Apple granted patent for an ‘operational safety mode’ for an Apple Car

Let the Apple Car rumors roll on. Apple has been granted a patent (number 11,012,383) for an “operational safety mode” for a vehicle. It’s a safety feature that would manage the output of notifications at an electronic device when a user of the device is operating a vehicle.

In the patent info, Apple says that some operational modes involving the output of notifications using electronic devices, are “generally cumbersome and inefficient.” Plus, they can be dangerous if someone is trying to look at a notification on, say, their iPhone while driving.

Apple’s operational safety mode would allow an iPhone (or iPad or Apple Watch) to “know” when a user is driving a vehicle. In the safety mode, notifications would be delayed until the vehicle quits moving.