The all new Weather app arriving with RivianOS 2 in 2026.31 requires a Connect+ subscription, which means the little connectivity plan a lot of owners quietly let lapse is about to matter again. It has been a hot minute since we last covered Connect+ in any depth, so here is the refresher, plus why I think the gap between having it and not having it is only going to get wider.
Connect+ is Rivian’s connectivity subscription, the one the company likes to say unlocks your vehicle’s superpowers. That is marketing language, but the feature list behind it is actually pretty stacked.
What it unlocks
The headline feature is Rivian Assistant, the AI-powered voice assistant built into the vehicle, and it goes well beyond setting a destination. You can ask it for directions, find the nearest coffee shop, and send text messages entirely hands-free. The part I like most is that Assistant keeps getting better with basically every software release, so what you are paying for today is not what you will be using six months from now.
Easily the most underrated piece is the in-vehicle Wi-Fi hotspot. You get unlimited data powered by AT&T in the US, and when you stack that against what a standalone hotspot plan costs, the monthly price starts looking like a bargain on its own. Alongside that you get native audio and video streaming, so Spotify, Apple Music, TIDAL, TuneIn, and YouTube (video) all run in the vehicle without burning through your phone’s data plan or fighting with a tethered connection every time you get in.
Connect+ also covers remote camera livestreaming, so with Gear Guard set up and enabled you can pull up your vehicle’s cameras straight from the iOS or Android app. It is one of those features you do not think about until the one time you really want it.
Then there is the smaller stuff that adds up, like satellite map view and Google Maps photos and location details, plus priority software updates. That last one is more meaningful than it sounds. Based on data from Rivian Roamer, Connect+ subscribers tend to see new software up to two weeks earlier than everyone else, which is a real difference if you like being on the newest build.
Standard connectivity vs Connect+
What every Rivian includes and what the subscription adds, as of 2026.31
Standard connectivity
Connect+
TuneIn, Audible, SiriusXM
And now, weather and live trips
Starting with 2026.31, the new RivianOS 2 Weather app requires Connect+ to pull forecasts and real-time weather. It does not stop there either. The next mobile app update adds live trips, which lets you follow a trip happening in an R1 or R2 in real time and watch the ETA as it updates, and that one is going behind Connect+ too.
So that is two brand new features arriving back to back, both gated, which tells you plenty about how Rivian is thinking here. As the company keeps building out its software, my expectation is that Connect+ keeps growing right along with it, and you are going to want it if you care about having the fun new stuff.
What it costs, and what you keep without it
Connect+ runs $14.99 per month or $149.99 per year, and every new and used Rivian includes a 60-day trial. To be fair, Rivian has not gutted the base experience for anyone who passes on it. Without Connect+ you still get turn-by-turn navigation with live traffic, the mobile app with remote commands, and media streaming over Bluetooth. The car works fine. It just works differently.
If you have been on the fence, neither the Weather app nor live trips is a dealbreaker on its own, but together they are a useful signal. Connect+ is not a bundle Rivian shipped in 2024 and walked away from. It is where the new stuff goes now, and the longer that pattern holds, the more it looks like part of owning the vehicle instead of an add-on you can shrug off.
All of the features that involve data coming to the car (vs the ones that require data leaving it, such as gear guard video or live trips) could be handled by CarPlay. The feature set looks a lot less compelling if you subtract those out. My phone has an unlimited data plan. It can create a mobile hotspot. It receives weather forecasts. It streams music and plays video. It will even soon get an AI voice assistant (Siri AI).
Regardless of what Rivian says is the reason why they don’t support CarPlay, at least one of their reasons must surely be that far fewer people would feel compelled to pony up for Connect+ if they did.
Anyway. I’m still on the fence about whether I’ll subscribe once I get my R2. One of the few benefits of owning a launch-edition Tesla Model 3 is that my car got grandfathered in to premium connectivity for life, so I am used to getting the feature set of Connect+ for free.
They could always include CarPlay own the Connect+ sub
This reads like a paid add by Rivian ; rather than a real journalistic review comparing next best alternatives and competitor solutions.
I dunno man – for your site to be more than a marketing arm of Rivian you’ve got to be more balanced.
