RivianOS 2 Starts Rolling Out to R1 — Gen 1 Gets the Redesign but Keeps Unreal Engine 4

Rivian has started rolling out software update 2026.31 to eligible R1 and R2 vehicles, bringing RivianOS 2 to the R1 lineup across both Gen 1 and Gen 2 architectures.¹ For existing R1 owners, the important part is not just the new interface: Rivian is moving both generations onto what it describes as a common software platform with R2, while keeping some capabilities different where the underlying hardware differs.¹

The clearest example is the graphics stack. R2 and Gen 2 R1 vehicles use Unreal Engine 5 for Rivian's new real-time 3D vehicle and surroundings visualizations, while Gen 1 R1 vehicles remain on Unreal Engine 4. Rivian says that choice is intended to preserve responsiveness on the older display hardware.¹

So one unified software stack does not mean every Rivian now has identical rendering capability. Gen 1 gets the RivianOS 2 migration and redesigned experience, but it does not gain Gen 2 compute hardware through a software update.¹

What R1 owners will see

Rivian's September 4 release describes a redesigned interface with quick controls and the media player that can be positioned on either side of the center display, a new vertical status bar, and a rebuilt Settings experience with contextual controls and universal search.¹

Navigation also gains police-presence and speed-camera alerts surfaced through Google Maps. Rivian says the alert data can include information from local authorities, trusted third parties, and real-time contributions from the Google Maps and Waze communities.¹ That is an integrated alert-data feature, not a full Waze app running in the vehicle.

Rivian also says both Gen 1 and Gen 2 R1 vehicles receive expanded cloud-assisted voice capabilities, while Gen 2 R1 and R2 have additional compute capacity for more advanced low-latency processing.¹ Those performance and architecture descriptions come from Rivian; the company's September 4 announcement is not an independent benchmark of how much faster any individual feature runs.

Two features still sit behind Connect+

The new Weather app and Mobile Live Trips are explicitly labeled as Connect+ subscriber features in Rivian's rollout announcement.¹ But Rivian does not describe RivianOS 2 itself as a Connect+-only update. Its current subscription material treats Connect+ as a separate connectivity product rather than the mechanism required for ordinary vehicle software updates.²

That distinction matters because the update mixes base software changes with subscription-gated services. Saying Weather requires Connect+ is supported; saying RivianOS 2 is paywalled is not.

The rollout is new; the roadmap was not secret

RivianOS 2 support for both R1 generations had already been public before September 4. RivianTrackr reported on August 19, citing a public statement from Rivian Chief Software Officer Wassym Bensaid, that both Gen 1 and Gen 2 R1 vehicles were slated to receive RivianOS 2 in update 2026.31.³

What changed September 4 is execution: Rivian's own site now says 2026.31 is beginning its rollout to eligible R1 and R2 vehicles.¹ Rivian has also previously documented that its vehicle software updates are distributed in batches, with owners notified when an update becomes available.⁴

That means rollout started should not be read as every R1 has it today. Rivian directs owners to the Rivian app or center display for release notes and availability for a specific vehicle.¹

Sources

Footnotes

1. Rivian — “New Software: Bringing RivianOS 2 to the R1 Lineup,” Sept. 4, 2026. https://rivian.com/stories/new-software-rivianos-2 — Primary company announcement establishing rollout start, eligible-vehicle wording, Gen 1/Gen 2 inclusion, UI changes, Unreal Engine split, route alerts, Connect+ feature gating and Rivian's software/compute characterizations. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰

2. Rivian — Connect+ / Subscription Terms, current as observed Sept. 4, 2026. https://rivian.com/connect-plus and https://rivian.com/legal/subscription — Primary current subscription surfaces supporting the bounded distinction between Connect+ services and ordinary vehicle software updates; no subscription price is relied on here. ↩

3. RivianTrackr — “RivianOS 2.0 Coming to R1 Gen 1 and Gen 2 With 2026.31 Update,” Aug. 19, 2026. https://riviantrackr.com/news/rivian-os-2-coming-to-r1-gen-1-and-gen-2-with-2026-31-update/ — Specialist secondary report citing Rivian software chief Wassym Bensaid's public statement; used only to establish that the R1-generation roadmap was public before the Sept. 4 rollout announcement. ↩

4. Rivian — “New Software: Streaming and Connectivity,” Aug. 13, 2024. https://rivian.com/stories/connect-plus — Primary historical company material documenting Rivian's batch-based software-update practice; current Sept. 4 availability wording in S001 controls the present rollout state. ↩