Mac 911

HOW TO LET IMPORTANT PEOPLE GET THROUGH iOS 15’s DO NOT DISTURB OR FOCUS SETTINGS

The Do Not Disturb options added to iOS, iPadOS, and eventually macOS should be entered in history books for their contributions to people’s uninterrupted periods of sleep and focused times while working. However, what if you want to provide an exception for people important in your life, particularly for emergencies?

In the past, iOS has offered a bypass for several releases in a couple of different places; iOS 15 improves upon this.

With Do Not Disturb, you could allow anyone in your Favorites list in the Phone app to bypass the DND setting for calls. A separate option for calls and the only way to pass through text notifications required a not-so-obvious process: Open a contact, tap Edit, tap Ringtone (for calls) or Text Tone (for texts), and then tap Emergency Bypass. You can make this change in either or both Ringtone and Text Tone. Tap Done when complete.

This Emergency Bypass feature is still available in iOS 15, but the update gives you a lot more options in customizing your Focus modes, including Do Not Disturb, now a subcategory