You're using DND all wrong: 5 powerful Do Not Disturb settings to try on your iPhone today

1. Use DND selectively for specific apps: You can enable Do Not Disturb mode only when using certain apps like Netflix, games, or reading. This way, you can keep your notifications silenced while immersed in these activities and avoid being disturbed when not using them. To do this, navigate to Settings > Focus > Do Not Disturb, and add the desired apps to the App field.

2. Adjust your lock screen for DND: If you often forget that you've enabled DND, consider changing the lock screen wallpaper to an image that only appears when in DND mode. When you choose this wallpaper as your lock screen, DND will automatically turn on. To set this up, tap and hold the image on your lock screen, select the wallpaper with Focus at the bottom, tap Focus and change it to DND, and then tap the wallpaper again to enter DND mode.

3. Hide DND status from contacts: By default, when someone texts you while in DND mode, their message shows "(Contact name) has notifications silenced." If you prefer not to reveal this information, you can disable this setting by going to Privacy & Security > Focus, and toggling off Messages under Shared With.

4. Allow specific calls and texts during DND: While in DND mode, you can still receive calls and texts from particular people. To add someone, go to Settings > Focus > Do Not Disturb > Allow Notifications > People. Here, you can add individual contacts or your entire Favorites list. Additionally, you can enable the "Allow Repeated Calls" option to ensure emergency calls get through, even when DND is active.

5. Customize the Action button for quick DND access: For faster access to DND mode, you can set your Action button (located on the right side of iPhone X and later models) to DND. This allows you to click the Action button to turn DND on or off. To set this up, go to Settings > Action Button, swipe to Focus, and select Do Not Disturb from the drop-down menu.