AT&T DriveMode: An app that prevents texting while driving

AT&T has launched a new app that aims to stop your smartphone from distracting you while you drive, at least by text messages. The AT&T DriveMode app for iOS and Android turns on when it detects that you are driving at a speed of 25 km per hour or more and automatically responds to incoming SMS and MMS text messages so that the sender knows the text recipient is driving. The app turns off when the phone stops moving. For young drivers, if the app is turned off, it sends a warning message to their parents. One can add up to five numbers that users can dial and receive calls from while the app is on. Users can also listen to music and use navigation when the app is on. “We compulsively check our phones because every time we get an update through text, email, or social media, we experience an elevation of dopamine, which is a neurochemical in the brain that makes us feel happy,” David Greenfield, from the Center for Internet and Technology Addiction was quoted as saying. “If that desire for a dopamine fix leads us to check our phones while we’re driving, a simple text can turn deadly.” The app is available for free to AT&T customers. With inputs from IANS