After discussing Wireless Emergency Alerts last week, I thought I’d discuss another topic related to alerts on the iPhone — the Do Not Disturb feature of iOS 6. From conversations I’ve had with others, I know that there is some confusion about how this feature works, and it is important for iPhone users to understand when alerts can occur. After all, you don’t want to be this guy who brought a performance of the New York Philharmonic to a halt, nor do you want a similar thing to happen to you in court.
[UPDATE 10/24/13: Note that Do Not Disturb works a little differently in iOS 7. For example, in iOS 7 it suppresses alerts even if you are using your iPhone.]
It is easy enough to activate the Do Not Disturb feature. Just open the Settings app and on the first screen you will see an option called Do Not Disturb. Turn it on to activate it. You can tell when the feature is activated because a moon icon appears to the left of the time at the top of your iPhone’s screen.
When the feature is enabled, your iPhone will not disturb you (subject to settings discussed below). Phone calls to your iPhone will go straight to voice mail without the phone ringing at all. Thus, the feature gives you a way to silence phone calls, FaceTime invitations, alerts, and notifications.
You need to be careful about the Clock app, however. When it sounds an alarm, the alarm always goes off. This means that an alarm trigged by the Clock app will make noise even if the iPhone is in Do Not Disturb mode. It makes noise even if your ringer switch is turned off. I suspect that this is how most of us will want the function to operate; if you ask your iPhone to wake you up in the morning, you probably intend for an alarm to go off even if you don’t want to be disturbed by other alerts. Just be aware of this and don’t assume that the Do Not Disturb feature makes it impossible for your iPhone to make noise. An alarm that you set in the clock app to go off at a specific time, and an alarm that sounds when the countdown timer reaches zero, is going to make noise.
Even when Do Not Disturb is turned on, it only goes into effect when your device is locked — in other words, the screen is turned off. If you turn on Do Not Disturb while you are in court but you are using your iPhone such that the screen is on, then calls, alerts and notifications will still come through (and will make noise if your ringer/silent switch is in the up position). The point of the Do Not Disturb feature is to keep your iPhone quiet and unobtrusive when you not otherwise using it.
In the Settings app, just below the on/off switch for Do Not Disturb, you can tap the word Notifications and then, on the next screen, tap the word Do Not Disturb to change the settings for this feature.
One option is to automatically use Do Not Disturb on a schedule. I like this feature because I keep my iPhone in an iHome device next to my bed to charge it at night so it is very close to my bed. I don’t want to be awoken by a simple alert such as a notification that I have a new email. Even if the ringer switch is turned off, many alerts will still appear on my iPhone’s screen and turn on the screen for a few seconds — which can seem quite bright in an otherwise dark room at night — and some alerts such as incoming phone calls may also make your iPhone vibrate, which can seem quite loud in a quiet room. Thus, as you can see above, my iPhone turns on the Do Not Disturb feature automatically every night between 1:00 AM and 6:00 AM.
You can create two types of exceptions so that alerts pass through even when the Do Not Disturb feature is turned on. First, you can allow calls to ring through to your iPhone either from everyone (which somewhat defeats the purpose of the setting), everyone in your contacts (which helps guard against unsolicited calls), everyone in a subgroup of your contacts (you can create such groups using iCloud; click here for instructions), or everyone in your Favorites, which is the setting I have enabled. My Favorites on my Phone include people such as my close family members and a few folks at my law office including my secretary. If one of them calls me in the middle of the night or when I otherwise have Do Not Disturb turned on, I figure that there could be a good reason for it.
The second exception that you can create is for Repeated Calls. The idea is that if someone calls you from a number that is not in your exception list — such as a family member calling you from a pay phone — and they do so more than once, the second such call will go through because, presumably, it is important.
While I’m talking about the Do Not Disturb feature on your own iPhone, keep in mind that other people might use it as well. If you ever need to urgently reach another person on their iPhone, if your first call goes straight to voice mail, that might mean that the person’s iPhone is turned off or it might mean that the person has the Do Not Disturb feature enabled. Thus, if your call is important, consider calling a second time to see if the call goes through because the Repeated Calls option is turned on.
