Use the Driving Focus on your iPhone to concentrate on the road

With iOS 15, the Driving Focus helps you stay focused on the road. When you turn it on, text messages and other notifications are silenced or limited.

When you have the Driving Focus set up, you can ask Siri to read replies to you, so you don't have to look at your iPhone. Incoming calls are allowed only when iPhone is connected to CarPlay, a car Bluetooth system, or a hands-free accessory.

Set up a Driving Focus

If you didn't previously use Do Not Disturb while Driving on iOS 14 or earlier, you need to set up a Driving Focus in order to turn it on. Here's how:

iPhone showing how to set up Driving

  1. Go to Settings and tap Focus.
  2. Tap the Add button, then tap Driving.
  3. Tap Next, then follow the on-screen instructions to set up your options, like Allowed Notifications.
  4. Tap Done.

Turn the Driving Focus on or off

If you previously used Do Not Disturb while Driving on iOS 14 or earlier, the Driving Focus will automatically appear as an option under Focus. Here's how to turn the Driving Focus on or off:

iPhone showing how to turn Driving on or off

  1. Go to Settings > Focus and tap Driving.
  2. Turn Driving on or off.

If you already have the Driving Focus set up, you can quickly turn it on or off from Control Center. Here's how:

  1. Open Control Center.
  2. Touch and hold Focus, then tap Driving to turn it on or off.

When the Driving Focus is turned on, the Driving icon appears in the status bar and on the Lock Screen, and your status is automatically displayed in the Messages app. When someone sends you a message, they'll see that you silenced notifications, but they can still notify you if something is urgent.

iPhone showing how to turn Driving on automatically

Turn on the Driving Focus automatically

  1. Go to Settings > Focus and tap Driving.
  2. Tap While Driving under Turn on Automatically, then select one of these options:
    • Automatically: Driving will be activated based on detected motion.
    • When Connected to Car Bluetooth: Driving will be activated when your iPhone is connected to car Bluetooth devices.
    • Manually: Driving can be activated manually from Control Center.
    • Activate With CarPlay: Driving will be activated automatically when your iPhone is connected to CarPlay.

Customize your notifications

To allow notifications from certain people, follow these steps:

iPhone showing how to customize notifications

  1. Go to Settings > Focus and tap Driving.
  2. Under Allowed Notifications, tap People.
  3. Tap Add Person, then select the contact that you want to allow notifications from.

Share your Focus Status

When you set up the Driving Focus, you can turn on Focus Status so that apps display to people who message you that you have notifications silenced. The apps only know that you have notifications silenced. Apps don't know which Focus you have turned on, so the name is never shared. Focus Status is shared in apps when you have a Focus turned on and after you give an app permission.

iPhone showing how to turn on Focus Status

To turn Focus Status on:

  1. Go to Settings > Focus.
  2. Tap Driving.
  3. Tap Focus Status, then turn it on.

Turn on Auto-Reply

With Auto-Reply, favorites and those you allow notifications from will get an auto reply when you have Driving turned on. They can choose to notify you anyway by sending "urgent" as an additional message. Here's how:

iPhone showing how to turn on Auto Reply

  1. Go to Settings > Focus and tap Driving.
  2. Tap Auto-Reply under Options.
  3. Select an option, like No One, Recents, Favorites, or All Contacts.

From here, you can also customize the auto-reply message that people get when they message you while a Driving Focus is turned on.

Learn more

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