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Android may soon auto-adjust device settings to make bus or train rides go smoother
5 hours ago
Billions of people rely on public transit every day, and if you’re one of them, you know the drill: You step onto a crowded train and immediately turn down the volume so your Reels don’t annoy your fellow commuters. Maybe you also enable Do Not Disturb mode to silence incoming calls and alerts or tweak other settings to settle in. These manual adjustments are a daily ritual for many people, but they may soon be a thing of the past. Google appears to be working on a new Android feature that automatically detects when you’re on public transit and optimize your device settings accordingly.
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Most Android phones are already smart enough to know when you’re driving thanks to the clever use of onboard motion sensors and Bluetooth connections. When enabled, Android’s Driving Mode automatically silences incoming calls, texts, and notifications to minimize distractions. While Android phones could theoretically use those same sensors to detect when you’re on a bus or train, the OS doesn’t currently recognize public transit, forcing you to manually toggle settings every time you step on board.
While digging through the most recent Android Canary release, I found evidence indicating the operating system will soon add a new Mode called “Transiting.” Modes, a feature introduced in Android 15 QPR2, lets you create custom sound and notification profiles that activate based on a schedule or calendar event.
While standard Modes rely on manual or scheduled activation, preset Modes like Driving utilize special triggers. Evidence suggests the new “Transiting” mode will include a unique “while transiting” trigger that presumably activates when your device detects you’re taking public transit. When triggered, Android will “optimize your device for a smoother public transit experience.” Exactly how it will do so remains to be seen, but the intro screen suggests it will make “automatic settings adjustments.”
Here are the strings we discovered in the Android Canary release pointing to this new feature:
<string name="zen_mode_trigger_title_transit">While transiting</string>
<string name="zen_mode_inspiration_transit">Optimize your device for a smoother public transit experience</string>
<string name="zen_mode_blurb_transit">Enjoy a better transit ride with automatic settings adjustments</string>Unfortunately, the Android build didn’t reveal much more information about this new Transiting Mode. However, we can speculate on how it might work. Like other Modes, you’ll likely be able to fully customize which apps, alarms, and contacts can interrupt you while you’re on public transit. You’ll presumably also be able to toggle specific display settings or adjust notification behavior — for example, automatically enabling dark mode or hiding notification icons.
We also assume that, as with Driving Mode, Google Play Services will be responsible for detecting when you’re on public transit. If that’s the case, I’m curious to see if Google will allow you to automatically enable its upcoming Motion Cues feature when Transiting Mode kicks in. This would make perfect sense, as Motion Cues is designed to reduce motion sickness in moving vehicles. Perhaps Google is waiting to release both features together.
Transiting Mode could arrive as early as the Android 16 QPR3 release next March, but we don’t know for sure just yet. Once Google initiates the QPR3 beta, we might find more clues. We’ll keep you updated.
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