How to Schedule and Automate Focus Modes - MacRumors
Skip to Content

How to Schedule and Automate Focus Modes

by

Apple's new Focus feature in iOS 15 lets you set up your device to help you be in the moment and zone in on a single thing. Focus does this by filtering notifications based on what you're doing, and you can customize Focus modes for specific scenarios.

iOS 15 Focus Feature
You can activate a Focus on your iPhone when you want to reduce distractions and spotlight your attention on something, but you can also schedule Focus modes to activate at certain times of the day, like during work hours or when you're winding down for bed.

You can also set a Focus to automatically turn on when you're in a specific location, like at work, or when you open a particular app, like Books or the TV app. The steps below show you how it's done.

  1. Launch the Settings app on your iPhone, then tap Focus.
  2. Select the Focus mode that you want to schedule.
    focus

  3. Under "Turn On Automatically," tap Add Schedule or Automation.
  4. Select Time, Location, or App, depending on your use case.
  5. If you selected Time, set the duration using the From and To selectors and the days on which you want the Focus to come on. If you selected Location, search or enter an address using the input field, then tap Done. If you selected App, tap the apps in the list that you want the Focus to activate for, then tap Done.
    focus

That's all there is to it. Once you've scheduled a Focus or set up an automation, you can find it listed in Settings -> Focus under "Turn On Automatically," where you can enable/disable it, or delete it completely.

focus

Related Forum: iOS 15

Popular Stories

notification summaries

Apple Patenting Way to Improve Notification Summaries and 'Reduce Interruptions' Focus

Wednesday August 12, 2026 9:29 am PDT by
A newly published Apple patent application describes a system for deciding, in real time, whether to interrupt what someone is doing on a device or leave them alone. The application was filed with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) on February 5, 2026 and published on August 6, 2026, as spotted by patent tracking site Patentlyze. The patent describes how a device can observe what...
Dynamic Island iPhone 18 Pro Feature

iPhone 18 Pro Prices Estimated Ahead of Apple Event Next Week

Thursday September 3, 2026 3:41 am PDT by
Less than a week before Apple debuts new iPhone 18 Pro models, research firm TrendForce has estimated the prices of the devices based on the latest hardware cost environment. TrendForce's price estimates compared to last year's models look like this: Model Starting Price Model Starting Price Change iPhone 17 Pro $1,099 iPhone 18 Pro $...
iPhone Handoff Feature

iOS 27 Introduces New 'iPhone Handoff' Feature

Wednesday September 2, 2026 12:35 pm PDT by
Apple has added a new "iPhone Handoff" feature to iOS 27 that will allow you to switch between two iPhones while using the same phone number on each device. This functionality was briefly mentioned during the WWDC 2026 keynote in June, on a slide that listed hundreds of new features coming in iOS 27 and corresponding software updates, but Apple never shared any further details at the time. ...