#X

Today's post is about #X (Kudos to AT&T for making it up). Basically iPhones and Androids have the ability to change small pieces of text instantly into a larger text. It's like spellcheck. The idea is that when you get into your car, you text anyone who might text you while driving #X. This will autocorrect to "Can't talk now. Driving…" or something along those lines. That way, you can drive without having to worry about someone texting you unless it's an emergency. 

Here's how to set it up:

On iPhone

Just open the Settings app and go to General > Keyboard > Add New Shortcut. For Phrase, type something that tells the recipient that you're driving and can't respond to text messages for a little while. For shortcut, type "Can't talk now. Driving…" (or something else if it's too hard to type a hashtag). Then, hit save.

On Android

Once again, open Settings and go to Language & input > Personal dictionary and find the "+" icon in the Action Bar (top right corner). For the long phrase, type something that tells the recipient that you're driving and can't respond to text messages for a little while. For shortcut, type "#X". Then, hit the back button.

After you've set it up, test it out by typing "#X" in any text field. It should turn into something along the lines of "Can't talk now. Driving…" Whenever you are texting someone and are about to drive, just type #X. That way, you can drive safely in a quick and easy way.

On iOS

On Android