Enforcement of regulatory guidelines associated with a drive mode of a vehicle

Abstract

In an example, a method of enforcing regulatory guidelines related to functionality of an electronic device associated with a vehicle when the vehicle is in a drive mode includes interfacing an application of an electronic device associated with a vehicle with an Application Programming Interface (API). The method additionally includes determining that the vehicle is in the drive mode. In the method, the API may modify a functionality of the application of the electronic device in accordance with regulatory guidelines associated with operation of the electronic device when the vehicle is in the drive mode. The modification may be based on the determination that the vehicle is in the drive mode.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method comprising:
 determining that a vehicle is in a drive mode; and   selectively modifying, based on the determination that the vehicle is in the drive mode, a functionality of an application of an electronic device associated with the vehicle in accordance with regulatory guidelines associated with operation of the electronic device with respect to when the vehicle is in the drive mode, wherein selectively modifying the functionality of the application includes disabling functionality of the application that is unapproved according to the regulatory guidelines while maintaining other functionality of the application that is not unapproved according to the regulatory guidelines.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 generating, based on the regulatory guidelines, a list of one or more approved functions of the electronic device with respect to when the vehicle is in the drive mode; and   generating, based on the regulatory guidelines, a list of one or more unapproved functions of the electronic device with respect to when the vehicle is in the drive mode.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising modifying the functionality of the application of the electronic device based on a list of one or more approved functions and a list of one or more unapproved functions. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more unapproved functions include one or more of the following: displaying images or video not related to driving,  displaying automatically scrolling text, requiring manual text entry of more than a first threshold number of button or key presses during a single task, and requiring reading more than a second threshold number of characters of text. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising determining that the vehicle is in the drive mode based on one or more of the following: movement of the vehicle, an input received from a user of the electronic device, a transmission of the vehicle being engaged in a gear, and an engine of the vehicle running. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 interfacing the application with an Application Programming Interface (API); and   selectively modifying the functionality of the application via the API.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the regulatory guidelines include a threshold number of allowed button or key presses for text entry by an operator of the vehicle with respect to when the vehicle is in drive mode; and   selectively modifying the functionality of the application includes disabling text entry functionality that violates the threshold number of allowed button or key presses operations while maintaining text entry functionality of the application that meets the threshold number of allowed button or key presses.    
     
     
         8 . A system comprising:
 one or more processors configured to execute instructions; and   one or more computer-readable storage media configured to store instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the system to perform operations, the operations comprising:   determining that a vehicle is in a drive mode; and   selectively modifying, based on the determination that the vehicle is in the drive mode, a functionality of an application of an electronic device associated with the vehicle in accordance with regulatory guidelines associated with operation of the electronic device with respect to when the vehicle is in the drive mode, wherein selectively modifying the functionality of the application includes disabling functionality of the application that is unapproved according to the regulatory guidelines while maintaining other functionality of the application that is not unapproved according to the regulatory guidelines.   
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein the operations further comprise:
 generating, based on the regulatory guidelines, a list of one or more approved functions of the electronic device with respect to when the vehicle is in the drive mode; and   generating, based on the regulatory guidelines, a list of one or more unapproved functions of the electronic device with respect to when the vehicle is in the drive mode.   
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein the operations further comprise modifying the functionality of the application of the electronic device based on a list of one or more approved functions and a list of one or more unapproved functions.  
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein the one or more unapproved functions include one or more of the following: displaying images or video not related to driving, displaying automatically scrolling text, requiring manual text entry of more than a first threshold number of button or key presses during a single task, and requiring reading more than a second threshold number of characters of text. 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein the operations further comprise determining that the vehicle is in the drive mode based on one or more of the following: movement of the vehicle, an input received from a user of the electronic device, a transmission of the vehicle being engaged in a gear, and an engine of the vehicle running. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein the operations further comprise:
 interfacing the application with an Application Programming Interface (API); and   selectively modifying the functionality of the application via the API.   
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein:
 the regulatory guidelines include a threshold number of allowed button or key presses for text entry by an operator of the vehicle with respect to when the vehicle is in drive mode; and   selectively modifying the functionality of the application includes disabling text entry functionality that violates the threshold number of allowed button or key presses operations while maintaining text entry functionality of the application that meets the threshold number of allowed button or key presses.    
     
     
         15 . One or more computer-readable storage media configured to store instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause a system to perform operations, the operations comprising:
 determining that a vehicle is in a drive mode; and   selectively modifying, based on the determination that the vehicle is in the drive mode, a functionality of an application of an electronic device associated with the vehicle in accordance with regulatory guidelines associated with operation of the electronic device with respect to when the vehicle is in the drive mode, wherein selectively modifying the functionality of the application includes disabling functionality of the application that is unapproved according to the regulatory guidelines while maintaining other functionality of the application that is not unapproved according to the regulatory guidelines.   
     
     
         16 . The one or more computer-readable storage media of  claim 15 , wherein the operations further comprise:
 generating, based on the regulatory guidelines, a list of one or more approved functions of the electronic device with respect to when the vehicle is in the drive mode; and   generating, based on the regulatory guidelines, a list of one or more unapproved functions of the electronic device with respect to when the vehicle is in the drive mode.   
     
     
         17 . The one or more computer-readable storage media of  claim 15 , wherein the operations further comprise modifying the functionality of the application of the electronic device based on a list of one or more approved functions and a list of one or more unapproved functions.  
     
     
         18 . The one or more computer-readable storage media of  claim 15 , wherein the one or more unapproved functions include one or more of the following: displaying images or video not related to driving, displaying automatically scrolling text, requiring manual text entry of more than a first threshold number of button or key presses during a single task, and requiring reading more than a second threshold number of characters of text. 
     
     
         19 . The one or more computer-readable storage media of  claim 15 , wherein the operations further comprise:
 interfacing the application with an Application Programming Interface (API); and   selectively modifying the functionality of the application via the API.   
     
     
         20 . The one or more computer-readable storage media of  claim 15 , wherein:
 the regulatory guidelines include a threshold number of allowed button or key presses for text entry by an operator of the vehicle with respect to when the vehicle is in drive mode; and   selectively modifying the functionality of the application includes disabling text entry functionality that violates the threshold number of allowed button or key presses operations while maintaining text entry functionality of the application that meets the threshold number of allowed button or key presses