Nice try Apple, but Pandora makes Do Not Disturb While Driving a bigger distraction

Apple has a new feature in iOS 11,  Do not disturb while driving (DNDD).  I like this feature. I like the idea of my phone being less distracting while driving.  I like the idea of others on the road being less distracted too, but this feature has one big flaw.

Specifically for me it’s Pandora.

First, my car radio has a Pandora mode.  It worked great at first. Since about May or so (before iOS11 was released) it has become remarkably less reliable.  I can not count how many times my in car system reports “No device” even though bluetooth is connected.  This requires me to cycle my bluetooth connection to get Pandora just to play. Now before you say it’s my phone, it isn’t.  This is the second phone I have had in that time (my battery died in August and Apple swapped out the phone). Other bluetooth functions of the phone like making a call, Siri, or Apple Music continue to work fine. The issue is just with Pandora. With DDND on, now I have to acknowledge a prompt to confirm I am not driving, which I am, to allow me to “fix” Pandora.  The Pandora issue caused me to switch to Apple Music long before iOS11 was released and now it is worse with DNDD on.

So back to Apple Music.  This service is pretty good if you know what you want to listen to or spend time making playlists.  Pandora’s use of music “like” this was good to have when I really didn’t know what I wanted to listen to or was just looking for something new.

Goodbye Pandora and thanks for all the fish!