If you’re only concerned about blocking normal phone calls, one alternative is to use Airplane mode, which disables the cellular data service on the iPhone. Once airplane mode is turned on you can then turn WiFi on, but note that if you do so alerts such as iMessage text messages and emails will still come through, and even phone calls from other services such as Skype or FaceTime will come through.
There is always one guaranteed way to make sure that your iPhone doesn’t bother you. Just turn it off. Hold down the on/off/sleep/wake button at the top right of the iPhone until you see the Slide to Power Off option, and then select that option. But if you don’t want to shut down your phone and you find yourself in a place where you are supposed to be quiet, make sure that you understand the ins and outs of iPhone alerts so you can take the necessary precautions.
Very useful, phone going off in court would be a nightmare
We used the DND feature over the weekend and now when we turn it off, it still doesn’t ring. Any ideas to fix it?
Do not disturb between 1am and 6 am – you need to get more sleep!
Ha ha. If I were not a night owl, iPhone J.D. would not exist!
-Jeff
My phone stopped sending notifications altogether. I just powered it down and back up and it worked.
What about texts from favorites? Do they still come through even with do not disturb engaged?
You receive the text, of course, but your iPhone will not “beep” and the text won’t appear on the screen. You can configure the iPhone to alert you to CALLS from your Favorites in the Do Not Disturb mode, but I don’t think that you can configure the iPhone to alert you to TEXT MESSAGES from your Favorites in the Do Not Disturb mode.
Will you get a missed call notification if your phone is in do not disturb?
Is there any way to get my phone to shut up when I’m on a call? It’s very frustrating to be on a tense call and start getting bleeping and ringing in my ear. I realize I can reach up and turn off the sound, but by then, I’ve already been distracted. This seems like such an obvious desire of many customers, I’m surprised Apple hasn’t made the a solution, or made the solution more apparent.
Help: DND “Silence” I don’t want “always” or “only when phone is locked”….I need my phone to ring day or night for emergency. What a stupid option Arggghhhh
When DND on and I’m using my iPhone I except to not get any noise from it. But, I get SMS sound because I’m using the phone. Android phones can be set to vibrate only and there is no any exception at all. I except from DND to work the same way. This not should be a “clever” option making exceptions.
what does it mean when you call an iphone and it doesn’t ring at all, but finally rings at 16 seconds or so and only one time and then you’re sent straight to voicemail. also, when you try to send a text to such iphone it doesn’t show as imessage anymore, but as a text. could it be i was deleted from contacts and i am now being dubbed as a no disturb? or am i blocked? thank you so much for your input guys
Just tap on the volume button and it will silence the ringing. I am sure that’s doable for you while you are talking.
You are definitely blocked.
YOU ARE BLOCKED
what does it mean when I call an iPhone and it goes straight to voicemail, however if I change my caller ID the same number dailed actually rings?
My do not disturb ring busy instead of transferring calls to voice mail
Mine does this as well, rings once then says user busy so they can’t leave me a voicemail. Any solutions??
My girlfriend finally upgraded to iOS 7 recently. She never – repeat never – messes with the settings on her phone. She would know how to anyway. She was not getting message alerts sometimes, but not all the time. If you called her, often the first time you called, it would go to voicemail. If you called back immediately, it would then ring. After a quick search online, I went to look at the do not disturb settings. Sure enough, it was set to manual, with “only while iPhone is locked”. Once again, she never, ever changes anything in settings. This only started happening after the upgrade. Somehow the upgrade turned on the do not disturb settings.
Had the same problem and after searching this issue it appears the phone set itself to “Manual”
I travel a lot for work and connect to various wifi points along the way. Is there an app out there or built in feature that will tell my iPhone to automatically switch to Do not disturb mode when it recognises a pre-set wifi and switch back when out of range?
I don’t know of any such app, and it would surprise me somewhat if something like this existed, but perhaps someone else has an idea.
