When Apple launched Focus with last year’s iOS 15 update, I initially ignored the feature designed to minimize distractions. After all, I already used Do Not Disturb, a feature I’ve grown accustomed to with every phone I pick up.
Do Not Disturb turned on automatically at night, turned off in the morning and I thought nothing of it. But after an experiment that resulted in me using my phone much less, I decided to check out Focus to see if I could replicate the experience on my iPhone without sacrificing utility.
The result? I am now a Focus convert.
I spent a lot of time fine-tuning my iPhone setup, creating Focus profiles for work, non-work hours/weekends, and writing time. It’s hard to document all the possibilities for Focus, but I found things that worked for me. Admittedly, it took a while and some creativity, but since I did this a few weeks ago, I’m happier.
Along with Focus, I started using other existing iOS features, such as Screen Time and Notification Summary, to reduce my phone usage as well. For example, Discord messages are forwarded to a digest, which I receive three times a day. Meanwhile, I’ve put a two-hour time limit on my Reddit app to cut down on the wasteful scrolling. Combine these two methods with Focus, I’ve cut my overall average screen in half in time.
If you’re serious about trying Focus, set aside some time to hone it. And if you’re looking for ideas, here’s how I set up Focus modes on my iPhone.
Focus mode: work
Other than Do Not Disturb, which turns on while I sleep, Work is my most used focus mode. I have it set to turn on automatically during my office hours. You can also set the mode to turn on based on your location, but this didn’t work for me as I work from home.
The work mode in Focus is the one I spent the most time on and I still consider it a work in progress.
I’ve set up Work to only allow communications from my wife, so she’s the only person who can reach me during work hours. I also mute most apps except for one of my emails, which has a critical address that I often have to check. I also pass Nest notifications for my Hello doorbell and my Pomodoro timer for when it’s time to work or take breaks. I also don’t allow time sensitive notifications. I also turned off the notification badges so I don’t get distracted when I unlock my phone.
In iOS 16 – currently in beta but arriving as a full release later this fall – you can set a custom lock screen and home screen for different Focus modes. Since I’m running the latest iOS 16 beta on my iPhone 13 Pro Max, I’ve created a minimal lock screen with widgets for my calendar, weather, and Apple Watch battery. I have a single home screen page because I’m from minimal Android setups, but I could create a less distracting page for work.
Focus Mode: Personal
I spend less time on personal mode, but I think it works well the way it is. This occurs between work hours and bedtime, plus weekends, before NST begins.
Personal comes on after office hours and on weekends and it’s a lot less restrictive than Work.
Personal is a lot less restrictive than Work, where I let a few more apps through that haven’t been relegated to my notification summaries. I’ll allow a few more contacts for phone calls and messages, some more apps like a few social media, and any moment sensitive stuff that required more immediate attention.
While it’s a bit more open than Work, Personal still minimizes notifications and encourages me to use my phone less — or at least check it less.
Focus Mode: Writing
Besides my work here, I like to write in my spare time. Whether it’s my novel-in-progress (I’m on book two!), a short story, or a poem, I love to sit down and let my creativity run wild. But as a person with a short attention span who is very easily distracted, I find it hard to stay focused when notifications keep popping up, so I created a writing mode for my iPhone.
Basically, it’s Do Not Disturb during the day – and I honestly could have stayed with DND and rolled on with it. However, I wanted to allow another contact through Write that I didn’t want to allow in Do Not Disturb, so setting a Write Mode in Focus solved that for me. Like DND, no app notifications come in, just phone calls and messages from my wife and a friend (who is also a writer).
Writing doesn’t come automatically on my phone, but it does on my Mac. When I open my writing software, Scrivener, it enters writing mode. Since I mostly write on my MacBook – the Mac version of Scrivener gets updates before the Windows version, which I use on my Linux machines – this is perfect. And as with Work, I have a minimal writing lock screen on my phone so I’m less distracted while writing.
Focus in iOS 16
I’ve hinted at some improvements to Focus in iOS 16. You can set up custom lock screens and home screen pages, as I mentioned, so you stay more in line with your preferred mode. The configuration for new Focus modes has become more streamlined, with more personalized suggestions (such as apps or lock screens).
You also get filters in iOS 16, which let you fine-tune how apps behave. Don’t want a certain email or calendar account to disturb you during working hours? You can make that happen while still allowing the Mail and Calendar apps to reach you. You can also hide messages, so you may not receive texts from work contacts during your off hours.
Focus filters allow you to associate Safari tab groups with a mode if you wish. Finally, for certain Focus modes, you can choose between light and dark mode and whether or not you want Low Power mode on.
I set up my entire Focus approach on iOS 15, but I got to play around with some of the improvements when I installed the iOS 16 beta. I can’t wait for more developers to take advantage of the Focus API, such as Gmail adding filter support.
iOS Focus Outlook
At first glance, Focus looks like Apple is trying to find a problem for its solution. I took it off my hands when iOS 15 launched last year because I didn’t want to bother trying to figure out the feature. But after realizing I wanted less phone use and distractions, I decided to give Focus a try – and I’m glad I did.
I encourage you to take the time to fine-tune your own Focus modes, especially when iOS 16 launches. I think I’m pretty happy with the four I have at the moment because they all work really well for me.
However, the possibilities for you are almost endless. You choose what suits your needs. Give it some time and I think you’ll come away with it satisfied.
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