DriveBridge
Controls
DriveBridge is driven by three media buttons: Play/Pause, Next and Previous. What each one does depends on the state DriveBridge is in.
Where the buttons are
The same three buttons work everywhere: on the steering wheel and the car's head unit over Bluetooth, in the phone's media notification, and as large buttons inside the app.
Play and Pause are one button. Whichever of the two your car sends, DriveBridge treats it the same way.
Button by button
| State | Play / Pause | Next | Previous |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ready | Starts dictation. | No function | Reads the last reply again. |
| Dictating | Stops dictation. Your text is kept. | Stops dictation and sends it. | Stops dictation. Your text is kept. |
| Dictation stopped | Continues dictation. The new text is added to what you already said. | Sends the text. | Discards the text and starts a new dictation. |
| Waiting for the reply | No function | No function | No function |
| Reading the reply | Pauses the reading, then resumes it. | Skips to the end of the reply. | Starts the reply again from the beginning. |
| Closing countdown | Keeps the session open. | No function | No function |
A button that has no function in the current state answers with a short tone and does nothing else.
A typical turn
- Press Play. A short tone sounds and the microphone opens. Speak; a pause does not end the dictation.
- Press Next. The dictation is closed and sent in one step.
- DriveBridge waits for the reply. The buttons have no function until it arrives.
- A short tone sounds, then the reply is read aloud through the car speakers.
- When the reading ends, DriveBridge is ready for your next question.
Stopping before you send
Press Play/Pause or Previous while dictating to stop without sending. The microphone closes and your text is kept.
From there you have three options: Play continues the dictation, Next sends the text, Previous discards it and starts a new dictation.
There is no confirmation dialog, because a dialog cannot be used while driving. The second press of Previous is the confirmation. Stopping and discarding are both announced, so you know whether the microphone is on and whether your text is still there.
What you hear
Every change of state is audible, as a tone or a spoken message. If dictation does not start, if no reply arrives, or if the connection breaks, DriveBridge says so.
If dictation fails, the text recognised so far is kept and nothing is sent by itself. Next sends it, Play continues.
If your AI assistant has something to tell you without being asked, it is read after the reply that is being read. While you are dictating, it waits until you finish.
Silence and closing
After 4 minutes of silence DriveBridge announces that the connection will close in 1 minute, and a countdown starts. Press Play to keep the session open. If the countdown runs out, the session closes.
The 4 minutes start when the reading of a reply ends. Starting a dictation stops the clock, and during a phone call the clock is paused.
On the phone screen the countdown shows two buttons: one closes the session at once, the other keeps it open.
To end a session yourself, press the End conversation button in the app twice within 10 seconds. The first press asks for confirmation by voice. If the second press does not come in time, the request is cancelled.
On the phone screen
The app shows the current state, whether the microphone is active, and the same three buttons. You do not need to look at it while driving: every change it shows is also audible.