How To Use Do Not Disturb While Driving In iOS 11 So You're Not Distracted

There are so many things that your phone can do. It is practically your personal assistant. Your phone can tell you the best time to get to bed, remind you to eat healthier, tell you to work out more, tell you when to wake up — and can now prevent you from causing an accident with Apple's newest software update for iPhones Distracted driving is a huge issue and phones can be to blame for it — but using do not disturb while driving in iOS 11 can certainly help with this.

Being on your phone while driving is bad, yes, but everyone has been there at some point or another. You're phone can catch your attention while driving at any point — whether you're changing the song on your stereo, receiving an important phone call that you need to take, or an unexpected text message from a certain someone. But driving while on your phone is never recommended by anyone ever.

Nine people are killed every day in the United States due to distracted driving, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Distracted driving definitely includes texting or looking at your phone while driving. One study published this past April from Cambridge Mobile Telematics found that half of all car accidents (52 percent) were caused by drivers being on their phone. The study found that the average duration of the distraction, according to AOL News, was 135 seconds or a little more than two minutes. That's huge.

Luckily, the new iPhone update is here to help with that. Turning on do not disturb while driving with your iPhone is super simple and can help save not only your life but someone else's from being on your phone.

Make Sure Your Phone Is Updated

This step might seem super obvious but it's super important. Without your phone being updated to the current operating system on your iPhone, you can't use this feature. Head into your Settings app and locate Software Updates to make sure your phone is up to date on the current software. If you've already done this step, you can proceed.

Head Into Your Settings

Under settings you will find a option called "Control Center." Click on that and then click on "Customize Controls." Scroll down until you see a purple car and click on "Do Not Disturb While Driving." This option has now been added into your phone's control panel for easy access while driving.

Turn It On

Once you have the feature activated on your phone, you now can use it. All you have to do is swipe in the up direction on your phone to access your control panel. You'll see that the car icon will be added — click on it — now you're free to use it while driving.

Begin Driving To Your Destination

Now that it is activated, the fun stuff can happen. According to Apple Support, you can expect a lot of cool things while the feature is turned on. While you are driving, your phone will remain silent and dark. If someone sends you a message, a default away message (think AIM days) will be sent to them letting them know you're driving. Phone calls will only come in from those on your Favorites list or someone who calls twice (so you know if it is an emergency). And luckily, you can still access the maps app.

But If You Don't Have A Car...

and you're a train rider, this feature can become a serious pain in the butt. According to Select All, the feature uses your phone's accelerometer, which can detect when you're in motion. But if you ride on a train every day, you're still accelerating, just not on your own. Your iPhone, on the other hand, doesn't know this and assumes you're driving — not good for that long morning commute. If this happens to you, users can go ahead and manually turn this feature off in the same setting panel that you use to turn it on. That way you can easily avoid this problem.

Distracted driving has become such a huge problem in the recent years. But turning on this feature on your iPhone will help you keep your eyes off the road and not on a not-so-important text message sent from your best friend.