How to set iOS 16 to automatically hide messages from your boss | Tech

There is nothing more annoying than when you are constantly interrupted by all kinds of notifications from apps, phone calls, text messages or other interruptions while working, gaming or watching a movie on your iPhone. Focus can help you with that.

We already know the Focus function from iOS 15, but in iOS 16 it has become much more extensive and user-friendly. Make sure you have the latest version of iOS running if you want to follow the explanation below.

Go to ‘Settings’ on your iPhone and choose ‘Focus’. By default, you’ll see four Focus profiles: Do Not Disturb, Personal, Sleep, and Work. You can adjust these profiles to your own wishes, ‘Do not disturb’ is a handy place to start.

When you click Do Not Disturb, under Allow Notifications, set your contacts and apps for which you want to allow or deny notifications. If you choose ‘People’, you can determine who you want to allow notifications for with a plus sign. In addition, you can choose whether you want to be called by only your favorites, specific people or only your contacts. You can also choose to allow repeated calls, so that persistent calls reach you.

You can also set ‘Keep notifications silent from’ in this menu. Here too, tap the plus icon to select everyone whose notifications you want to mute. For example, you can keep text messages from your boss out of your sight outside working hours.

Below the screen where you can choose between ‘People’ and ‘Apps’, click ‘Options’ to show muted notifications on the lock screen, dim the lock screen, and hide notification badges from apps on your home screen. In addition, you can set specific access and home screens.

You can of course turn on the ‘Do not disturb’ mode manually when you need it. But maybe there are certain fixed times or recurring moments in a day or during a work week for which it is useful to schedule a Focus mode. Under ‘Customize screens’ you will find the option ‘Turn on automatically’.

Choose the option ‘Add schedule’ here. You can set a start and end time and specific days. You can also work even more accurately by choosing a specific location where the Focus mode can kick in. You can also link an app, so that, for example, the ‘Do not disturb’ focus turns on when you open an e-book app to read.

With Focus Filters you can filter specific content within certain apps. Suppose you have multiple calendars, then you can choose to only receive messages from your business calendar during working hours.

Click on ‘Add filter’ and choose for which app you want to create a filter. For Mail, choose a specific mail account to see if Do Not Disturb is turned on and click Add. The same can be done in Messages, Safari, and Calendar.

After you have set up your ‘Do not disturb’ profile, you can adjust and set up other profiles, such as ‘Personal’, ‘Sleep’ and ‘Work’. They all work in the same way as Do Not Disturb. Don’t need additional profiles? Then you remove a profile: click on the relevant profile, scroll to the bottom of the screen and choose ‘Remove focus’.

If you still find all those profiles quite complicated, there is also an old-fashioned trick: just occasionally put your iPhone away or turn it off.