Driving Mode Advice - how does it work

[DroidBoardr]

I have read in various articles and blogs about using Driving mode, but i cant seem to get it to do anything.
I am hoping to have it set up so that if a text comes in it will tell me who the text is from, and read the message aloud. Reading the message is more important than knowing who it is from. That way i can keep my eyes on the road.
I would also like to be able to answer the phone via voice, or one button, and have speakerphone turn on automatically so i can converse, still without taking my eyes off the road. I have the Mountek CD dock, so the phone is easily in reach to touch, but not easily removed to answer a call.
I know about bluetooth headsets, but im not going to put on a headset every time i get into my car, and reaching for a headset each time the phone rings is as inconvenient as just picking up the phone. My car does not have bluetooth built in. So i am looking for other suggestions or advice on how to set this up.
Thanks.

 

[k1ngr4t]

Well just to add a new perspective to bluetooth....this isn't the early 2000s. Headset is an outdated word when it comes to BT imo. I use a Bluetooth transmitter that plugs into the cigarette lighter. That's pretty much it. Does everything else automatically and wirelessly. Starts music when I get in the car right where it left off, decreases media volume when using navigation so you can hear the voice better, little things like that. Never have to lift a finger. You can answer calls by pushing the main button on the transmitter itself, and then you can talk at a normal volume and listen through your car speakers...it's pretty great. Even has a sd slot and USB plug if you need to charge. If curious...

Amazon.com: GOgroove SMARTmini BT ADVANCED Wireless In-Car Bluetooth FM Transmitter with Charging, Music Control and Hands-Free Calling for ANDROID, iPhone, Blackberry and Windows Smartphones: MP3 Players & Accessories



As for driving mode, don't know much about it except it reads names. If it doesn't have a way to easily answer calls, I know there are other apps or settings out there to do that. Couldn't give you specifics though.

 

[DroidBoardr]

Thanks for the suggestion K1, but the problem i have with those transmitters, as well as aux jacks, is that you have to keep the radio on that channel, and do all your music through your phone. I listen to a lot of AM radio, which isn't on iHeart or any other app. Also i would not be able to listen to cds (I know, who uses cds?) anymore, as the radio has to be on an FM channel for anything on the phone to transmit. It is a novel idea, but i don't think it will work for me.

 

[k1ngr4t]

Fair enough, completely understandable. Also I looked into it, and all driving mode does is possibly send an auto text and/or read who calls/texts are from and maybe the time. The process to have it read texts seems overly difficult when I know Google Voice does this, even with Handcent. It also seems very inconsistent and difficult to use, so I'd suggest just ignoring it for now. There are definitely better options out there.

A few things to consider, not sure about your car but my radio (which is like 15 years old) has 6 buttons for preset channels. I always keep 6 at 88.1 FM and the others on various other channels, one of which was an AM channel. So unless you want to listen to your music AND AM radio at the exact same time, whenever I used my BT, I just hit 6, and if I wanted to listen to the radio, I just hit 5. And I'm not sure why you think you wouldn't be able to use CDs anymore? Everything else functions exactly as it normally would. And if you did get a call while listening to a cd, you can still hear the phone itself ring, and again on my car I could just hit 6, and then hit the main button on the transmitter to answer and everything else is good to go, then hit play for your cd to pick up where you left off. Same with radio. So yeah you might have to hit a button or two on your radio, but IMO that's infinitely better than constantly looking at your phone while driving. In the smartphone world it's tough to have your cake and eat it too.

Also I found an app called Mobile Radio that seems to have A LOT of AM stations. But honestly there's no need to use it since you can still use your regular radio. Just sayin, there's been a lot of misinformation about FM transmitters over all these years so I'm here to just clear up the air

 

[DroidBoardr]

I apologize for being unclear. I didn't mean to infer that things(CD player, AM) wouldn't work while using an FM transmitter. Only that if the radio was on an the Bluetooth FM Channel for the phone, then the radio couldn't be on AM as well. It is good to know that if the phone is in bluetooth mode it still makes noise itself. I assumed it would silence the phone in favor of bluetooth output, but i understand now. I realize that you are using channel six in the same way that some of the newer cars use a button on the steering wheel for whenever a call comes in, and you then switch to the bluetooth instead of the current listening option. My radio is a little more complicated in that I would first have to select the source(Radio), then select AM/FM(FM) and then select the preset channel, so it would be a three button process if i was playing a cd. Beyond that my radio is touchscreen so it is kind of a hassle to pull up the right screen which sometimes adds another button to press.

After some more research and trial and error, i too have determined that driving mode is best just being ignored. Could have been cool but alas. Inconsistent at best, and doesn't provide for the options i want. I still want too take the call, not have a text sent saying i am driving. Worst case for phone calls is i can answer it with a swipe on the phone and then turn on the speaker. The text messaging is really what seems to cause the excess distractions, and have the limitations.

Sounds like an independent app seems like my best bet. I have only used the stock app on any of my phones because so far it has suited my purposes, but it sounds like i have reached a point when stock just might not take care of things. I'll check out handcent, and search for others.

While i am trying to eat my cake too, it would be cool for a messaging app to allow for simple voice dictation as well for responses, rather than entering the keyboard, and selecting the microphone. Perhaps that is common. Time for me to do a little more research. Thanks for your help.