Car

How to customize the auto-reply response of your Driving Focus mode on iPhone

Driving Focus auto-reply response on iPhone

Driving Focus is an important step towards minimizing interaction with your iPhone behind the wheel and, more widely, an asset for road safety. The Auto-Reply feature inside Driving Focus mode automatically sends a message to your favorite or selected contacts when they message you while Driving Focus is turned on.

The default auto-reply message is “I'm driving with Focus turned on. I'll see your message when I get where I'm going.”

If the above default message does not sound like your kind of jargon, follow these simple steps to personalize the stock reply.

What is Driving Focus and how to enable it automatically on your iPhone

Use Driving Focus on iPhone

The leading cause of automobile accidents in the United States is distracted driving. To have a safe drive, you should set up and use Driving Focus (previously called Do Not Disturb While Driving). This will ensure that you aren't disturbed by notifications and calls from people.

In this handy guide, we show you how to use Driving Focus on iOS 15 or later, customize it, and set it to activate automatically when you drive.

Analyst says Tesla Model 3 launch could be as big as 2007 iPhone introduction

Gene Munster, a longtime Apple analyst who had been calling for an HD TV set from Apple for years before eventually giving up on that pipe dream, said today that the upcoming release of Tesla's Model 3 sedan would be as big a launch as the 2007 introduction of the original iPhone.

In a blog post on the Loup Ventures website, Munster writes that the combination of the Model 3’s value and technology has the potential to change the world and accelerate the adoption of electric and autonomous vehicles in the next decade.

“We believe we will eventually look back at the launch of the Model 3 and compare it to the iPhone, which proved to be the catalyst for the shift to mobile computing,” he wrote.

The launch of the vehicle is viewed as Tesla's make or break moment because Model 3 is the company's first truly mass-market electric car priced at the sweet spot of $35,000 before federal and state tax incentives.

According to Elon Musk, Tesla is poised to ship about thirty units of the Model 3 sedans on July 28 and ramp up production to 20,000 Model 3 units per month by December of this year.

Chart via Bloomberg

Imagining that Tesla could produce an estimated 2.5 million cars by 2025 may seem hard to believe given it only delivered about 100,000 cars in the past year. But as Munster says, car hardware does not scale as easy as software, but it can scale.

“Looking back at the iPhone in 2007 it was a stretch to envision the company producing 50 million phones a year, but in 2015, the company sold 232 million units,” he wrote. Owning a Model 3 is only thirteen percent more expensive than owning a Toyota Camry over a five-year period, estimated the analyst.

It's important to note that this figure assumes no state or federal tax credits for electric vehicles as the analyst expect those incentives to end before December 2020.

Loup Ventures is a VC fund focused on augmented reality, artificial intelligence and robotics which Munster founded following his exit from investment firm Piper Jaffray in December of last year, putting an end to Munster's 21-year career as Piper's senior Apple analyst.

First aftermarket CarPlay wireless receiver from Alpine now available

The car audio and navigation systems company Alpine today announced that its first aftermarket CarPlay wireless receiver, dubbed iLX-107, is now available for purchase in the United States, priced a bit on the high side at $900 a pop.

“The award-winning iLX-107 wireless Apple CarPlay system offers even more convenience in accessing Maps, Phone, Messages and Music from the iPhone in-vehicle without ever needing to connect a cable,” the company notes.

The unit packs a seven-inch VGA revolution capacitive touchscreen in a mech-less body. It integrates with rear view camera systems and your car's steering wheel controls.

The conveniently located Volume, Track, Home and Siri hard keys are accessible for quick access and simple control.

Alpine was one of the first firms to offer aftermarket CarPlay receivers for owners of older vehicles than lack CarPlay integration. However, today's new is significant as the iLX-107 represents their first aftermarket CarPlay receiver that supports wireless connections.

This lets you use CarPlay with your iLX-107 without needing to connect an iPhone via a USB cable. To set it up, you just pair your wireless Apple CarPlay unit from your iPhone. Of course, wired connectivity via the standard Lightning cable is supported, too.

Connecting an iPhone to your iLX-107 via a Lightning cable for the first time automatically sets up wireless connectivity, which is great. The accessory uses the 5 GHz Wi-Fi band to optimize wireless connectivity performance, Alpine has said.

While Alpine does not sell the new receiver directly, you can purchase it from a network of authorized dealers who won't just sell you the accessory but install it for you as well.

Check out Alpine's store locator online tool to find a dealer nearest to your location.

Wireless CarPlay requires iOS 8.3 or later.

This tweak disables the lockout when connecting your iPhone to a CarPlay unit

When using CarPlay, your iPhone naturally displays the screen you see above for several seconds before automatically falling asleep and kicking you out to the Lock screen.

