Find out how to display a symbol in your iPhone status bar and Lock Screen to personalize the look of your device.
Focus mode lets you silence some alerts and notifications so that you can focus your attention on specific tasks.
When a Focus is active, it shows an icon in the top status bar and on the Lock Screen. You can customize this icon with one of 48 symbols, such as a smiling emoji, books, graduation cap, home, train, fire, bulb, sunset, heart, star, guitar, and more.
Customize your iPhone’s top status bar with an emoji or symbol
1) Open iPhone Settings and tap Focus.
2) Tap the plus icon (+) to create a new Focus.
3) Tap Custom.
4) Give it a name you like. Next, choose the emoji or symbol you want to display. I will use the gift emoji.
You can also pick a color. However, the iPhone status bar will not show this color; the symbol will appear as a black-and-white icon. But the color you set will appear in some other sections of this Focus.
After that, tap Next > Customize Focus.
5) Since the goal of this Focus isn’t to restrict calls and notifications but only to display an emoji in your iPhone’s status bar, make sure you do the following:
- Keep Intelligent Breakthrough & Silencing off.
- Leave Silence Notifications and other sections untouched.
6) Finally, go to Control Center and tap Focus, followed by this Focus name to turn it on.
Once Focus is activated, you will see the symbol in the top left corner of your iPhone screen and the Lock Screen.
What to do if the Focus icon isn’t shown in the status bar
The Dynamic Island or the notch take up a substantial portion of the status bar on iPhones with Face ID. And when you have chosen to show the location icon, the Focus symbol won’t appear all the time. So, use these steps to stop the location icon from appearing there.
1) Open the Settings app on your iPhone and go to Privacy & Security > Location Services > System Services.
2) Toggle off Status Bar Icon.
Now, you’ll see the Focus emoji in the iPhone status bar.
Change the Focus icon
Bored of a symbol and want to change it?
1) Open iPhone Settings and tap Focus.
2) Select the Focus you built earlier.
3) Tap Edit.
4) Choose a different symbol and tap Done.
Stop showing emoji in the iPhone status bar
If you’re done with this trick and want to clean up the status bar and Lock Screen, follow one of these methods:
- Touch and hold the Focus icon on the Lock Screen and tap the Focus name to turn it off.
- Open iPhone Control Center and tap the Focus icon.
- Go to iPhone Settings > Focus > Focus name and tap Delete Focus to remove it permanently.
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