Most people leaving a dog in a parked car are running on equal parts faith and anxiety. Rivian is about to change that equation — at least for R2 owners. An upcoming software update is expected to add Pet Cam to the R2’s feature set, pairing a live cabin view with the existing Pet Comfort Mode. Rivian’s software chief Wassym Bensaid reportedly confirmed the update will also let owners cap how high the power tailgate opens. Final release notes and an official version number haven’t been confirmed yet.
What Pet Cam Actually Does – and What It Doesn’t
The feature streams live cabin footage to your phone, but only if you remember one critical step before walking away.
Once Pet Comfort Mode is running and the owner has stepped away, the Rivian app will reportedly stream a live cabin feed and push periodic snapshots to the phone’s lock screen. The catch is straightforward: Pet Comfort must be active before leaving the vehicle. If it isn’t enabled, Pet Cam won’t activate remotely after the fact. Tesla’s Dog Mode introduced the climate-display concept earlier, but a live in-app camera feed is a meaningful extension of that idea — assuming Rivian’s final implementation matches the preview. Treat these details as “expected” until official OTA release notes arrive.
A few specifics worth knowing before this update drops:
- Pet Cam uses the R2’s interior color camera, mounted near the rearview mirror and also associated with driver-attention monitoring; the camera requires owner activation
- Pet Comfort Mode reached R2 owners via update 2026.24; Pet Cam is the next layer on top of it
- Pet Cam is R2-exclusive — the R1T and R1S have infrared driver-monitoring cameras rather than the color camera the R2 uses, so they won’t support the feature despite now sharing the RivianOS 2 software stack from the 2026.31 update
- The adjustable power tailgate lets owners set how high the gate opens — a practical fix for low-clearance garages where a fully raised tailgate would contact the ceiling
- Halloween-themed software easter eggs are reportedly included in the same update
“Pet Cam for R2,” Rivian announced via social media, describing live app viewing and periodic lock-screen snapshots when Pet Comfort Mode is active. (Attribution should be verified against Rivian’s official account before publication.)
One Software Stack, Two Different Hardware Realities
A unified software platform is a genuine milestone — but hardware still determines which features actually reach each vehicle.
Genuinely significant in its own right, the 2026.31 update moved R1T and R1S onto RivianOS 2, creating a shared software foundation across Rivian’s entire lineup. That architecture supports interface consistency and shared development going forward — but unified software is not the same as identical capability.
The R2 has a color interior camera; the R1 has an infrared unit designed for driver monitoring. That hardware difference is why Pet Cam stays R2-exclusive. “Software-defined vehicle” means the platform can support new features — it doesn’t guarantee any specific vehicle’s hardware can run them. R1 owners shouldn’t expect Pet Cam simply because the software stack now matches.
Still unconfirmed:
- final version number
- rollout timing
- R2 trim eligibility
- privacy controls around the camera feed
- whether Pet Comfort can eventually be activated remotely — which would eliminate the must-enable-before-leaving limitation entirely
Teen Mode and Valet Mode are reportedly planned for early 2027.
Watch the official OTA release notes for specifics. Pet Cam is a genuinely useful tool for dog owners — but only if Pet Comfort is running before the door closes. That one habit is the whole game.