I love your software update videos – at least when my Gen 1 actually was getting meaningful new features. Hopefully OS 2 for Gen 1 feels like a nice upgrade.
I keep seeing people say that I need to be “more balanced” but if you view my videos, read my articles, and follow me on social media you would see that I am quite objective when it comes to Rivian. This article is more driven for newcomers who don’t understand what Connect+ is and what it includes. Do I personally think Connect+ is worth it? Totally! I pay for it and think it’ll only get better.
And if you tried to satisfy all such people, then you’d get people telling you that you’re too negative. IMHO you’re doing a good job at what you do. 👍🏻
Thanks for the update, Jose. What’s the range of the wifi hotspot outside of the vehicle? (Pictures Jose in his driveway looking for bars) 😛
brb gonna go test haha
I was recently trying to understand how navigation integrates with my calendar. I’ve been using that to good effect in my Tesla for many years. When I asked Gemini, it said that Connect+ was required to have Google calendar integration. Is that correct? (for 13 years I’ve never subscribed to Tesla’s connectivity but I’d miss calendar integration…)
Correct, you can connect Google Calendar to Rivian Assistant but it does require Connect+
Any word on supporting more calendar sources, particularly iCloud? When the Google Calendar integration was announced a few months ago, Rivian said they were working to add more sources (presumably iCloud and Microsoft), but I haven’t heard any news since.
Nothing yet but I know they said other sources would come, I use iCloud so I’m hopeful for that.
Perhaps it might be useful to see a table with all the features laid out. Several of the features work fine if you just have the car connect to your phones hotspot. You might want to make that clear to new owners as well.
I can add that, give me a bit to put it together!
Thanks Jose. I do believe the native audio apps are included in the standard package as long as you use your phone as a hotspot so think that should be listed above in your new table.
I remember Rivian said they were going to install Amazon Music soon as a native app (now that Alexa is no longer). Still waiting Rivian.
As an upcoming R2 owner this article is really helpful to clearly lay out exactly what you get and what you don’t get with Connect+ so thank you Jose! While the extra features themselves would be nice to have namely Spotify I’m currently leaning towards not getting it, but what I really want is to use the trial to help figure out what is the final path forward 🙂 Bonus Hot take: having an A+ trial is also awesome too because I’m not sure if I want to pay for that feature or not but 60 days in the winter time where it can’t engage due to snow is going to dampen the trial period.. so that’ll be interesting to see play out.
I agree that Rivian’s native system is generally very good, but I think Rivian is leaning too heavily on both its own ecosystem and the assumption of a reliable cellular connection. In areas with spotty coverage, streaming frequently pauses or disconnects and Rivian Assistant becomes slow or simply fails. For example, if I ask Rivian Assistant to text my wife while the truck has a marginal connection, it often times out and gives me an error. Siri handles the same situation much better—my iPhone processes the request and will generally complete or send it when connectivity allows. CarPlay would provide valuable redundancy by allowing us to use the phone’s connection, Siri, downloaded content, and Apple’s more mature messaging integration when Rivian’s connection is poor. I recently added a Starlink Mini to my R1T and was amazed at how much better the entire connected experience became in rural areas, which really highlighted how dependent Rivian’s otherwise excellent software is on continuous cellular data. For a premium vehicle specifically designed to take people into remote places, I think Rivian should be focusing not just on adding more connected features, but on making those features resilient when connectivity is poor—whether through CarPlay, better local processing and caching, improved cellular hardware, or eventually some form of satellite connectivity.
I’m a future R2 owner. Great information. Can you see a radar map onscreen while driving to see get a view of rain along your route? I’ve had my wife use the phone for that in the past…
Thank you, I aim to help everyone but especially newbies to Rivian and EVs! Right now there is no radar option but Rivian has said that will come in a future OTA.
Jose
I just wanted to say I think your posts are super helpful and balanced. I knew I wanted an adjustable air suspension (leaving the R2 was out for me) and got a R1S in December of last year. Your videos and posts helped smooth the transition from an AMG Merc to Rivian in many ways. I just wanted to drop a note and let you know that I think you are doing a great job!