A new safety feature is coming to iOS 11 this fall called "Do Not Disturb While Driving," which will block unnecessary notifications to your iPhone when it's connected via Bluetooth to a vehicle. Apple said it'll also be able to use speed-detection to know if a user is in a car while it's moving.

dnd while driving ios 11

iOS 11 introduces a new way to help drivers stay more focused on the road with Do Not Disturb while driving. iPhone can detect when you may be driving and automatically silence notifications to keep the screen dark. Users have the option of sending an auto reply to contacts listed in Favorites to let them know they are driving and cannot respond until they arrive at their destination.

When you're driving, Messages will auto-reply with a specific text message to those trying to reach you that you currently can't reply to their text. Users who are passengers will be able to tell iOS 11 and grant full notification access to their iPhone.

Related Forum: iOS 11

Top Rated Comments

Icestyle Avatar
109 months ago
They could make it so it senses a vehicle in motion even if it's not connected and disables the phone. They could easily make it so you can't disable it. If the customers don't like it they can go get an Android phone. It would make Apple a leader in safety.
Great idea... I don't have a car. Now what? Am I not allowed to use my phone in a train or tram or bus?
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
44267547 Avatar
109 months ago
If only this feature was forced...
There Would be legalities behind forcing something like this. But nonetheless, this is an outstanding feature to promote safety and a hands-free approach on the roadway and keep your eyes focused on the road. Do Not disturb while driving should have debuted sooner.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
zorinlynx Avatar
109 months ago
Disabling it by indicating that you're the passenger should require granting access to the rear camera. If it sees the steering wheel, it won't allow you to turn off DND. If the AR they demoed could identify a table, surely it could tell if you're driving.
Why do you yearn to be ruled by your technology rather than to be in charge yourself?

Every time I see this attitude it scares me.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
zorinlynx Avatar
109 months ago
Auto reply has been a feature of Android along with do not disturb. Speed sensing when connected to car Bluetooth is good. The stack knows because each vendor has a unique ID. On the other hand, what happens if I'm in the car and my phone is connected and I'm thenpassenger? Also, let's.face it, if you are the kind to text and drive you just won't connect or you will bypass.
Yup, that's just it. I actually LIKE this feature, because I often have my phone in a cradle while I'm driving providing me GPS navigation. It's nice for alerts to NOT come in automatically during that time. If I'm not using GPS navigation my phone is in my pocket out of sight and doesn't distract me.

(a buzz in my pocket is not as distracting as a notification bubble popping down with text on it in my field of view)

However I have a big problem with attitudes like DakotaGuy's, which cripple functionality while driving. I'm not always driving when I'm in my car, and don't want to have to implement annoying workarounds to be able to use my phone.

Keep these awesome features OPTIONAL, damnit.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
zorinlynx Avatar
109 months ago
It might take a long time to be fully implemented, but possibly there would a way for the phone to tell it's in a passenger vehicle so you could still use it other places. It'll probably take forced Government regulation to come up with something that will force disable a phone for a motor vehicle operator.
You sound like quite the authoritarian.

Why don't you just let people do what they want to do with their devices?

Note that I absolutely LOVE features like this as long as they are optional.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
CarpalMac Avatar
109 months ago
If only this feature was forced...
If only some people had common sense, this wouldn't even be needed.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)

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