iPhone Driving Focus not activating automatically

Hi jolek,

Congrats on the new iPhone 17! The "turn on automatically based on detected motion" feature for Driving Focus relies on your iPhone's motion sensors to detect when you're traveling at driving speed. However, there are a couple of things to check:

1. Make sure the automation is set up correctly: Go to Settings > Focus > Driving > Set a Schedule > Add Schedule, then select "While Driving". Make sure the toggle is set to "Automatically" (not "When Connected to Car Bluetooth" or "Manually"). Since you don't use CarPlay or car Bluetooth, "Automatically" is the right option for you.
2. Check Motion & Fitness permissions: Go to Settings > Privacy & Security > Motion & Fitness and make sure Fitness Tracking is turned on. Driving Focus uses the motion sensors to detect vehicle speed, and this needs to be enabled.
3. Give it a real trip: The motion detection needs sustained movement at driving speed (usually above 15-20 mph / 25-30 km/h) to trigger. Short trips or stop-and-go traffic might not activate it right away. Try it on a longer ride with your family and see if it kicks in after a few minutes.
4. Restart and reset: If it still doesn't work, try a force restart (press and quickly release Volume Up, then Volume Down, then hold Side button until you see the Apple logo). You can also try deleting the Driving Focus profile and creating a new one from scratch.

One more thing: since this is a brand new phone, it might take a day or two for the motion detection to calibrate properly. Give it a couple of rides and it should start working as expected.

Hope this helps — enjoy your new iPhone!