So there you are, doing your best to connect with a friend over a cup of coffee, but you can’t help but notice the pulsing alert on your phone’s touchscreen. What if it’s your babysitter trying to reach you, or a nasty email from your boss? Show
You surreptitiously unlock your phone to see what the fuss is about—and just like that, you become one of those people who can’t keep their hands off their handsets, even when there’s a flesh-and-blood person in front of them. (Oh, and that message on the screen? It was a promo for a half-off sale. Great.) The good news is that your Android phone or iPhone boasts a series of tools that can help you concentrate on the people who matter, rather than being distracted by random calls, messages, and alerts. Read on for four ways to keep your eyes and hands off your phone, starting with… Let Do Not Disturb mode screen your calls (Android and iOS)Sure, activating Do Not Disturb mode for iOS (tap Settings > Do Not Disturb, or tap the Do Not Disturb button from the swipe-up Command Center pane) or Android (flick down with two fingertips to reveal Quick Settings, then tap the Do Not Disturb button) is a great way to keep your phone from buzzing during lunch, but you may still find yourself tempted to check your messages. After all, what if your spouse is trying to reach you—or your irate supervisor, for that matter? Ben Patterson / IDGYou can set Android’s Do Not Disturb mode to only allow calls from your “starred” contacts. Here’s a trick that’ll help keep your mind on your Caesar salad: just set Do Not Disturb to screen your calls and text messages, allowing only the most important ones through. That way, you’ll be confident that your silent Android phone or iPhone isn’t actually ringing off the hook with mission-critical calls, and more likely to pay attention during your lunchtime chat. For Android:
Note: Android’s version of Do Not Disturb boasts three different modes: Priority Only, which blocks specific alerts for apps, calls and texts; Alarms Only, which blocks all alerts except for the Android alarm clock; and Total Silence, which blocks all alerts, no matter what. While the Alarms Only and Total Silence modes will guarantee you a peaceful lunch hour, they may also block critical alerts, calls or alarms. In general, you should stick with Priority Only mode unless you’re certain you don’t want any interruptions, period. For iOS:
Enable ‘VIP’ alerts for email messagesThere’s little chance you’ll get through an important meeting without glancing at your iPhone or Android phone if your screen is constantly flashing with alerts for new email messages. Follow these steps to ease your email notification overload. Ben Patterson / IDGTap the little “i” next to iOS’s VIP mailbox to start adding very important people to your list. For iOS: Mail’s ‘VIP’ alerts give you separate notifications for your most important email contacts, perfect for leaving you alone unless a message from a close friend or someone in upper management lands in your inbox.
For Android: Android doesn’t have its own version of iOS’s handy VIP feature, but you can replicate it using filters in Gmail. Click here for the trick. Turn on alerts for Gmail’s Priority Inbox—and off for all your other inboxes (Android only)If you’re not interested in hacking iOS’s VIP alerts into your Android phone, you can take advantage of Gmail’s secret formula for determining which messages are most important to you. Gmail’s Priority Inbox sifts through your incoming messages finds the email that you’re most likely to want to answer. Using your prior emailing habits as a guide, Gmail’s Priority Inbox sifts through your incoming messages, finds the email that you’re most likely to answer, and puts them into an “Important and unread” folder. Everything else (such as random email promos, newsletters, and other lower-priority messages) goes into the aptly-named “everything else” section of your inbox. Once that’s done, you can set the Android version of Gmail to alert you only when new messages land in your Priority Inbox—and hopefully, you’ll feel better about leaving your silenced phone alone.
Turn off unneeded lock-screen notifications (Android & iOS)So, you’re in a meeting, your phone is sitting dutifully—and silently—on the table in front of you, and you’re giving your colleagues your full attention. But then it happens: Your phone’s lock screen lights up, and your eyes can’t help but flick down to the display … which is nothing more than a random Facebook update. It’s easy to pare your lock-screen notifications down to an absolute minimum—or off completely. Luckily, it’s easy to pare odwn your lock-screen notifications to an absolute minimum—or turn them off completely, even when you don’t have Do Not Disturb or Priority mode switched on. For Android:
For iOS:
Ben has been writing about technology and consumer electronics for more than 20 years. A PCWorld contributor since 2014, Ben joined TechHive in 2019, where he covers smart speakers, soundbars, and other smart and home-theater devices. You can follow Ben on Twitter. How do I silence notifications but not my alarm?Tip: You can also silence notifications by pressing the Volume down key once more when the volume slider is at the lowest setting. Do Not Disturb turns on and all notifications except alarms are silenced.
Will alarm go off with notifications off?The alarm will go off even if you have set the phone on the Do Not Disturb mode and the ringer is off. In the default behavior, the DND setting turns off calls and notifications, but it keeps any set alarms active so you can wake up on time. Androids allow for more customization than iOS.
How can I turn off all sounds and notifications except calls and alarms?Go to Settings -> Sound -> Do Not Disturb. Set the options to what you want: Notifications - No Sound. Calls - From Anyone.
How can I make my Android alarm only?Open the Clock app. Tap Alarm in the bottom left corner. Tap the + button near the bottom. Select the desired alarm time, then press OK.
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