Using Focus on iPhone iPad and iPod touch

Hi Guys and Matt from 123myit here. In this video I will show you how to use focus on iPhone or iPad. Focus allows you to filter notifications based on what you are doing. You will find focus in control centre by swiping down from the top right and tapping on focus.

Do not disturb – Focus on iPhone

In here you will find the default focus which is do not disturb. Do not disturb silences all notifications by default. So, if you are really busy and don’t want to be interrupted you could set this and your phone won’t send any notifications. You can also tap the three dots and turn it on for 1 hour or until this evening. Alright if you close it and just go back out I will show you where it displays that Do Not Disturb is turned on.

focus on iphone ipad

Ok if you look in the top left corner you should see the do not disturb icon which tells you that the do not disturb is not turned on. Cool ok, let go back in an setup our own personalised do not disturb.

If you want to find the focus menu if is located under Settings and Focus. Focus on iPhone.

Focuses

To setup your own focus tap the plus icon down the bottom. Then you will have a list of pre set focuses. Up the top you have driving and fitness. Driving silences notifications, but will turn on automatically when connected to carplay or Bluetooth. Also if you have friends on iPhones, it will send them a reply that you are driving. Which is handy.  Gaming is a good one too. So if you want playing games on your iPhone and don’t want notifications interrupting the game then you can turn this on. And the last two down the bottom are mindfulness and Reading. Lets go a head and setup our own custom Focus.

Study Focus

Iam going to call mine Study. Because I want my phone to be quite when I study. Next you can select a colour and an icon for study. Tap Next. Now choose the people you want notifications from while you are studying. Notifications from other people wont appear until you turn the focus off.

That’s for notifications what about phone calls? If we tap on Calls From and then can choose calls from Everyone, No one Favourites or all contacts. When you are finished tap allow. If you don’t want to hear from anyone tap Allow none.

Allow notifications on Apps

Next you can select which Apps you want to allow notifications from so tap the plus and I am going to select Find My, Books and Messages. You can also turn on Time sensitive apps to send you notifications. Tap allow and your Focus is setup tap done to continue.

Alright before we personalised the focus I will show you what it looks like if you turn it on. Ok to personalise your Focus under the Options menu you have Focus Status. When Focus Status is turned on Apps like Messages will let people know that you have your Focus turned on.

Hide notifications on home screen

If you want to hide notification badges you can tap Home Screen. And in custom pages you can select which home screen page you want to show while in the focus. Under the lock screen menu you can dim lock screen in your focus and or show silenced notifications there.

One of the cool features is the Add Schedule or Automation. This allows you to choose to start your focus as a specific time, in a specific location or when you launch an app. So lets say I want to turn on the Study focus when I go to the Library. I would tap Smart activation to turn it on and then tap on Add Schedule or Automation. You want to tap on location and then type Library at the top. This will show you a list of Libraries near you. If this does not come up check under Settings, Privacy, Location Services and System Services.

Library Focus – focus on iPhone

Cool I found the library I am after. So what this will do is Whenever I go to the Library it will turn on my Study Focus automatically. You can use the little slider bar to make the circle bigger or smaller. Lets say I go to a nearby café afterwards. Really cool. So this would be useful if you had a work or school focus setup or a church or mosque something like that. If you scroll down you can also delete the Focus if you no longer need it.

Awesome so our Study focus is setup and ready to use. Guys don’t forget to check out my other videos such as how to find Purchase History on iPhone and iPad. And do me a favour if you know anyone who might like this video, please share it will them, hit the subscribe button and smash the bell icon.

Take Control of Your Notifications iPhone iPad iOS