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Siri is blocked when I’m driving. Within Focus there is no “driving” selection. How do I turn the driving focus off?

Just the other day Siri stopped responding to me when I’m driving. Once it said it can’t give me the info since I’m driving. Now it projects a ghost image of a car on my cellphone screen. Apple directions suggest that me cellphone is in a focus mode for driving. I did not turn that on intentionally. Apple suggests I go to Settings/ Focus / Driving to turn it off. The problem is there is no “driving” choice with the Focus directory. Does anyone know how to turn driving focus off without the feature in settings? Thanks.

Posted on Oct 12, 2022 5:07 PM

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Posted on Nov 17, 2022 4:35 PM

I think you missed what the OP said. There IS no “Driving” option listed under Focus> Settings on his phone. I am having the same problem. My phone is acting as if a Driving focus has been set up … but I didn’t set one up, don’t want it, and don’t see a way to turn it off because there is no “Driving” option under Focus, either in my Settings or my Control Center. How do I fix this?

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Question marked as Best reply

Nov 17, 2022 4:35 PM in response to R_Gabriel

I think you missed what the OP said. There IS no “Driving” option listed under Focus> Settings on his phone. I am having the same problem. My phone is acting as if a Driving focus has been set up … but I didn’t set one up, don’t want it, and don’t see a way to turn it off because there is no “Driving” option under Focus, either in my Settings or my Control Center. How do I fix this?

Oct 13, 2022 3:35 PM in response to elmtreegilberts

Hey there, and welcome to Apple Support Communities elmtreegilberts,


We can certainly understand your concern and see you came to us from the article Use the Driving Focus on your iPhone to concentrate on the road.


We recommend checking out these steps from the above article for more information on how to use Driving Focus on your iPhone.


" 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.

iPhone showing how to set up Driving 

Set up a Driving Focus

  1. Go to Settings > Focus, then tap Driving.
  2. Follow the onscreen instructions to set up your options, like Allowed Notifications.

iPhone showing how to turn Driving on or off 


Turn the Driving Focus on or off


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

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

When the Driving Focus is 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, then 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 or silence notifications from certain people: 

iPhone showing how to customize notifications 

  1. Go to Settings > Focus, then tap Driving.
  2. Under Allowed Notifications, tap People.
  3. Tap Allow Notifications From or Silence Notifications From.
  4. Tap Add People, then select the contacts that you want to allow or silence notifications from.


Share your Focus status

When you set up the Driving Focus, you can turn on Focus status so that apps display that you have notifications silenced when people message you. Since apps only know that you have notifications silenced but not which Focus is on, the name is never shared. Focus status is shared in apps when you have a Focus 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 Focus Status. 
  3. Turn on Driving.


Turn on Auto-Reply 

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

iPhone showing how to turn on Auto Reply 

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

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


Kindest regards!

Siri is blocked when I’m driving. Within Focus there is no “driving” selection. How do I turn the driving focus off?

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