How to Share Focus Status on iPhone, iPad, and Mac

Apple devices come with Focus Mode, which includes do-not-disturb (DND) and other modes to help reduce distraction. You can turn these modes on and off based on events and even share modes, so others know you’re busy.

You can set different focus modes to be enabled or disabled automatically based on a schedule or specific events. These events include things like starting an app or connecting your phone to your car’s Bluetooth speaker. Sharing Focus status modes with others lets them know you’re busy (driving or whatever).

This tutorial shows you how to share Focus status with others using your iPhone, iPad, and Mac.

What Is Focus Status on iPhone?

A Focus Status is a type of DND mode that you can manually configure on your Apple device. This was among the new features introduced with iOS 15, iPadOS 15, and macOS 12 Monterey. You will not be able to use this feature if you’re using older versions of these operating systems on your Apple device.

The key advantage of using the Focus status feature is to silence notifications and minimize distractions. For example, suppose people keep calling you while you’re studying. In that case, you can set up a Focus mode that automatically silences all calls and hides notifications when an education app runs.

What Does Share Focus Status Mean?

Once you set up a Focus status, you can choose whether to let others know that you’ve silenced notifications. If your contacts use Apple devices, they can see it in the Messages app if they try to send you an iMessage. They’ll also see a moon icon (sometimes known as the sleep icon) next to your profile picture in the Contacts app on iPhone, iPad, or Mac.

Once you set up a Focus status, you can trigger it on any Apple device, including your Apple Watch. This will automatically set the Focus status on all your Apple devices on the same iCloud account. If you don’t want to set up Focus status sharing across your devices, you can set that up too.

Go to Settings > Focus on your iPhone or iPad, and disable Share Across Devices. This will stop sharing your Focus status with other devices linked to the same Apple ID. On the Mac, this option is under the Focus tab in System Preferences > Notifications & Focus.

How to Set Up and Use Focus Mode on iPhone, iPad, and Mac

Let’s quickly set up a Focus status first, and in the next section, we’ll learn how to share it with others. Open the Settings app on your iPhone or iPad, tap Focus, and hit the + icon in the top-right corner. Select Custom, name your new Focus mode, and tap Next. You can now select if you want to allow notifications from specific contacts in your custom focus mode. Select Allow None if you don’t want to let anybody disturb you.

Next, select if you want to allow any apps to send you notifications when you enable this Focus mode. You can tap Remove All and select Time Sensitive to allow urgent notifications if you wish to. Alternatively, select Allow None again. Tap Done, and you’ll be ready to start setting it up.

You can now tap Add Schedule or Automation and select when you want to run this Focus status. Once that is done, return to the Focus settings and choose Home Screen. Select Hide Notification Badges to stop one more distraction from prompting you to open specific apps.

Return to the previous page. Select Lock Screen and Dim Lock Screen. If you want to see silenced notifications on the lock screen, enable Show On Lock Screen.

On your Mac, click the Apple logo in the top-left corner of the desktop, go to System Preferences > Notifications & Focus, and pick the Focus tab. You can now click the + button to set up a new Focus mode.

How to Share Focus Status on iPhone, iPad, and Mac

On your iPhone or iPad, you can go to Settings > Focus and tap the Focus Status option, and enable Share Focus Status if you want to share it with other people. This will work with Apple’s apps, such as Contacts and Messages.

When you share a Focus status, apps can only show that you’ve silenced notifications. They will not be able to show which Focus mode is enabled. Be aware that other Mac and iPhone users will see an option called Notify Anyway to send you a notification even if you’ve enabled a Focus mode.

On your Mac, you can go to System Preferences > Notifications & Focus. Select the Focus tab and check Share Focus Status to share it with others, or uncheck it to avoid sharing it.

The activation trigger for this “silenced notifications” message is your Focus status. Just enable it via the Control Center, an automation trigger, or by manually going to the Focus mode in Settings, and the message will be displayed.

You can stop sharing Focus status entirely by going to Settings > Privacy > Focus and disabling it for various apps on your iPhone or iPad.