Rivian has begun rolling out a software hotfix that addresses the privacy-settings bug blamed for disabling Highway Assist on owners’ vehicles, while lowering the minimum speed at which its driver-assistance features operate.
The update is rolling out as version 2026.15.01 for first-generation R1 vehicles and 2026.15.30 for the second generation, and began reaching vehicles on Friday, primarily bringing improvements to the Rivian Assistant.
Rivian‘s hotfix is a refinement release tackling one of the most disruptive issues owners have been reporting since the software update released in mid May.
The EV maker is pushing the hotfix in staged, random batches, the same method it uses for major updates.
First-generation R1 vehicles receive version 2026.15.01 and second-generation vehicles 2026.15.30.
A Fix for the Privacy-Settings Bug
The trouble stemmed from a cloud-side issue involving precise location, which caused some privacy settings to toggle on and off and left location data frozen.
Rivian resolved that issue, restoring Highway Assist, Lane Change on Command, and location in the mobile app, according to tracker accounts.
The brand’s hotfix release notes describe a fix for the rare privacy-settings toggle affecting location and Autonomy features, and advise owners to double-check their settings after the update.
The bug had sat behind a wave of complaints earlier in the cycle. Owners of both first- and second-generation R1 vehicles reported that Highway Assist stopped working on highways they had used for months, with some seeing on-screen messages that the feature was unavailable or that connectivity was off in privacy settings.
As Highway Assist depends on precise-location sharing, the toggling of those permissions disabled the feature without owner’s input.
Rivian owners were advised to accept any prompt to re-enable precise location after the update and to confirm their sharing settings.
The reports had spanned both vehicle generations, distinguishing the episode from earlier Highway Assist problems rooted in hardware or misclassification.
A Lower Speed Floor
The release also reduces the minimum speed for Rivian‘s assisted-driving features.
Universal Hands-Free, Highway Assist, and Adaptive Cruise Control now engage from 5 mph (8 km/h), down from higher thresholds.
Rivian said the change improves behavior in stop-and-go traffic, where the systems previously dropped out at low speeds.
Rivian Assistant Polished
The bulk of the changelog covers Rivian‘s in-car voice assistant, introduced in the earlier 2026.15 update.
For messaging and calling, the assistant now searches contacts in a clearer order — favorites, then recent contacts, then the full list — and better recognises hard-to-spell names, nicknames, and mispronunciations.
It defaults to mobile numbers and confirms them in natural language, and it can answer a question such as which number is saved for a contact without dialing automatically.
When dictating texts, the assistant now adds punctuation automatically. Rivian also made the ‘Hey Rivian’ wake word more responsive, cutting the need to repeat it, and set the system to warn drivers when its cloud connection drops rather than going silent.
In navigation, the assistant is now aware of any route previewed on screen, allowing questions about charging or trip details before a drive begins.
Rivian improved point-of-interest search and recent-destination recall, and fixed a bug that had shown the same arrival time for every stop on a multi-stop trip.
Climate commands also changed. Setting a temperature while climate is off now restores the previous fan setting instead of the lowest speed, and the assistant handles vague instructions such as “make it warmer” more sensibly. A separate fix ensures seat heating warms the exact seat requested.
For calendars, the assistant respects hidden events, anchors correctly to local time, and uses natural past, present, and future tenses.
Rivian also tied assistant availability to the vehicle’s language setting rather than its geographic region, enabling the feature for English-language vehicles in places such as Quebec.
The company added per-user encryption keys for the assistant’s memory and set it to clear chat history when drivers switch profiles.
Profile and Security Fixes
The hotfix resolves several profile and authentication issues.
The navigation app now opens by default after a successful PIN entry. Rivian fixed garage-door access while a profile is locked, profile-locking bugs tied to its Camp Courtesy mode, and a fault that kept the PIN screen from appearing after a cancellation.
The company also cleared various interface overlaps, including issues with Launch Mode, garage pairing on the reverse camera, and drive modes flashing black.
A Mixed Reception
Owner reaction across Reddit, X, and Rivian‘s forums was broadly positive but qualified.
On the r/Rivian hotfix thread, owners praised the quieter chimes, the automatic punctuation in dictation, and the lower speed floor for assisted driving, which several called significant for traffic.
However, complaints persisted as owners noted that the assistant still does not pause music or podcasts while speaking or reading texts, reported occasional radio delays and a high ringtone volume, and cited lingering profile-switching bugs when several people enter a vehicle.
A few owners reported duplicate update notifications or minor contact-sync issues, but most described the hotfix as a low-drama refinement.
