The Pixel 2 is borrowing one of the best features from iOS 11 | TechRadar

The Pixel 2 is borrowing one of the best features from iOS 11

As the dust settles on Google's mammoth hardware event from Wednesday, we're slowly learning more details about the Pixel 2 phones that are heading our way when they go on sale and start shipping in the next few weeks - and one new revelation matches something we've already seen in iOS 11.

The upcoming feature in question will automatically put your Pixel 2 or Pixel 2 XL phone into a Do Not Disturb mode while you're driving, muting notifications and letting you get on with the important job of keeping your eyes on the road.

As spotted by Android Police (opens in new tab), Google has released a new app called Pixel Ambient Services (opens in new tab), which takes care of the automatic driving detection and gives you the option of having Do Not Disturb activate without any input from you once your phone recognizes that you've started to hit the road.

It's oh so quiet

One potential problem - which affects iOS too - is that your phone won't be able to tell if you are actually driving or if you're sat in the passenger seat trying to queue up some tunes for the long journey ahead. At least the feature is optional so you can disable it if it's causing too many problems.

Do Not Disturb has been around in stock Android for several years now, letting you set 'quiet times' when notifications still appear on your phone but won't cause any kind of vibration or audible alarm.

It looks like the new feature will see if your phone is connected to a Bluetooth car stereo, just like the equivalent option in iOS 11. It's another of those little tweaks - like the always-on music detection on the lock screen - that might tempt you to invest in a Pixel 2 rather than another Android phone.

• Here's absolutely everything you need to know about the Pixel 2