6 year old Model Y has this. Hopefully it’s easy to add

 

[elatrickWheels]

This is a problem of gallantry. You open the door for your wife, like a true gentleman should. Her phone is recognized first. Then you come around to the driver’s side and the Rivian reminds you that this is the 21st Century and you should be acting more chauvinistically. Considerately, though, they provide the option to select your profile from the Top menu.

 

[Dasoss]

This is a weird one and it’s happened a few times - wondering if anyone else experienced / is there a setting I’m missing? Some other cars I’ve had specifically allow you to set connection priorities.

We start to get in my 2025 R1S and the Rivian switches driver to my wife. I’m setup as owner & we both use iPhone 16 pro (although hers is the larger phone); we’re both setup with digital keys. I was previous/current driver.

My initial thought is that the larger format phone has a larger/stronger antenna or something?

Obviously something I can switch on the dash, but last time it happened as I was entering the car, the seat was pushing me into the dash before I could change it.

Any thoughts?

Seems to be a common problem. There is no easy solution. Perhaps the solution lies in the profile protection feature that came with the Rivian Assistant. It's not automatic and will require an extra step in starting driving. Perhaps Ai can make a better guess about who is driving based on learning past behavior, seat sensors, facial recognition from the interior camera, etc.

 

[Aubie559]

I thought my R1S was connecting to the first person to walk near the car also - but that’s not it. I am the owner and as I approach the seat goes to my position. Then my wife walks up and gets in (well after I am already seated in the drivers seat) and the car switches to her seat position and smashes my knees. Extremely irritating!! I wish they would fix this problem.

 

[ClayCollins]

Our 2022 GMC Yukon has a "first to connect" option when it finds both phones. I set it to my wife's phone because she is the primary driver, but it's a real pain to change it and often it won't allow us to without shutting off the car. A first-to-connect designation option might be a good idea for Rivian to adopt in the settings menu, but if it's smart enough to sense which FOB is in the driver's seat, it should know which phone is there also.

 

[cyclingkk]

My wife and I have the same Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra phones, I'm the primary, and my name is after hers in the alphabet. No matter whether I approach the car first or I'm in the driver's seat first my R1S prefers her profile and will switch to her profile and seat settings! Super annoying! Why Rivian must this continue when our Tesla never messes up... It always picks the correct profile no matter what we do.
Side-note: Our Rivian is superior in many ways and now that we aren't paying for FSD, the Autosteer has lost turn signal lane change, stopping & starting at lights, minor navigation, and now the lane keeping is much worse and jerky... We didn't expect to lose so much that it's just basic lane keep assist. The Tesla's intelligence is a massive downgrade and unless they give us back what we had without a subscription in the future, we won't be buying another Tesla.

Our R1S fix is to disable the passive entry on her Samsung Wallet digital key which still gives her manual access to unlock the car via the app when she arrives before I do, which is rare. Screenshot shows my phone key settings. Her's is disabled.

 

[kewlasu]

I wonder if the internal camera can detect who is in the driver seat in order to set the correct profile. I have a gen 1 so my internal camera is not turned on.

 

[Thebandit]

My Subaru has this problem solved, it's stupid that Rivian can't.

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