Do Not Disturb was one of the most popular iOS features. It selectively filtered notifications and helped reduce distractions on your iPhone or iPad.
It’s not completely gone, though. Instead, Apple expanded Do Not Disturb and called it Focus while placing Do Not Disturb under Focus. Now, you can create your own custom Focus mode or use Apple’s preset Focus modes.
However, this seems to have caused some confusion among users. How exactly is Do Not Disturb different from Focus? We’ll explain below.
How Is Do Not Disturb Different From Focus?
As we’ve already highlighted in the intro, Do Not Disturb is a Focus mode preset. The way Apple arranged the path to activate and edit Do Not Disturb on iOS even reflects that it’s under the Focus umbrella.
You canactivate Do Not Disturb on your iPhoneby accessing theControl Center, long-pressingFocus, and choosingDo Not Disturbfrom the menu. Likewise, you canedit Do Not Disturb settingsby going toSettings > Focuson your device.
While the other Focus presets seem to have a particular goal in mind (for example, Driving Focus is designed to minimize distractions when it detects driving), Do Not Disturb is a generic preset designed to stop notifications for however long you want.
Therefore, Do Not Disturb is different from Focus because it is a Focus preset. So, while Do Not Disturb is a Focus mode, Focus is not Do Not Disturb.
Focus Was Once Do Not Disturb in iOS
Focus did not exist on iPhones until iOS 15. Instead, the only way to mute notifications was “Do Not Disturb,” a feature Apple introduced alongside iOS 6 all the way back in 2012.
Apple built on the Do Not Disturb concept to create Focus, which offers a lot more flexibility and many more features to help absolve you of digital distractions.
It’s More Accurate to Call It Focus
The root of the confusion is that many people are already so used to Do Not Disturb that when it was expanded to Focus, they simply didn’t care. It doesn’t help that Apple kept Do Not Disturb under Focus.
Nevertheless, it’s probably more accurate to say that your iPhone is in Focus when using a Focus mode. But everyone will still understand you if you say it’s in Do Not Disturb.
