Learn how to set up, activate, and use the Focus feature on your iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and Mac to cut down on distractions and set communication boundaries so you can work, sleep, game, or do other activities without interruptions.
Imagine you like to paint for a couple hours every day, and during that time, you do not want to get distracted by calls, texts, app alerts, etc. However, you might still want to get calls from your family. To ensure a personalized, distraction-free digital experience, you can create a custom Focus mode and have it cut down all alerts except ones from your family.
This was just one example, and you can of course create and customize different Focus modes according to your needs for work, family time, gaming, reading, exercising, mindfulness, and more.
Create and set up Focus
1) Open the Settings app or System Settings on your iPhone, iPad, or Mac. We’re using an iPhone for these steps.
2) Tap Focus, and you will see some Focus modes already listed here, such as Do Not Disturb, Driving, Sleep, Personal, and so forth. You can configure one of them to your liking. You can also tap the plus button from the top and choose a suggested Focus or hit Custom to create a new one.
Once you are on the screen to edit the Focus mode, you can customize it the way you like. Note that not all options are available for all Focus modes.
3) Intelligent Breakthrough & Silencing: You can have your iPhone figure out if a notification is important or not. It will allow the important alerts to reach you while silencing the rest. Note that it will always honor the additions or exceptions you make under the People and Apps sections mentioned below.
4) Notifications: You will see two sections here — People and Apps.
People: Tap this and select Silence or Allow Notifications From. You may see some suggested people already added here. You can uncheck them or tap the plus button to add more. Next, choose to get calls from just the Allowed People Only. Alternatively, you can also choose to allow calls from Everybody, Favorites, Contacts Only, or a created contact group. There is also an option that lets you get alerted if the same person calls you for a second time within three minutes.
Apps: Just like People, you can add Apps and choose to allow or silence notifications from them. You can also allow apps not in your allowlist to send important Time Sensitive Notifications.
Once you finish with people and apps, tap Options to further customize your notifications. You can choose to show silenced notifications on the Lock Screen, hide the red notification badge when you go to the Home Screen, and silence notifications at all times or only when your iPhone is locked. Lastly, you can also choose to dim the Lock Screen when this Focus is active.
5) Next, bring your attention to the Customize Screens section. This is where you can choose a Lock Screen, Home Screen, and watch face for this Focus.
For instance, when you are working, you may choose a Lock Screen where you have your office logo as the wallpaper. Similarly, for Sleep or Work modes, you can choose a Home Screen page that has just a few important apps.
6) Next, you can add a schedule (more on it later) and set up Focus Filters. With all set, just exit the Settings app to save the Focus.
Turn on Focus
Once you have set up Focus, you can activate it when needed.
Ask Siri: Invoke Siri and say something like “Turn on Work Focus.”
From Control Center: Open Control Center, tap Focus, and select a mode to activate it. You can also tap the three dots icons next to a Focus name and turn it on for an hour or until morning/evening.
Use your Apple Watch: When you turn on a Focus from your Apple Watch Control Center, it will also activate on your iPhone.
Set Focus to activate automatically on a schedule
Instead of turning a Focus manually, you can configure your iPhone to turn it on automatically based on the time of day, location, or app you use. For instance, you can have Work Focus turn on when you reach your office or activate the Reading Focus when you open the Kindle app.
1) Go to Settings > Focus and select a Focus.
2) Tap Add Schedule under the Set a Schedule section.
3) Now, select Time, Location, or App and configure the Focus to turn on automatically.
In addition to enabling it based on time, location, or app you open, you can also have your iPhone understand your habits and turn on that Focus automatically. Just tap Smart Activation and turn it on. But remember that your iPhone can get things wrong and activate this Focus at incorrect times.
Turn off Focus
Tap the active Focus icon in Control Center to deactivate it or ask Siri to do it. You can also tap or touch and hold the Focus name on the Lock Screen and tap the name to deactivate it.
You can turn on a Focus on one device and have it turn on automatically on all your other devices, such as iPad and Mac. This ensures you do not have to turn on a Work or Sleep Focus individually on every device to cut down on distractions.
Go to Settings/System Settings > Focus and turn on Share Across Devices on your iPhone, iPad, and Mac.
Allow apps to know your Focus
Apps like Messages can know that a Focus is enabled and then inform other people of it. So, if you have activated Sleep Focus and someone tries to text you, they will know that your notifications are silenced, and thus, you may not see their message soon.
Go to Settings > Focus > Focus Status to manage it.
Delete a Focus
Go to Settings > Focus and select a Focus. Now, tap Delete Focus and confirm.
Using Focus on Mac
The fundamentals of using Focus on Mac are similar to iPhone and iPad. You can manage it in System Settings > Focus.
Using Focus on Apple Watch
There is a Focus option in watchOS Settings, but you can use it only to set an automatic schedule (already explained above). You must use your iPhone to create and set up everything else related to a Focus.
Check out next: How to stop getting calls during Do Not Disturb or Focus on iPhone