How to temporarily enable Do Not Disturb in iOS 12

Posted:
in iOS edited October 2020
The Do Not Disturb feature in iOS silences all but the most important calls and notifications, especially useful when sleeping, attending a meeting, or watching a movie. Did you know though that iOS 12 offers ways to have the mode automatically turn off under certain conditions?

iOS 12 Do Not Disturb


The trick is a contextual menu in the Control Center. Open the Center, and unless you've removed it there should be a crescent-shaped Do Not Disturb icon. On devices with 3D Touch -- meaning most iPhones from the iPhone 6s onwards -- you'll want to deep-press it. On iPads, the iPhone SE, and the iPhone XR, you'll have to long-press.

This brings up a series of options. The first simply turns the mode on for an hour, which you should be careful with, since you could easily miss a call or message if you overshoot. The same goes for the second, which turns it on until the next daily milestone -- if you open the menu at night for example, you'll see "Until tomorrow morning." Normally it's better to set a fixed schedule than rely on this.

More practical is "Until I leave this location." This relies on your device's geofencing, and it's probably the best choice if you're at a theater or other location where silence is mandatory. Be warned that you'll want GPS location tracking on to make this precise.

If you're attending an event for which you have a Calendar entry, you'll see a fourth item: "Until the end of this event." This is another excellent pick, as long as you've reasonably gauged how long the event will take and you know you can be incommunicado the entire time.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 8
    For completeness it would have been nice to explain what you mean by having GPS location tracking on and how to set this up.  Otherwise this is great information. 
    edited November 2018 toysandmewatto_cobra
  • Reply 2 of 8
    I also have a shortcut set up to engage Do Not Disturb Mode while at this location. It’s in my widgets so fast to get to, along with the other shortcuts. 
    toysandmewatto_cobra
  • Reply 3 of 8
    Rayz2016Rayz2016 Posts: 6,957member
    Anilu_777 said:
    I also have a shortcut set up to engage Do Not Disturb Mode while at this location. It’s in my widgets so fast to get to, along with the other shortcuts. 
    Clever. 👍🏾
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 4 of 8
    MplsPMplsP Posts: 3,911member
    Another nice option would be 'until I unlock the phone.' I work night shifts fairly frequently and will take a nap in the afternoon. Sometimes it's a half hour, sometimes it's an hour and a half. Not infrequently I will forget to take it off of do not disturb and notice several hours later. It's a little less likely now, as iOS puts a notification about sleep mode on the lock screen, rather than just the little moon a the top that was easy to miss
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 5 of 8
    Why isn't there a way to turn off those ugly "Do Not Disturb" notifications?
    jony0
  • Reply 6 of 8
    I just wish I could automatically silence my phone while I'm wearing the watch (and un-silence when I take it off). I can feel the tap. The whole world doesn't need to hear about it. Seems like a no-brainer. While I'm grumbling, automatic drive mode would be nice too. It's distracting when my watch wakes up every time I turn a corner.
  • Reply 7 of 8
    JFC_PAJFC_PA Posts: 932member
    MplsP said:
    Another nice option would be 'until I unlock the phone.' I work night shifts fairly frequently and will take a nap in the afternoon. Sometimes it's a half hour, sometimes it's an hour and a half. Not infrequently I will forget to take it off of do not disturb and notice several hours later. It's a little less likely now, as iOS puts a notification about sleep mode on the lock screen, rather than just the little moon a the top that was easy to miss
    Within the Clock app there’s now a “Bedtime” choice where under “options” you can choose to have Do Not Disturb active just for that duration, which you set specifically for the time you’ll be “in bed”. If you’re using your iPhone to wake you from your nap anyway this would maybe be a solution. An option in the current iOS. 

    ETA: With my iPhone Bluetooth linked to my truck I get automatic drive mode as well as automatic mapping of my truck’s last location when the connection dropped. Handy for tracking how long before my train gets to my station where I’m parked. Lol. 
    edited November 2018
  • Reply 8 of 8
    MplsPMplsP Posts: 3,911member
    oodlum said:
    I just wish I could automatically silence my phone while I'm wearing the watch (and un-silence when I take it off). I can feel the tap. The whole world doesn't need to hear about it. Seems like a no-brainer. While I'm grumbling, automatic drive mode would be nice too. It's distracting when my watch wakes up every time I turn a corner.
    How do you have yours set up? If I have my watch on, all the notifications go though my watch unless I have my phone on/unlocked.
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