‘Do Not Disturb While Driving’ feature coming to iPhone iOS 11

Credit: Marcio Jose Sanchez

Credit: Marcio Jose Sanchez

Apple made a number of announcements at its Worldwide Developers Conference Monday, but one feature may be a true life-saver.

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USA Today reported that Apple Senior Vice President of Software Engineering Craig Federighi announced at the San Jose, California, conference that a "Do Not Disturb While Driving" mode will be available on iPhone and iPads this fall.

The feature is part of the new iOS 11.

“It's all about keeping your eyes on the road,” Federighi said. “When you are driving, you don’t need to be responding to these kind of messages.”

The Verge reported that iMessage, the native text message app on iPhones, will send an automatic message to any texts that come in to say that the user is driving.

The screen will remain dark with muted notifications.

Credit: Marcio Jose Sanchez

Credit: Marcio Jose Sanchez

Those not driving can exit from this mode. Users can also mark certain contacts so that any messages they send show up on the phone even if the user is driving, so that “you have the peace of mind that you can get contacted … and that message will go through,” according to Federighi.

A specific release date for iOS 11 has not yet been announced. CNET reported that iOS beta is available for developers Monday.

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