How to turn an iPhone’s ‘Do Not Disturb While Driving’ mode on or off, or set it to enable automatically

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woman drivingLuis Alvarez/Getty Images

  • The iPhone’s driving mode is called Do Not Disturb While Driving, and you can turn it on and off automatically, or manually through the Control Center.
  • Driving mode silences notifications and temporarily blocks phone calls and text messages, so you can drive with fewer distractions.
  • You can enable or disable Do Not Disturb While Driving on your iPhone from the Settings app’s Do Not Disturb section.
  • Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.

Your iPhone, like an Android, has a "driving mode." It’s called Do Not Disturb While Driving, and it’s designed to reduce distractions and help you drive more safely. 

Your iPhone can start this mode automatically when it senses you’re driving, or you can turn it on manually when you get in the car. You can also turn it off or disable it at any time. 

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What the iPhone’s driving mode does

When your iPhone is in Do Not Disturb While Driving mode, it reduces notifications, distractions, and screen activity, all to make your driving safer.

driving 1Dave Johnson/Business Insider

For example, some of the things it does are:

  • Your iPhone screen stays dark and notifications are silenced, much like the usual Do Not Disturb mode.
  • If you get a text message, the phone sends an automatic reply letting the sender know you’re driving. The reply advises that if it’s an emergency, to reply with the word "urgent," in which case you’ll get a notification about their message. 
  • By default, calls from people on your Do Not Disturb exceptions list will ring through, and anyone who calls you twice in a row will ring through as well. 
  • Lock screen notifications will appear, such as for turn-by-turn driving instructions. 
  • A passenger can take control of the phone by tapping "I’m not driving."

Read more: How to use Do Not Disturb on iPhone manually, or schedule it to activate at a specific time each day

How to turn on an iPhone’s driving mode automatically

You can allow your phone to start this mode automatically:

1. Start the Settings app.

2. Tap "Do Not Disturb."

3. In the Do Not Disturb While Driving section, tap "Activate." 

4. Tap "When connected to Car Bluetooth" or "Automatically."

driving 2Dave Johnson/Business Insider

If your car has Bluetooth, it’s a good idea to choose that mode, since it’s more reliable. If you choose "Automatically," you’ll find that your phone will often enter driving mode when you’re a passenger in other people’s cars. 

How to turn on an iPhone’s driving mode manually

If you prefer, you can choose when to turn on driving mode. It’s easy to access with just a swipe, but first you have to add it to the Control Panel:

1. Start the Settings app. 

2. Tap "Control Center."

3. Tap "Customize Controls."

4. In the More Controls section, tap "Do Not Disturb While Driving" to add it to the Include section.

driving 3Dave Johnson/Business Insider

To enable driving mode manually, pull down the Control Center by swiping down from the top right of the screen (iPhone X or later), or up from the bottom of the screen (iPhone 8 Plus or earlier), and then tap the icon of a car. This turns on Do Not Disturb While Driving.

driving 4Dave Johnson/Business Insider

How to turn off an iPhone’s driving mode manually

There are two ways to turn off the Do Not Disturb feature while you’re driving:

  • Pull down the Control Center by swiping from the top right of the screen and tap the car icon again.
  • On the lock screen, tap the Do Not Disturb While Driving notification and then tap "I’m Not Driving."

driving 5Dave Johnson/Business Insider

If your phone enters driving mode automatically and you want to disable that, do this: 

1. Start the Settings app.

2. Tap "Do Not Disturb."

3. In the Do Not Disturb While Driving section, tap "Activate." 

4. Tap "Manually."

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Source: Business Insider – feedback@businessinsider.com (Dave Johnson)

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