A simple idea to improve messaging on the go

When I’m walking or driving, I don’t like not answering at all if someone important is trying to contact me, especially if the conversation is already happening. That’s why I thought: since our devices are perfectly capable of knowing whether we’re home, walking around or driving/on the bus — the app Moves, for instance, does that with extreme accuracy — why not using that kind of information in messaging apps?

If I disappear from a conversation or start writing too many typos and using too many short forms, the other party could just “see” that I’m walking, running or driving.

With icons, it could look like this:

I’m not a designer, I know this looks shitty but it’s just to give an idea. Here’s a more elegant text-only version:

iOS could even ask users what to share this way: listening to music, calendar events (useful if you’re a busy kind of person), fitness activity and the like.

Maybe something like this is already out there, and I’m sure that even if it’s just a detail, it’s one of those that can make a difference in user experience.