Notifications and messages constantly flood your phone, making it difficult to concentrate on studying and working. Therefore, Apple has introduced a new feature – Focus Mode – expanding on the previously available Do Not Disturb mode. This mode allows users to create different profiles for their iPhones. This lets them determine which notifications will be displayed and which apps should be in the foreground to help them get their work done. Read on to learn how to enable and use Focus Mode on iOS 15 .
How to use Focus Mode on iOS 15
How to activate Focus Mode in iOS 15
First, let's talk about where you can find Focus Mode and how you activate this new iOS 15 feature.
Step 1: Open Control Center : On iPhones without a Home button, pull down from the top right corner; on older iPhones, swipe up from the bottom of the screen.
Step 2: Tap Focus : Make sure you tap Focus , not the crescent moon icon, as this will only activate Do Not Disturb mode .
Step 3: Select the focus mode you want to activate.
Step 4: Users can tap the three dots next to the content to optionally set this mode for a specific period (such as 1 hour) or until they leave their current location.
How to enable the focus feature on iOS 15
Step 1: Open Settings .
Step 2: Click on Focus .
Step 3: Click on the content you want to configure.
Step 4: Users can select the recipients they want to receive notifications from by tapping on the desired mode. Continue by selecting the "People" section .
Step 5: Click on Add People to add who can contact the user.
Step 6: Check the box to add one or more people and select Done .
Step 7: To remove a person from your contact list, tap the minus icon in the upper left corner of that person's icon. To remove everyone, tap Delete All .
Step 8: To choose which apps can send notifications, tap Apps and select Add app .
Step 9: Select the app(s) you want to receive notifications from, then tap Done . You can search for an app using the search bar.
To remove an app from this list, tap the minus sign in the upper-left corner of the app, or select Remove All to remove all apps.
How to customize focus mode on the home screen
iOS 15 allows you to select your existing home screen for a specific focus mode to lock down apps that might be causing distractions. Users can concentrate on work or studies without being distracted by their phone. To set up this feature on your home screen, follow these steps:
Step 1: Open Settings .
Step 2: Click on Focus.
Step 3: Click on the content you want to configure.
Step 4: Tap on Home screen .
Step 5: To hide notification badges, tap the Hide notification icons switch .
Step 6: To select which home screen pages appear, tap the " Custom Pages" button .
Step 7: Select one or more home screens you want to access when Focus is enabled and tap Done .
How to customize your lock screen for focus mode.
Users can customize what appears on their lock screen with the following steps:
Step 1: Open Settings .
Step 2: Click on Focus .
Step 3: Click on the content you want to configure.
Step 4. Tap Lock screen .
Step 5: Tap the Dimming lock screen switch .
Step 6: To have muted notifications appear on the lock screen, tap the "Show on lock screen" button .
How to automatically activate focus mode
The device can automatically activate a specific focus mode, depending on cues such as your location when using the app. You can also manually select activation criteria, such as specific time or location, or while using a particular app.
Step 1: Open Settings and tap Focus .
Step 2: Click on the content you want to configure.
Step 3: To select which signals will trigger focus mode, scroll down to the Enable Auto section and tap Add schedule or automation item .
Step 4: Select Time , Location , or Application , depending on the conditions you want to trigger Focus for.
In the Time section , users can select a schedule, including hours of the day and days of the week.
In Location , users can select a location such as home or work, or search for another address, to trigger Focus upon arrival and disable when the user leaves.
In the Apps section , you can select an app that will trigger this Focus mode when it's launched.
Step 5: To have the device automatically activate Focus, tap Smart Trigger . To turn this feature off, tap Smart Trigger and turn off the switch or Delete Automation to remove it.
How to create a custom focus mode
iOS 15 includes several default focus modes such as Work, Driving, Personal, and Sleep. But users can still create many of their own options with just a few simple steps.
Step 1: Open the Settings app and select Focus .
Step 2: Tap the plus sign in the upper right corner.
Step 3: Tap Customize , then enter a name, choose a color and icon, and then tap Next .
How to use Focus Mode on Apple Watch
Users can choose which apps will see notifications or which contacts can receive messages. Therefore, it will be useful for people who need to focus on studying or working but still need to stay in contact in case of emergencies.
However, in watchOS 8, users cannot directly create a new focus point like in iOS 15 ; instead, they must set the Apple Watch (and other devices) to a pre-set focus mode. Here's how to use focus mode on the Apple Watch.
