How Do Not Disturb While Driving works in iOS 11
With the new iOS update, Do Not Disturb has gotten smarter. It now knows when you're driving, and can stop you from being irresponsible.
Do Not Disturb mutes phone calls, notifications, and text messages, keeping your phone dark for a set period of time. If enabled, Do Not Disturb While Driving turns on automatically when it detects the acceleration of a vehicle (you can turn it off if you're a passenger). You can also enable it to turn on whenever it connects to a car via Bluetooth.
But the feature doesn't totally cut you off. You can set Do Not Disturb While Driving to automatically respond to any texts informing their senders that you are driving.
Your contacts can break through Do Not Disturb by including the word "Urgent" in your texts (this function can be turned off, or limited to certain contacts). You can still make phone calls if the phone is on Speaker or connected to Bluetooth.
Do Not Disturb While Driving and all of its features can be turned on and customized in Settings > Do Not Disturb.
And if you don't trust your kids, you can turn on Do Not Disturb While Driving on their phones, and prevent it from being disabled. This can be done in Settings > General > Restrictions.
This new feature is optional, but we really recommend you try it. It takes about two seconds to turn on, and it could save your life.
Monica wrote for Mashable's Tech section with a focus on retail, internet of things, and the intersections of technology and social justice. She holds a degree in creative writing from Brown University, and has previously written for Dow Jones Media, the New York Post, Yahoo Finance, and others. In her free time, she can be found attempting to cook Asian food, buying board games, and looking for new hobbies.
