Surely on some occasion you were walking down the street and using your mobile phone at the same time, and suddenly you have realized that a person, a traffic sign or a lamppost has crossed your path. You may not crash, but the truth is that this situation happens to us with some frequency and can be very dangerous. This has become a bad habit that can give us a scare at any time, and for this Google has decided to prevent risks thanks to this function. The Mountain View company is gradually incorporating it into all devices Android, and it will surely be very useful to us.
Problems and risks of using the mobile while walking
Not everyone likes to walk, and even less if it is long distances. To liven up the walk to the place we want to go and to be entertained, we can do a lot of things with our mobile, such as checking the latest news in our social media, send and reply messages or put music on our headphones. However, being aware of the screen of our device involves unnecessary risks that can play a trick on us.
Just as we are cautious in the car, we must also be cautious while walking. With the mobile in hand, everyone around us and the obstacles in the street become a blind point. In fact, sometimes it can be the case that we are so immersed in what we are doing with our mobile that we are not aware of the dangers there are. The risk of having an accident can be reached multiply for several times, all in a matter of a few seconds.
The crosswalks They are one of the most dangerous points, since we come into direct contact with all types of vehicles. The risk of having an accident is much higher, just like if we cross the road badly. To alleviate this bad habit, there are already several countries around the world, such as Hawaii, Japan or some states of the United States, that have forbidden use the mobile while we walk. What’s more, they can give us fines that, even if they are not of a very high price, will make us think twice if it is worth walking with the mobile.
Beyond being able to crash or have an accident, our body can also suffer injuries serious. There are several studies in the United States that have demonstrated this theory, and beyond the typical trips and collisions with objects or people on the street, they observed that in some people deviations in the neck and pelvis can occur. In addition, stability can also be compromised, since we do not have a benchmark.
So you can configure “Look ahead”
The objective for which the Californian company has decided to implement this tool is for it to detect whether or not we are in motion while we are using our terminal. When it does, it will automatically show us a alert warning us that there may be a danger near us or we may collide with something or someone. Since we are sometimes not aware of the danger, what better than the telephone itself that alerts us to the obstacles in the street while we walk?
At the moment, this feature is only available to users who have a Google phone, Pixel, and we can only enable it on your models 4A Y 5. Some of the experimental tools launched by the Californian company always tend to anticipate them for their own devices, although they always end up reaching the rest of Android phones sooner or later. If you are lucky and have one of these mobiles, you can activate Look ahead in the following way:
- First of all, make sure your mobile has the latest version of Digital Wellbeing. To do this, go to Google play.
- On your Google Pixel phone, open the settings and look for the section Digital Wellbeing. The same name can also be displayed accompanied by Parental control.
- Once you’re inside, look for the option Look forward and access its settings.
- It will then ask you to accept permissions. First, it will ask you to activate the motion detection. On the other hand, so that you do not get alerts at home or in closed places, it will ask you to accept the permission of Location. The latter is optional, but it is recommended to have it activated forever.
- Once you have set up Digital Wellbeing, you will receive a notification or alert when you are walking and using your mobile at the same time.
As we have already said, at the moment it is only available on Pixel devices. Some of these devices may not have received it yet, but there is a solution for these cases. A beta version is available in the Google Play store for those users who cannot wait for its official launch, and you can download it from here. Once you have installed it, you will only have to follow the same steps that we have given you previously. If by any chance you cannot find the function, follow these steps:
- In the Settings of your phone, access the section Applications.
- Then find the app Digital Wellbeing and access its configuration,.
- Once you are inside, look for the section Use and access the tab Storage.
- Select option Clear Cache.
- Now go back to the previous screen and at the bottom, press the option Force stop. When you return to the Digital Wellbeing section, you should be able to enable the feature without any problem.
