Take Advantage of All Hands-Free Technology Has to Offer
Many states have adopted hands-free driving laws. In most cases, this means that it is against the law to have a cell phone in your hand at all while driving. While this law is put in place to protect all drivers on the road, chances are you run a busy life and have been tempted to try and use your phone while driving, even if it's just to make a phone call. There are many options to be able to use your device while driving and still obey the hands-free law.
iOS Options
iOS comes with a hands-free personal assistant called Siri. Siri can do many tasks on your iOS device including obvious ones such as sending someone a text message, calling someone, doing a web search for something, navigating to somewhere, or scheduling an appointment. However, in order to access Siri, you have to hold down the home button.
Apple has addressed this, and iOS has a hands-free mode which can be activated for driving in the car. Just by saying "Hey, Siri" you can activate Siri and do whatever needs to be done. This can be activated easily by going to settings, choosing general, and then choosing Siri. Then switch on the option for "Allow 'Hey Siri'". This works in iOS.
Apple is also working with car manufacturers to integrate Siri into select vehicles. Either way, by enabling the "Hey, Siri" option, you'll be able to keep track of things on your iPhone while still obeying hands-free laws.
Siri Alternatives
If Siri doesn't work for you, there are aftermarket options in the Apple App Store. Vokul is one that works very similar to Siri and uses the same voice recognition software as Siri, Nuance. There are other alternatives such as Drivesafe.ly and Dragon Mobile Assistant. If you are looking for a good alternative, simply go to the Apple App Store and search "hands-free" or "voice recognition".
Android Options
Because Android offers a lot of variety with different devices, accessories, and apps, there are quite a few options for hands-free control on Android. If you are using certain Samsung devices, you have access to Samsung's S-Voice assistant app that does have the ability to operate hands-free either through the phone's microphone or over Bluetooth.
Moto X Hands free
The Motorola Moto X is very well known for its hands-free support. Simply enable Touchless Control, and your Moto X will turn into your hands-free personal assistant. If you get a phone call, your Moto X will tell you who is calling and ask you if you want to accept or decline. Similarly, if a text message comes in, the Moto X will tell you who it's from and ask you if you want it to be read. You can also choose to dictate a response.
Google Now
Google Now is included on some versions of Android, and once it is turned on you can use it to complete searches and alert you of notifications that you specify.
Vehicle Hands-free technology
Of course, no matter what is included on various smartphones, one of the best options for hands-free is when you have the ability to control your smartphone from your steering wheel. Many cars have the ability to (at the minimum) answer and reject calls that come from your Android or iOS device. Some cars have the ability to download your contacts and then make phone calls for you at the press of a button. More advanced cars will allow you to pause music and skip through tracks as well.
If your vehicle doesn't have basic hand free features such as call answering, you can easily add this. Simply look on Amazon for a Bluetooth speakerphone, and you can instantly add hands-free call answering in your car for a low cost. Aftermarket stereos are also available that support hands-free calling and Bluetooth support.
Why is Hands-Free Important?
As more and more states pass hands-free laws, having technology in place that still allows the use of devices will become more and more important. Also, even if your state doesn't have a hands-free law, this rule is a good one to follow as it keeps you alert and focused on the road. More accidents each year are caused by driver distractions.
Some will argue that the hands-free options on your phone make you more efficient as well, because rather than having to flip through menus to complete tasks, you can simply tell your phone what to do and it will do it for you. If you're slow at typing on a smartphone keyboard, dictation may be more convenient for you than having to try and type out a long message.
Hands free for multitasking
If you do a lot of multitasking, then you can easily benefit from hands-free technology. If you're in the middle of assembling or paying attention to something, having the option to have your phone read something off to you, rather than you having to take your eyes away from what you are trying to focus on, makes you more productive and allows you to multitask effectively.
Future Hands free tech in vehicles
Hands-free tech is showing up in vehicles more and more each and every day due to the laws that are being passed. Android is working on an in-vehicle platform called Android Auto that will cause the dashboard in the vehicle to be powered by your android device. Vehicle steering wheel controls will be added for things like asking for directions or composing text messages.
Apple is also working on putting its iOS platform in select vehicles to control your iOS device. This technology is called CarPlay, and it gives you both voice and touch controls for your device. In its initial launch, it will support Maps, Phone, Messages, and Music, with more app support to come in the future.
Take Advantage of Hands free
No matter what state you live in, hands-free is important and something that can easily be taken advantage of. Hands-free is also rapidly growing which means as time goes on there will be more options and more support. Hands-free is the future of mobile technology, and now is a great time to explore it.
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