Rivian will bring a version of its mobile app designed for Apple’s iPhone Duo with its next app update, Chief Software Officer Wassym Bensaid said on Tuesday, four days after the foldable phone went on sale.
“Love the new Rivian mobile app on iPhone Duo. Coming with the 3.18 app update!” Bensaid wrote on X, sharing a short video of the app running on the device.
The clip shows the app split across the unfolded screen, with the vehicle, its battery level and lock controls on the left, and a grid of tiles for climate, energy, Gear Guard and location on the right.
Later in the video, the app shows that it will be possible to edit favorite shortcuts such as opening the liftgate, sounding the alarm and opening the charge port door.
Bensaid did not say when version 3.18 would be released. The current version on Apple’s App Store is 3.17.0, released on October 6, which added Pet Comfort controls, a Gmail connection for Rivian Assistant and a warranty overview.
Tesla got there first
Tesla began rolling out an app built for larger screens on October 21, two days before the iPhone Duo reached stores.
“The Tesla App is rolling out now for iPad, iPhone Duo, and Android Tablets and Foldables. Finally on the big screens you bring around with you,” Tesla designer Alex Guichet wrote on X that day.
The App Store listing for Tesla’s app now shows version 4.62.3 with the release note “Tablet and iPhone Duo support.” The redesign puts the main menu on the left and a larger rendering of the car on the right, with climate, charging and security controls alongside.
That meant Tesla owners who bought an iPhone Duo at launch could run an app laid out for its inner display, provided the update had reached them. Tesla releases app updates in stages, so not every owner would have received it on day one.
A boxed-in Rivian app
Rivian owners were not as lucky. A day after the review embargo lifted, Chance Miller, Editor-in-Chief of Apple news site 9to5Mac, was asked by X user Travis Ketchum how the Rivian app looked on the device.
“Very sad,” Miller replied, sharing an image of the app shown in four configurations, each confined to a narrow column surrounded by black on the larger screen.
Apps that have not been updated for iOS 27 run in a compatibility mode on the iPhone Duo, which fits their single-screen layout into a safe area on a black background, according to 9to5Mac.
Apps built with the iOS 27 software development kit fill most of the inner display but leave space along the right edge, and only apps built with the iOS 27.1 kit or later can use both displays fully, Miller wrote in his review.
Rivian does not support Apple CarPlay in any of its vehicles, a choice founder and CEO RJ Scaringe has defended as essential to a “seamless digital experience.” That leaves its phone app as one of the main points where Rivian’s software meets Apple’s hardware.
An aftermarket maker has announced a device to add CarPlay to the R2.
Apple unveiled the iPhone Duo on September 9. Pre-orders opened on October 16, and the phone went on sale on October 23 in the US and more than 70 other countries and regions, with 28 more to follow on October 30.
It starts at $1,999 with 256 gigabytes of storage in the US, rising to $3,199 for the 2-terabyte model.
