Does anyone have the new Assistant Driving Mode?

[kmf1]

It's hard to believe my 2015 Moto X Pure Edition was doing all these things but better over 5 years ago and Google is just now starting to catch up lol. Actually it's still doing them better, it's charged, updated, going strong and ready for a sim swap to be back in action

I agree. Moto had this figured out, and extremely well by the way, so long ago. It was so automatic, didn't require anything special, and it worked.

 

[Trees]

Adding on to what everyone has shared above, I can confirm that Assistant "Driving mode" is available on my Pixel 3 with the December 2020 update. I am able to set "Driving Mode" to On in "Assistant Settings\Getting Around\Driving Mode". My 2005 Tundra does not have Bluetooth, so not able to test there.

"Android Auto\Settings\Car settings\Driving mode\Turn on automatically" has three sections. One for "When connected to Bluetooth", "When driving is detected" and "Advanced". I have "When driving is detected" toggled to On. In the past when I was driving to work regularly, Android Auto Driving Mode started consistently after a minute or so once the drive started.

So, in the off chance, is there perhaps something going on with a setting in Android Auto?

 

[Scott337]

...

So, in the off chance, is there perhaps something going on with a setting in Android Auto?

Good question. I have Android Auto disabled, since the day I first setup my phone. I will enable it and see what happens.

Google tech support is useless with this new functionality, very frustrating.

 

[kmf1]

I activated Driving Mode and tried it with Google Maps. Didn't get any notifications and no calls came through. So, I turned off the Driving Mode feature. Now, when I'm Driving the Do Not Disturb feature is activated. Not sure what to do about that. I don't want It activated. Maybe I have to go into bluetooth settings and delete my vehicle?

 

[Scott337]

I activated Driving Mode and tried it with Google Maps. Didn't get any notifications and no calls came through. So, I turned off the Driving Mode feature. Now, when I'm Driving the Do Not Disturb feature is activated. Not sure what to do about that. I don't want It activated. Maybe I have to go into bluetooth settings and delete my vehicle?

In Settings there is a default Driving Mode option, long before this new Assistant functionality. Open Settings and search for Driving and then set it to Behavior = None, instead of Turn On DND.

That Turn On DND is the default "Driving Mode" that comes with Pixel phones. And that's all it does, turns on Do Not Disturb.

This new Assistant Driving Mode is supposed to do way more, but it sounds like it isn't quite working correctly.

 

[kmf1]

I found it. Must have gotten enabled when I activated the new Driving Mode. Thank you, thank you, Scott. Happy New Year!

 

[Scott337]

I wonder if you would have received hands free texts and calls if Assistant Driving Mode did not turn on the phone driving Do Not Disturb option? I don't think that is what Google had in mind. I have read a few articles that suggest this was rolled out to a small number of Pixels and more will get it later. Other articles say it's available for all Pixels now. Google support told me that "it's not compatible with my phone right now....wait for another Android update...". Not sure what they mean by that, but I guess I'll wait.

 

[kmf1]

Maybe. I didn't know that the setting existed in the screenshot that you shared. I didn't knowingly enable it. But the newer version must have, because before screwing around with the new version, I never had the Do not disturb enable itself once it recognized that I was driving. Glad, thanks to you, I was able to turn it off. I will wait too for future update and/or announcements. Thank you, Scott. Karl

 

[Scott337]

This might help explain. According to this 9to5 Google article the new functionality is still "rolling out"

https://9to5google.com/2021/01/11/google-assistant-driving-mode-2/

 

[kmf1]

It seems that it only gets activated while using Google Maps. Still not like Moto version.

 

[Scott337]

It seems that it only gets activated while using Google Maps. Still not like Moto version.

True, it's not quite ready for prime time use. But for those like me that don't even have the option to try it, it might not really be available yet and not an issue with your specific phone.

 

[kmf1]

I just opened Maps, selected a destination, tapped Start, and Driving Mode automatically opens. But, Do not disturb gets activated. I wouldn't receive any audible notifications.

 

[dmgerbino]

I turned it on today.

 

[kmf1]

Let us know how it goes, ok dmgerbino.

 

[dmgerbino]

I did some simple testing. I actually like it over there old Android Auto from a UI perspective. Having said that, I did have some Assistant issues. I need to test it with out my Pixel Buds, with generic ear buds, and then with my Pixel Buds.

My first use was during a short drive.

 

[dmgerbino]

I attempted to do more testing today and I didn't have access.

 

[kmf1]

Very interesting. Not ready for Prime Time yet. Thanks for the update.

 

[Scott337]

Thanks for the update. I have been chatting with Google tech support for weeks and finally had my request escalated to higher support. They finally confirmed that this has not rolled out to everyone, and is still in the rollout process. Hopefully they are still trying to work all the bugs out.

 

[J Dubbs]

Thanks for the update. I have been chatting with Google tech support for weeks and finally had my request escalated to higher support. They finally confirmed that this has not rolled out to everyone, and is still in the rollout process. Hopefully they are still trying to work all the bugs out.

I hope so, because I really missed it when I retired my 2015 Moto X Pure Edition lol.

Ahh... the rapid pace of technology

 

[kmf1]

Moto's Driving mode was awesome. It worked! Google's version....not there, yet.