Let me just check who's WhatsApping me. To help drivers avoid the temptation to look at their phones while at the wheel, Apple has a rather nifty Driving Focus feature buried in its settings. — Photo: Jan Woitas/dpa
LOS ANGELES: Driving requires your full attention – but that doesn't stop your smartphone buzzing and tempting you to find out why. How are you supposed to resist?
For anyone with an iPhone, Apple has included a handy feature since iOS 15 called Driving Focus. The idea is that you can drive without major distractions, but still be notified if you receive calls from certain people.
Here’s how to turn on Driving Focus:
- Go to Settings and then to the Focus section.
- Tap the plus sign to create a new Focus.
- Tap Customise Focus and follow the instructions to set up which notifications are allowed and to what extent. Here you can also specify which people are always allowed to notify you.
Once Focus is set up, messages (both SMS and chat apps) are silenced. Incoming calls are only allowed through if the iPhone is connected to the car via CarPlay or Bluetooth.
Automatically activating Driving Focus
Driving Focus can sometimes be activated automatically – if your car supports CarPlay or has a Bluetooth hands-free system.
If you don't connect your iPhone to the car, only use it as a satnav or just have it with you, you need to activate Driving Focus manually.
Open the Control Centre and tap "Driving" on the Focus button. Don’t forget to turn it off again after leaving the car.
Sharing your Focus status and auto-replies
You can also set Driving Focus to notify callers or other iPhone users that you are currently driving:
- Go to Settings and then Focus.
- Under Share Focus Status, select Driving.
Now, apps like FaceTime or iMessage will let others know you are driving and may not see their message right away.
But there’s more. Driving Focus can also send automatic SMS replies when friends or family call. In the Focus settings, you’ll find "Auto-Reply". Here you can choose who should receive automatic replies.
The options are:
- No one
- Recents (people you were last in contact with)
- Favourites
- All contacts
You can also write your own reply text in the field below. The advantage of this option is that if someone marks their message as "urgent", it will still come through from the selected group. – dpa
