Rivian R2 Gets Pet Cam: Watch Your Dog Live From Your Phone

Rivian is rolling out a fresh over-the-air software update, and this one is squarely aimed at the many owners who treat their dogs as co-pilots. According to Rivian, more than 60% of its customers hit the road with a pet on board, a figure the company leans on when deciding which features to develop next.

The headline addition is Pet Cam, and it is reserved for the R2. The setup taps the interior camera mounted behind the rearview mirror glass, streaming a full-color, high-definition look at the cabin through the Gear Guard system. Alongside the video feed, owners see the interior temperature, so they can confirm their dog is riding in comfortable conditions. Those who cannot sit and watch the stream can instead let the app push periodic snapshots straight to their phone’s lock screen. Rivian has also noted that the system can tell a human occupant from a dog and will decline monitoring in the former case, so the camera is not a tool for surveillance of people.

Pet Mode itself is not new, but it becomes far more flexible with this release. R1T and R1S owners gain the ability to switch the mode on or off remotely through the Rivian app — a useful safeguard for anyone who walks away and then realizes they forgot to enable it. The app also adds protection against accidentally toggling Pet Mode, and there is one notable caveat: live streaming requires the Connect+ subscription at $14.99 per month, with Gear Guard Live Cam capped at one hour of streaming per day. If a person is sitting inside when the camera activates, they can shut it off with a single tap on the touchscreen.

The same update finally brings Rivian Assistant to the R2. The AI-based voice system has been available on R1 vehicles for a while and lets anyone in the car adjust climate settings, media, and navigation or ask general questions, triggered either by saying “Hey, Rivian” or by pressing the Halo Wheel on the steering wheel.

It is fair to point out that Tesla owners have had comparable cabin-camera features for some time, so nothing here rewrites the rulebook. What matters more is the broader trend: vehicles getting meaningfully better after purchase rather than waiting for the next generation. The hardware may look identical from one day to the next, but the screen experience keeps evolving — and now it can send you pictures of your dog while you are away from the car.