Driving Focus quiets notifications while you drive and can send automatic replies to people who text you. It can start manually, through motion detection, or when the iPhone connects to your car’s Bluetooth or CarPlay setup.
Driving Focus is available on iOS 15 or later. Automatic activation depends on motion, Bluetooth, and vehicle connections.
Does This Affect You?
Use this if you want fewer distractions while driving and want contacts to know you are unavailable without typing while behind the wheel.
Turn On Driving Focus and Choose Activation
- Open Settings > Focus.
- Tap Driving.
- Tap Turn On Automatically.
- Choose Automatically, When Connected to Car Bluetooth, or Manually.
- If you choose Manually, turn Driving Focus on from Control Center when needed.
Automatic mode uses motion and available car connections. Bluetooth mode is often better if the phone cannot reliably tell whether you are the driver or passenger.
Customize Auto-Reply and Allowed Notifications
- In Settings > Focus > Driving, tap Auto-Reply.
- Choose who receives the auto-reply: No One, Recent Conversations, Favorites, or All Contacts.
- Edit the reply text if you want different wording.
- Use Allowed Notifications to let specific people or apps through.
Driving Focus Notes
Passenger False Starts
Motion detection can mistake a passenger for a driver. Use the car Bluetooth trigger if that happens often.
Disable Automatic Activation
Turn off automatic activation if you want Driving Focus available only from Control Center.
CarPlay
CarPlay can display calls and messages differently from the iPhone screen because CarPlay has its own driving interface rules.
Sources
- Apple Support: Use Focus on iPhone while driving
- Apple Support: Set up Do Not Disturb While Driving on iPhone
- Apple Support: Use Focus on iPhone