Now, with its latest operating system releases, iOS 15 and iPadOS 15, the company is stepping things up with yet another feature. Called Focus or Focus Mode, the feature is essentially a group of settings that allows you to filter incoming notifications from people and apps at different times of the day according to your priorities and contexts. If you’ve updated your iPhone or iPad to iOS 15 or iPadOS 15, respectively, you’d have likely already seen the option on your device. In which case, here’s a guide on how to set up Focus Mode and use it on your device.
What is the new iPhone Focus Mode in iOS 15?
Focus or Focus Mode is a hypernym to Do Not Disturb on iOS 15 and iPadOS 15 that unifies three different modes: Do Not Disturb, Sleep, and Driving, to help you focus better on your work and life by customizing notifications from people and apps based on your preference.
By default, Apple bundles a bunch of Focus presets in the operating system, such as Do Not Disturb, Personal, Work, Sleep, Driving, Gaming, etc. Plus, you get the ability to create your own presets for different activities/contexts occurring in your everyday life, which you can use to manage the way people and app notifications come through in a day. If you’ve got multiple Apple devices, you can configure your Focus Modes such that they apply simultaneously across all your devices. Similarly, there’s also the ability to schedule modes based on time, location, or some other trigger.
How to Set Up Focus Mode in iOS 15
Of all the different Focus Modes Apple offers in iOS 15 and iPadOS 15, you have the option to customize every single one of them. However, we feel you should leave out the Do Not Disturb mode as is to retain the old Do Not Disturb functionality, which comes in handy when you don’t want to be bothered or reached out by anyone. Aside from that, though, you can customize the Sleep, Work, Personal, and other default Focus Modes to suit your requirements.
Configuring a Preset Focus Mode
Follow the steps below to customize a Focus Mode on your iPhone or iPad: Next, you can choose to customize other aspects of this Focus further or create a schedule (or automate it) to turn on automatically. ii. Hit the Calls From button under OTHER PEOPLE to choose who can call you when the Focus Mode in question is active. [Choose Favorites to get calls from contacts you’ve selected in step-i and your favorites.] iii. Click on the Allow button. iv. On the Allowed Apps for Notifications page, click on Add App under Allowed Apps and select the apps whose notifications you’d like to receive. [Turn on Time Sensitive option if you’d like to get notifications from apps (not under the allowed list) with time-sensitive notifications.] v. Hit Allow and tap on Done to save your preferences.
Focus Options
Every Focus Mode you have (or create) offers the following three options:
Focus Scheduling
If you have certain Focus modes on your device that you use at different times of the day, you can schedule them to turn on automatically. Use the following steps to configure these settings:
How to Create a Custom Focus Mode in iOS 15
While the default Focus Modes can help you manage your notifications for most of your activities in a day, if you’re someone who wants even more modes, you can create a custom Focus Mode from scratch. Following are the steps to help you in this process:
How to Enable/Disable a Focus Mode in iOS 15
Once you’ve configured a Focus Mode to your preference, you can enable it via Control Center or Lock Screen.
1. Enabling/Disabling Focus Mode via Control Center
Control Center is home to several controls that offer quick and easy access to different tools and functionalities. Focus also happens to have a control in the Control Center in iOS 15 and iPadOS 15, which you can access using the following steps:
2. Enabling/Disabling Focus Mode via Lock Screen
Unlike the Control Center, you can’t enable/disable a Focus Mode from the Lock Screen unless one is already active. So, if you’ve got a mode active on your iPhone or iPad, you can simply click on the Focus icon in the Lock Screen and tap on it to disable it.
Alternatively, you can click on any other Focus Mode, too, to activate it right from the Lock Screen.
Better Manage Notifications in iOS 15 Using Focus
If you’ve been using the Do Not Disturb feature all these years, you’re surely going to like the Focus Mode on iOS 15 and iPadOS 15. With it, you get all the flexibility to customize the way notifications come through on your device according to your preference for different situations at different times of the day. So now, every time you’re about to start an activity, be it working, driving, reading, or anything else, you can activate its Focus Mode to prevent getting distracted by unwanted notifications from apps and people and concentrate on the task diligently.
