What is Focus Mode on iPad and How to Use It?

What is Focus Mode on iPad and How to Use It?.

Sometimes it can feel like it’s impossible to avoid distractions with our devices. Whether you’re working, reading, meditating, or spending time with family, there always seems to be a text message, an app alert, or a phone call. Unfortunately, you may find yourself in a situation where you can’t just turn off your phone, mute it, or even ignore it.

Luckily, Apple introduced a Focus feature in iOS 15, iPadOS 15, and macOS Monterey that can help. When you use Focus Mode, you can customize which notifications, calls, and alerts you receive. What’s more, you can set up a custom Home screen that only shows the apps you want to allow during Focus Time, let others know you’re unavailable, and share your settings with other Apple devices.

Let’s figure out how to make the most of this useful new Focus feature and reduce distractions.

Set Up Focus Mode on iPhone and iPad

To set up the new focus mode on iPhone and iPad, open the Settings app and select Focus. Select Do Not Disturb, Driving, or Sleep. You can also set personal or work focus if you like.

Allowed Notifications

In the “Allowed Notifications” section, you can allow calls and alerts from certain people or apps to arrive during Focus Time.

People: In the Allowed People section, click Add a person to select someone from your contacts. Under Allow as well, choose to receive calls from Favorites, Groups, Nobody, or another option.Apps (not available in Driving mode). In the Allowed Apps section, click Add App to select the app you want to receive notifications from. and optionally turn on the toggle for time-based notifications.

Options

In the Options section, you can enable focus status and customize the appearance of the home screen and lock screen.

Focus Status: If this option is enabled, a message is displayed stating that you turned off notifications. . Others may see it in places like the Messages app.Home screen (not available in Driving mode). You can hide notification icons and choose your own home screen so that only certain apps are displayed. This is useful if your time is focused on work and you only want to see certain apps, such as Slack or Microsoft Teams.Lock screen (not available for driving): You can dim the display and have notifications silent on the lock screen. .Auto Reply (driving only): Create automatic replies for Favorites, All Contacts, Your Recent Contacts, or Nobody.

Enable automatically

In the Turn On Automatically section, you can set up a schedule for Do Not Disturb and custom focus, turn on Driving Mode automatically while driving, and view the sleep schedule you set up in the Health app.

Share across devices

When you return to the main Focus settings, you’ll see a “Share across devices” toggle. Enable this option to sync focus modes with your Apple devices.

Set Up a Focus on Mac

To set up the new focus mode on a Mac, open System Preferences from the icon in the Dock or the Apple icon in the menu bar. Then select Notifications & Focus.

Click the Focus tab and select Do Not Disturb, Driving, or Sleep on the left.

Allow notifications from

Just like on the iPhone, you can choose which people or apps to receive notifications from while in Focus. Select “People” or “Apps” at the top of this field and add them using the plus sign.

Select Options to set up time notifications, allowed calls, and callbacks.

Enable automatically, automation and schedule

At the bottom of the Focus tab is a place to schedule and automate. For Do Not Disturb or Custom Focus, you can set up a schedule and quickly turn it on or off.

For Driving Mode and Sleep Mode, you can set these automatic settings on your iPhone or iPad.

Share Focus Status and Share Between Devices

The last Focus settings available on a Mac are “Sharing Focus Status” and “Sharing Between Devices”. Simply check one or both of the boxes to enable these additional features.

Create a Custom Focus on iPhone and iPad

Apple provides you with the above presets that you can use for Focus Mode. As you can see, the Do Not Disturb, Driving, and Sleep features are now part of Focus. In addition, you can use Personal, Work, Fitness, Gaming, Mindfulness, Reading, or a fully customizable Focus.

Go to Settings > Focus.To use Personal or Work, select it from the list. For another action, tap the plus sign in the top right corner. Then select “Custom” or one of the other options. If you select “Custom”, you will be prompted to provide a name, color, and icon for the focus mode before adjusting the settings. If you choose a different activity, such as reading, just follow the instructions to set your focus options.

Create a Custom Focus on Mac

Go to System Preferences > Notifications & Focus and select the Focus tab.On the left, use the plus sign at the bottom of the list to select Custom or one of the other options.< /ol>

If you select Custom, you will be prompted to assign a name, color, and icon before it is added to the list. If you select another activity, such as Games, it will simply appear in the list at the top.

With the new Focus selected on the left, use the settings on the right to adjust the settings described earlier.

Turn On Focus Mode

Once you have set the focus mode(s) you wish to use, you can enable any of them manually at any time, even if they are scheduled or automatic.

On iPhone and iPad, do one of the following:

Open Control Center, tap Focus, and select the focus mode you want.Open Settings, select Focus, tap the desired focus mode. and turn on the switch.

On a Mac, do one of the following:

Open Control Center, select Focus, and select the focus mode you want.Open System Preferences, go to Notifications & Focus, select Focus mode on on the left and turn on the switch on the right.

You can disable focus manually using any of the above and then either deselect the focus mode or disable the toggle.

Delete a Focus

If you later decide that you no longer need the focus mode you’ve customized and would rather remove it entirely rather than just disable it, you can remove the focus mode on iPhone, iPad, and Mac.

On iPhone and iPad, open Focus settings and select a mode. At the bottom, tap “Remove Focus” and confirm by clicking “Remove Focus”.

On a Mac, open Focus preferences, select a mode on the left, and click the minus sign at the bottom. Confirm by selecting Remove focus.

Remember that any Focus you create syncs with your other Apple devices. This means that if you delete Focus on iPhone, it will be deleted on Mac and vice versa.

With the Focus feature on Apple devices, you can minimize interruptions while working, reading, exercising, or simply relaxing.

To reduce distractions, you can use Screen Time on iPhone and iPad, or set up Screen Time on Mac. This allows you to limit app usage, schedule downtime, and more.