A new free jailbreak tweak called CarPlay Lockout by iOS developer theo78825 prevents your device from locking you out and rather returns you to the Home screen after a brief display of the CarPlay screen.

Showdown: who has the best suction car mount? Spigen, iOttie, or Tackform?

This summer, endless people will take to the highways for road trips. Whether family vacations or spring break, when you’re on the road, it can be extremely handy to have a clip to hold your phone. This not only keeps it out of your hands, which helps you not text and drive, but it makes it easy to see your GPS or music.

We took to Amazon and found some of the top-rated clipping car mounts and put them to the test. Granted, there are many types of car mounts. Some are magnetic, some are cradles, some go in the cup holders, but for this, we just looked at just the ones that clip your phone from the sides and suctioned to your car.

We had some basic criteria for our car mounts before we started comparing them. They had to be among the best sellers on Amazon with good reviews, they needed to be suction cups that could adhere to the dash or windshield, be universal and not just for a specific model smartphone, work one-handed, and they needed to clip the phone from the sides. So now lets take a look at each contender on an individual basis.

The best suction car mounts

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eY5YO3T5rCI

Individual looks

The three car mounts we dealt with were the iOttie Easy One Touch 3, Spigen Kuel OneTap, and the Tackform Ultra Grip Universal Car Mount. To start, lets take a look at each one individually and what makes the unique.

The iOttie Easy One Touch 3 is the 3rd generation of easy to use smartphone car mounts. It has a large extendable arm that reaches out to 8 inches. It also has an extremely easy to use one-touch grip. For those unfamiliar, this clipping mechanism works by having a trigger on the back of the mount. When you place the phone, it hits the trigger, and the sides come in to grab the phone. Then when you need to release it, you squeeze the sides, which releases the clips and you can grab your phone. The trigger is also quite large which makes it very reliable when placing your phone. It is also the only mount that has a positionable foot rest, which helps prevent your phone from dropping.

The Spigen Kuel OneTap car mount has a very similar setup to the iOttie. It has an extendable arm, though it is slightly longer than the iOttie. It also has the same style clip for your phone, though the trigger is significantly smaller, which can make it slightly less reliable to "trip" when placing your phone. A very handy feature is the cord clip on the underside that helps with managing your cables. The big downside, for me, is it actually fell. I could not get the suction cup to stick to my plastic dash. I had no issues with the other 2, but 2 or 3 times the Spigen did fall on me. When it comes to personal preference, that immediately disqualifies the Spigen for me. That said, it still has great reviews, so clearly this is not the case for everyone.

Tackform is the only one that does not have that spring-loaded clip, but it is still easy to use one-handedly. It has an adjustable clip where one side is fixed, and the other expands when you place your phone. The grip itself is very small and can rotate and twist with ease to work in many different orientations. It also does not have an extendable arm and instead goes for an ultra rigid design, meant to stay in place.

Group comparison

We did go hands on, driving around with each of these; GoPro in tow. Check out the video if you want to see for yourself, but to sum it up, all 3 mounts did a great job. They all have their perks, and all have their downsides.

Spigen wins the crown for the longest arm. So if you need that extension, this could be the one for you. It's also super handy when mounting to the windshield because you can mount it farther away, and use the arm to bring it closer to your view. However, those arms come with downsides as both the Spigen, and the iOttie had the most amount of movement while driving on the road. I have a newer car, so someone in an aging vehicle with worn down suspension may have even more movement than I did in testing.

Tackform by far was the most rigid with pretty much zero movement as I drove around. I was very impressed, but of course you lose that super handy spring loaded clip and extending arm for that to happen. Even without the arm, it still has a lot of versatility in the movement of the actual grip itself. Because it loses the arm, it also ends up being the smallest and most compact of all three. Smaller cars could benefit greatly from that.

Summary

So which is the best? Well, iOttie may be the most well rounded. Being stable (more stable with the arm retracted), the most secure section cup, and the biggest trigger for the quick connect clip. It also may be the most well known of the 3. However, with all the benefits, personally I think I am going to stick with the Tackform. The super steadiness is so preferable for me and in my car I didn't have the necessity for the extension arms. The quick connect is super handy on the other two, but it wasn't a deal-breaker for me as I could still use the Tackform one handed.

You probably can’t go wrong with any of these mounts, whether the Spigen, Tackform, or iOttie. Unless you were unlucky with the Kuel like I was, whatever your choice, you will be riding with a great companion for your smartphone.

Buy the Spigen Kuel OneTap for $19 Buy the Tackform Car Mount for $18 Buy the iOttie Easy One Touch 3 for $25

So after reading the reviews and watching the video, which car mount is your favorite? Or instead of the suction cup mounts do you prefer something like a vent clip or magnetic attachment instead?