Do Not Disturb feature was introduced in iPhone and iPad with iOS 6 which was launched way back in September 2012 and still continues in the latest versions with a few additional features. It is a pretty useful and intelligent feature if one uses an iPhone for business use or professional purpose.
However, the matter of the fact is many of us are not aware of what does Do Not Disturb feature do on iPhone and how to set it up. Here in this article, we will share everything about iOS Do Not Disturb feature – when/how is it useful, how to configure it and how to use it.
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Do Not Disturb Feature In iPhone, iPad
The feature will work in a similar way for all the Apple Devices i.e iPhone, iPad respectively. Do Not Disturb is useful in situations where you are in a business meeting, in a class or at the office doing some serious work and you do not want to get disturbed by notifications from your Apple device.
Turning on Do Not Disturb feature will silence all the notifications like incoming calls, messages, alerts including reminders and notifications from apps like WhatsApp, etc. Now you might think that this can be achieved by putting the phone to silent. However, there is more to Do Not Disturb feature which will be made clear as you read through the post.
Enable Do Not Disturb
- Go to Settings.
- Inside Settings, scroll down just a little bit and you will see Do Not Disturb, tap on it.
- Then toggle the switch for Do Not Disturb to ON in order to enable it.
With this, you have turned on Do Not Disturb. Now the other options present under Do Not Disturb makes it much more useful and will clear your doubt regarding the difference between Do Not Disturb and silent mode. We will explain them to you so you can have a clear view of how they will be helpful.
Benefits Of Do Not Disturb
Scheduled
You can use the Scheduled button to turn on Do Not Disturb Feature instead of doing it manually. Scheduled as the name suggests will allow you to schedule the time period in which you want Do Not Disturb Feature to be enabled From(starting time) and To(ending time), after which it will automatically turn off.
Apart from this, under Scheduled, you will also see the Bedtime option. When this is enabled, the lock screen will be dimmed and all the notifications will appear in Notification Centre until the Scheduled time ends. You can also use this Bedtime Schedule with the alarm clock using the clock app to have perfect sleep using DND.
Suggested Read: Reason Behind i In Apple Products
Silence
There is another option under Do Not Disturb where you can choose when to silent notifications. The choices given are Always or Only When the iPhone is locked. The choices are self-explanatory and by default Only When iPhone is locked option will be selected. You may change it according to your requirement.
Phone
You will notice an option Allow Calls From under Do Not Disturb. This option allows you to select the group of contacts for which the notifications and messages of the incoming call will still come even if Do Not Disturb mode is enabled. By default Favorites will be selected you can tap on Allow calls and select from the group you desire.
This is one the best part of Do Not Disturb and comes in handy when you want your iPhone to ring for a particular contact/ contacts even if you have set your iPhone to silent (using Do Not Disturb) as it might be important to you even when you are in a meeting or doing important work. This way you will get emergency notifications in iPhone and not get disturbed by unnecessary or not so important notifications.
Suggested Read: How To Mute Or Block Contact, Calls In iPhone
Repeated Calls
Repeated Calls option is turned on by default when Do Not Disturb is activated. This feature of Do Not Disturb turns on the notification for a second incoming call from the same person if the second call is within three minutes. The option is included keeping in mind the practical scenarios as one may call you back to back only if there is an emergency and then you might want to attend the call no matter where you are busy. However, you may turn it OFF anytime if desired by toggling the Repeated Calls switch to OFF.
Suggested Read: How To Use iPhone Earphones Shortcuts
Do Not Disturb While Driving
This is a great addition to the DND feature where all your calls and notifications will be limited. The incoming calls will be allowed in case the device is connected with Bluetooth or any other hands-free accessory. But the other notifications will be completely silent.
Here you can set from three different options to enable DND while driving i.e Automatically, When Connected to Car Bluetooth or Manually which you can select accordingly.
Auto-Reply
At last, comes the Auto-Reply option. It is somewhat similar to PHONE option where you will get the option to enable auto-replies to Recent, Favourite or All the contacts whenever they text you. Or you can select None to disable this option. On top of that, you can even set your own custom auto replies by editing the current default message.
Note: iPhone and iPad alarm will still work even when Do Not Disturb is turned on. And this should not be a matter of complaining as you have set an alarm to wake up and your iPhone is in silent mode, you still expect it to ring and that is the way alarms should work.
Here are a few handpicked tutorials that will help you out in using your iOS device.
- Quickly Jump To First Home Screen On iPhone
- Enable/Disable Automatic Answering Of Calls On iPhone
- Turn Off Notification Badge Icon
- Determine iPhone Battery Health
Wrapping Up
Hopefully, after reading this article you have cleared all your doubts related to Do Not Disturb Feature in iOS and how is it different from Silent mode. Use the comment box below if you have any confusion. Do you find this feature useful? Share your thoughts!