Setting limits on smartphone screen time can be difficult. But there are a growing number of apps and tools to help — including the Focus Mode feature that’s built right into iOS.
The idea is to set up different iPhone Focus modes for different scenarios: one for the office, one for driving, and one perhaps for home. Each mode sets certain rules for how notifications are handled and how many distractions are allowed.
Your iPhone can then switch between these different modes as needed, ensuring you stay connected as much as needed without missing anything important happening on your smartphone.
These focus modes are easy to set up, highly customizable, and have the potential to be more useful than you think when it comes to reducing the amount of attention you spend on your phone.
Set Focus Modes on iPhone
Head to Focus from the main iOS settings menu and you’ll see some modes already listed covering standard scenarios: Driving, Fitness, a dreamand work, for example. There is also the traditional Do not disturb mode that the Focus function builds on – you can just stick to one of these modes or use several of them.
[Related: How your daily screen time affects your wellbeing]
Tap any mode to make changes to it. The two main settings you’ll find cover the contacts that can contact you while the mode is active, and the apps that can still send notifications. Touch Settings below to change how muted notifications are handled – they can still suggest notification badges and lock screen alerts if needed.
There are more focus mode settings further down the page. You can select specific lock screen and home screen layouts to apply when the mode is active, giving you the ability to hide certain apps and shortcuts out of view in specific scenarios (it can also give you an at-a-glance indication of when mode is active).
You can also use Add a schedule an option that lets you turn on focus mode based on a certain time of day, a certain location your phone is in (like the gym), or a certain app you have loaded. There is Smart activation also a feature where your iPhone will intelligently try to turn on the mode automatically when needed based on “signals like your location, app usage, and more.”
Finally, use Add a filter to take other actions on your iPhone when a certain mode is activated. For example, you can have a group of tabs pop up in Safari, or exclude Apple Music activity from your listening history (perhaps you don’t want your sleep playlist to affect your recommendations). You can also turn on dark mode, low power mode or silent mode along with a specific focus mode if needed.
In addition to being scheduled, focus modes can also be activated from the Control Center (swipe down from the top-right corner of the screen): Tap the Focus Modes button, tap a mode, and it remains active until you turn it off again. If you tap the three dots next to focus mode, you can set it to turn off after a certain amount of time or when you leave your current location.
How to create custom focus modes
You don’t have to settle for the focus modes that iOS gives you if you need something different. Choose Focus from Settings, then tap + Button (plus) up in the upper right corner: Choose one of the suggestions on the screen or choose Personalized to start from scratch, which brings you to a page where you can choose a name, icon, and color for the mode.
Once you’ve done that, you’ll be taken to the same customization screen we’ve seen with the other focus modes. You can choose the people and apps whose notifications are muted (or turned off), you can choose specific lock screens and home screens, and you can have the mode turn on automatically if needed.
Whenever a particular focus mode is activated, you’ll see its icon up in the status bar at the top of the iPhone interface, and its icon and name on the lock screen. If you find you have too many focus modes to manage, you can remove them at any time: Choose a mode from Focus page in Settings, then tap Delete focus.
A few other options on the Focus page in Settings that are worth mentioning: The Share across devices a switch that syncs your Focus status with other Apple devices (like iPads and Macs) and Focus state option that shares your current status with your contacts in certain apps (including Messages).
