Apple iOS Gets Do Not Disturb While Driving Mode and Lane Guidance
Apple's releasing a new operating system for iPhone and iPad. They've announced that they're making some big improvements if you're using Apple Maps in the car, and one new feature that can help keep you safer behind the wheel.
The newest version of Apple's mobile operating system is iOS 11. It's not being released until the fall, but the company is making a beta version available soon for consumers to help testing. One big new feature is a "do not disturb while driving" feature. The phone can tell when you're driving, likely based on your speed. It can be set to send an auto-reply message to contacts that you aren't available while you're driving. With the feature active, the screen won't light up and the vibration and ring notifications are turned off.
If a passenger is using the phone, they can tap an "I'm not driving" button and use the phone normally.
Good news as well for anyone who relies on Apple Maps while they're driving. Apple is adding speed limit data, letting you know how fast you should be driving down that road. More importantly, Maps is also getting lane guidance arrows. Those are the little arrows on the screen that let you know which lane you need to be in so that you don't make a wrong turn at Albuquerque. Once you've parked, there are new indoor maps for major airports and shopping centres in a handful of cities around the world. Both features are common to portable GPS units, so this is Apple catching up to them.
