Don’t get texts while you’re driving, let iOS11 deal with it!
There you are driving along and you hear that tell tale sound that says a text has arrived…
…so tempting – is it that text you were waiting for?
Don’t do it!!
We’ve all seen the terrible stories of lorry and car drivers who were distracted for a few seconds opening their phone and checking their texts. What usually happened next was an unspeakable tragedy.
So Apple (bless ’em) have added a new feature to iOS11 that will send an “out of office” style message to someone texting you, saying “back off buddy – I’m driving!” (Well it’s more polite than that, but you can customise it and make it rude if you want!)
I really like this feature.
I have Bluetooth in my car and my phone is always in my pocket. Even if I was any good at texting anyone back while juggling the car controls I still wouldn’t do it because it’s too much effort to squeeze it out of that pocket!
Lately, I’ve been getting notifications on my Garmin watch and glancing at that is bad enough. Especially when you can read it but can’t do anything about it.
So now, it’s great. As soon as I am in the car and the Bluetooth is connected (automatically), my phone now texts those people back and the pressure is off. This is what it says on my phone:
How do you set up “Do Not Disturb While Driving”?
The good news is, it is really simple.
You’ll head on over to Settings > Do Not Disturb and scroll down to the settings at the bottom that control it. The video I made below shows you how…
When it’s set up , anyone who sends you a message will receive an automatic notification back saying you are driving and you can’t respond now. You can adjust this, so I like to add in my phone number to get them to call me if it’s urgent (after all, I have hands free Bluetooth so it’s not illegal to talk to them).
What if it’s urgent?
Well they can call you. Or, if they text you back the word “urgent”, the text comes through. Though we are then in the realm of you answering it, but of course you can stop the car.
What if I’m a passenger?
A lot of people were moaning on social media about this feature but its only going to affect you as a passenger if your phone is connected via Bluetooth. Unless, you opt for the “Manual” option and then you can switch it on or off as you like.
Turning it on and off is easy if you use the Control Centre. You swipe up from the bottom and select the “Car” icon…
Drive safe and stay alive!