Users can easily enable focus mode directly on their Apple Watch using any Focus feature they've created on their iPhone.
How to enable focus mode on Apple Watch
Step 1: Swipe up on the Apple Watch face to display the Apple Watch Control Center.
Step 2: Click on the crescent moon icon .
Step 3: Tap on the focus mode you want to enable.
Step 4: Select the operating time period.
How to schedule focus mode on Apple Watch
After creating focus on their iPhone, users can set custom schedules directly on their Apple Watch.
Step 1: Open Settings on your Apple Watch.
Step 2: Click on Focus .
Step 3: Continue by tapping on the Focus area where everyone wants to select a time slot.
Step 4: Next, select Add New. and set the start and end times for the mode.
Step 5: Users can deselect the days they don't want to enable focus mode to remove them from the calendar.
Step 6: Press the back button in the top left corner of the screen, and the schedule will now automatically run according to your settings.
How to turn off Focus Mode on Apple Watch
Users can turn off or delete any previously scheduled Focus events in Settings.
Step 1: Open Settings and select Focus .
Step 2: Click on the focus area you want to disable scheduling for.
Step 3: Tap the switch to turn off the scheduled time or select Delete if you want to permanently remove the created time.
How to share Focus across devices
If you want to share Focus enabled on your Apple Watch with your other devices, you need to turn on the " Share on devices" option in your settings.
Step 1: Open Settings and select Focus .
Step 2: Tap the switch in the Share section on devices to turn the feature on. Users can turn this feature off at any time by following the same steps.
How to use Focus Mode on Mac
With dozens of social media app notifications and emails flooding in, people are easily distracted during work or study hours. While Do Not Disturb mode is helpful for muting notifications, it might miss some work-related alerts from Slack or Microsoft Teams. Therefore, Focus mode on macOS Monterey is the best solution.
With iOS 15 , iPadOS 15, and macOS Monterey, Apple replaced the standard Do Not Disturb mode with Focus. During testing, this feature proved more useful on Macs as it allowed users to enjoy their work and study environment without distractions.
Users can choose from default centralized settings such as Do Not Disturb, Home, Work, etc., or create a custom profile and allow specific apps and contacts to send notifications.
Similar to the focus mode on the iPhone, it's located in the Control Center on a Mac. Simply click Control Center from the menu bar and select the default focus settings.
Alternatively, users can click the small Apple icon in the upper left corner and go to the System Preferences menu . Next, click on Notifications & Focus and then go to Focus .
Here, you'll find all the default Focus profiles to use on a Mac. You can also create new custom Focus settings from the same menu.
How to enable focus mode on a Mac
The easiest way to enable Focus Mode on a Mac is through the Control Center using the following steps.
Step 1: Click the Control Center icon on your Mac's menu bar.
Step 2: Click on the small arrow next to Focus.
Step 3: Select Focus mode to enable it on your Mac.
How to create a new centralized setup on a Mac
Users need to use Focus from System Preferences to create a custom configuration.
Step 1: Click the small Apple icon in the upper left corner of the menu bar.
Step 2: Go to System Preferences and select Notifications & Focus .
Step 3: Go to the Focus menu .
Step 4: Click the + icon at the bottom and select Custom .
Step 5: Add a name to your Focus settings, a theme, and choose a relevant icon.
Step 6: From Allowed Notifications , select People .
Step 7: Add contact names so people can be reached during business hours.
Step 8: From the Apps menu, tap the + icon and select the apps that can send notifications when focus mode is enabled.
Users can also automatically enable focus mode based on the time, location, or type of app they have open on their Mac.
For example, people can configure Coding Focus to turn on automatically whenever they open the Xcode application on a Mac. Opening the Microsoft Word application can also trigger Writing Focus on the Mac.
If working during fixed hours, users can also set up time-based automations from Focus mode. From Focus > Turn on Automatically , click the + icon and create an auto-offer.
How to share Focus Mode settings across Apple devices
Users can share newly created Focus profiles across all their Apple devices. Enabling a Focus profile on a Mac and iCloud will turn it on across all Apple devices running the same account.
Step 1: Use the keyboard shortcut Command + Space and open Spotlight Search .
Step 2: Search for System Preferences and press Enter to open it.
Step 3: Go to Notifications & Focus and select a Focus mode you want to share with another Apple device.
Step 4: Turn on Share Focus Status and Share across devices at the bottom.
This feature also works in reverse; people can create custom Focus modes on their iPhone, and it will also sync with their Mac.