Is Apple really making driving safer with iOS11?
Like many millions of others no doubt, I’ve just downloaded Apple’s latest operating system, iOS11.
It’s easy to be cynical (and I do wonder if it will mysteriously drain the battery more quickly thereby pushing me into purchasing an iPhone 8 when it launches tomorrow). However so far I’ve been quite impressed.
As well as the ability to store files (something that will probably be more useful to iPad users – there’s an excellent article over at The Register here about this), there are newly designed menus, including a much improved and much larger display when you swipe up from the bottom of the screen.
What intrigued me though was this Do Not Disturb While Driving option which seems to pop up when you are moving at speed. It’s a nice idea and potentially could help drivers concentrate on the road rather than being distracted by beeps from their phone.
Just one problem. It seems to appear whenever and wherever you are travelling at speed, for example on a London tube (where this screen grab was captured) or if you are a passenger in a car, rather than the driver.
It seems we are rapidly moving towards an age of self driving cars, but haven’t yet figured out a way of linking the driver of the vehicle to his or her smart phone in order to switch the Do Not Disturb mode on.
Only when that happens will progress be made on reducing driver distractions caused by mobile phone technology.
