Whether you want to focus on your task at hand or take a much-needed rest without disruptions, Do Not Disturb is a feature that helps you do just that. No story reply, group chat gossip, or work call will reach you as long as you have Do Not Disturb mode enabled on your iPhone.
However, if you're still getting texts and calls on Do Not Disturb, it pretty much defeats the purpose of the feature. So, let's look at the steps you can take if your iPhone's Do Not Disturb mode is not functioning as it should.
1. Check Whether You Enabled the Correct Focus Mode
Although Apple started with Do Not Disturb, the feature has since been expanded to Focus mode, starting with iOS 15. Focus includes Do Not Disturb, Personal, Work, and so on. You can set up different Focus modes and customize them for different purposes.
If you're relaxing and accidentally enabled Work mode, instead of Do Not Disturb or Personal mode on your iPhone, you will certainly receive texts and calls from work colleagues because the latter wasn't made to deter people from your workplace.
Therefore, before proceeding with the other suggestions in the list, access your iPhone's Control Center and check that you have the correct Focus mode turned on to match your activity.
2. Review Your Allowed Apps
Do Not Disturb lets you choose which app you want to receive notifications from, even when it is enabled. For example, when working, you naturally wouldn't want to miss notifications from collaborative apps like Slack and Asana.
But if you're receiving notifications from apps you don't want to hear from, go to Settings > Focus > Do Not Disturb > Apps to review the apps with allowed notifications. Tap the minus (-) button to remove an unwanted app from the list. This way, it won't bypass your Do Not Disturb mode anymore.
3. Disable Time-Sensitive Notifications
Examples of time-sensitive notifications are reminders, emails, or messages that contain references to date and time. So, if the Reminders and Messages apps are not in your list of Allowed Apps, Do Not Disturb will still let their notifications pass through due to the nature of their content.
If you don't want to receive these, go to your Do Not Disturb settings in the Settings app. Tap Apps and toggle off Time-Sensitive Notifications.
Alternatively, you can tap Turn Off for a specific app if you see its notifications pop up on your Lock Screen.
4. Change Settings for Incoming Calls
Whenyou firstenable Do Not Disturb mode on your iPhone, Favorites tends to be the default setting for the incoming calls allowed. If you previously added quite a few family members and friends to your Favorites list, this may be the reason why you keep receiving calls even after you enabled Do Not Disturb.
To change this, head to Settings > Focus > Do Not Disturb > People. Now, tap on Allow Calls From and select your preferred option. If you want to only allow specific individuals to call you during Do Not Disturb mode, choose Allowed People Only and tap the Add button above to select your contacts.
5. Don't Allow Repeated Calls
If someone calls you more than once in a three-minute timespan, Do Not Disturb lets their call go through, regardless of the incoming call preferences you indicated earlier. This feature ensures that people can reach you in cases of emergency.
But if there are people who call you mindlessly the moment you don't pick up, and this feature ends up giving you more problems than convenience, you can choose to disable it. As outlined in the previous solution, go to the People settings in Do Not Disturb. Then, toggle off Allow Repeated Calls.
6. Turn Off or Hide Your Focus Status
When you turn on Do Not Disturb, you can also share your Focus status to let your contacts know that you're temporarily unavailable. While it's a thoughtful feature that helps you inform others, a downside is its accompanying Notify Anyway option, which lets people override your Do Not Disturb mode and contact you.
To stop receiving texts and calls in this manner, you can turn off your Focus status or hide your Focus status from certain iPhone contacts.
7. Review Your Do Not Disturb Schedule
Let's say you used to work morning shifts every day and had set your Do Not Disturb schedule to match. If you suddenly switch to afternoon shifts, you may feel you're receiving unwanted texts and calls on your iPhone during your new working hours.
However, it's simply because of your old Do Not Disturb schedule, which automatically turns off in the evening, as per your original setting. So, if there's a change in your routine, remember to check and adjust your Do Not Disturb schedule to fit accordingly.
Head to your Do Not Disturb settings and tap on your existing schedule to edit it. You can also tap Add Schedule to set a new time to turn on Do Not Disturb.
8. Restart Your iPhone and Update iOS
If you went through all the steps above and your iPhone's Do Not Disturb mode is still acting up, try to restart your iPhone to see if it resolves the issue. Software glitches can sometimes prevent features like Do Not Disturb from functioning as intended, which you can fix with a simple reboot.
And if you haven't, update your iPhone to the latest iOS as well. Apple's updates often come with bug fixes and patches for performance-related issues.
No More Disruptions on Do Not Disturb Mode
Do Not Disturb mode aims to help you focus on your task or rest and recharge when needed while ensuring that you're still aware of the important matters that require your immediate attention.
Apple offers many customization options in Do Not Disturb mode. But many people use the default settings in Do Not Disturb, which is why they get unwanted texts and phone calls at a certain time. Once you carefully go through the above list, you'll figure out the perfect Do Not Disturb mode to fit your daily routine.