iPhones are amazing and there is little they can’t do. In fact, the only thing they can’t seem to do is drive a car and no doubt that will come in the future. Until then, you’ll have to drive, and one thing that you may find disturbing when driving is those little notification sounds your phone makes. The good news is that you can control when your phone notifies you and turn off all notifications.
With this in mind let’s look at notification management and how to stop notifications on iPhone as we all need that quiet time.
Turning off all Notifications on Your iPhone
You could be at a meeting or watching a school play, and at these times you don’t want to be notified about anything. You can always catch up later. So to get into the notification-free zone, do the following:
- On the Home screen swipe down from the top right-hand corner making sure you cover the battery icon.
- From here you’ll see either a moon icon (iOS 15 or earlier) or the Focus button (iOS 16). Tap it.
Now all your notifications are switched off. If you’re using iOS 16 and have Focus synced devices they too will switch off and on with the phone.
Turning off Specific Apps
There may come a time when you want to switch off specific app notifications but not all of them. This is easily accomplished.
- In Settings, you’ll find Notifications. Tap it.
- From the list of populated apps, select the one you want to switch off.
- Turn off Allow Notifications and now the app is silenced until you switch Allow Notification back on.
It is in Notifications you’ll find Voice and can switch it on and off as needed.
Some apps fall under the Time Sensitive Notifications bracket. In essence, this is an app that is time sensitive. Rideshare, delivery, and move-time are good examples of time-sensitive apps.
A few notes on iOS 16 Focus Feature
Apple has put a lot of effort into Focus which gives you more control over notifications. Focus works by deploying a mode(filter) at specific times of the day or when selected by you.
There are:
- Do not Disturb
- Personal
- Work
- Sleep
Each one can be customized in terms of apps and people notifications. So how is this done?
- Select Focus from the Settings screen.
- Select the filter you want to customize.
- Tap People and then tap Add People.
- Select the people you’re happy to receive notifications from while the phone is in this mode.
Please note, emails and messages will now be received from the people you select. If you want to be able to receive calls, this is handled in the Allow Calls From screen.
To allow notifications the procedure is the same, but you tap Apps instead of people and then Add Apps. When you’re finished, tap Done.
Filters can also be customized. So you may want to add a schedule to a filter. In which case:
- From Focus, select the filter you want to change.
- Tap Add Schedule and follow the prompts to create a schedule for that filter.
It is worth playing around with Focus and the filters to get the most out of your phone. For more information visit Apple Support.