-Jeff
This may seem like a silly question but I have lost my phone in my apartment so here it goes. If my ringer is off…and it kicks into DND mode and I call it will it ring if I repeat call it? I have it set to ring on repeated calls when on DND.
Someone calling me while listening to Pandora during a massage IS disturbing!!! Why is it named this? And turning it off is a band-aid i refuse to wear. We fly people into outer space but we can’t figure this out? Do I need to work for Apple? WTF!!!
I have elderly neighbors and they have concerns about accidents occurring, possibly at night. They would like to call me instead of 911. They do not drive.
Is there any way I can allow only that one number to ring during DND?
Melissa — yes. As noted in my post, you can create exceptions to the Do Not Disturb feature so that calls from one or more folks designated by you will still ring through.
-Jeff
I turned mine on & all notifications still go through. It’s really annoying.
What does it mean when you ring an iPhone it doesn’t ring at all just comes up with caller busy?
Not true.
I had the iPhone 5s my DND worked and went to VM now I have the 6+ When someone calls it says it can not be completed and can’t leave a VM I need to know how to fix this please
Hi there,
If I set my alarm at night and then receive a text while I’m sleeping it turns the future alarm off… do you know anything about this?
Thanks! 🙂
Wow, that’s a bizarre one. I haven’t seen it before, but maybe someone else has.
-Jeff
Hi,
On my Messages, next to one of my contacts the do not disturb icon appears. So apparently they have do not disturb turned on. Is that normal – that everyone knows who has their phones on DND?
Marie
Hi Marie
I have the same problem on one of my contacts but the person in question does not have the DND turned on and neither do I???
ONE of my contacts does not ring, and does not notify. The half-moon is next to her name in Messages. I can’t get it off. I’ve powered down and back on. I never know when my dau-in-law is calling or texting. Whadda I do now?
I used to love this feature (I cover a territory that includes time zones from Florida to Hawaii, so “odd hour” calls are not uncommon). But, it doesn’t work will with my new iPhone 6. I have it set to allow calls from my Favorites list, but otherwise nothing. I even have it set to DND when the phone is not locked because I use a sleep monitoring program that won’t function properly if I lock my phone before setting it down at night on my bed.
It lets calls come through from even unknown numbers and it buzzes all night long from various alerts and emails coming in. Is this a function that is “broken” in the latest upgrade possibly?
It would be nice if Apple would incorporate more flexibility into this feature. I use DND at night to avoid nuisance calls etc… using the “calls from my favorites” list filter and it works great. However, there are people and other applications that send texts or alerts that I also want to receive. An example might be that my home security systems sends me a text or an alert that something is happening. I want a way for those to come through. If I’m sleeping on my third floor and someone comes through the basement window, my Dropcam/Nest will pick it up and trigger an alert but currently it will be silenced if DND is turned on. Major disappointment. Again, more flexibility around what comes through and what doesn’t would be great step forward.
I want to know this one too! The same thing is happening to me.
Really need Apple to at least compare equally with android and allow favorites text msg to alert anytime if do not disturb is on. Seems Apple is way behind with this important function people want fixed.
My iPhone 6 is going off every 5 to 7 seconds i am worry about this what is its this????????//
I saw the DND in text message or imessage. Who does this function work?
My iMessages to another iPhone user are suddenly showing up as sent SMS text messages. Does that mean the other party put me on DND or am I now blocked?
can I use the do not disturb call in only one caller?
You can block individual callers so that your phone doesn’t ring when they call you. Not sure if that is what you mean.
-Jeff
In your Messages, open the conversation with the contact that has the moon beside it…top right corner of your screen you should see the word “details”, touch it…you’ll find an option there for DND
Hi Jeff, I teach yoga and use my iPhone for music. I like to live stream Amazon prime, but sometimes when my phone is on do not disturb a call will come through. If I make sure my phone is locked and then turn on my music, should it work? I used to use airplane mode and just have a downloaded playlist, but the music on Amazon prime is wonderful. Thank you so much for your help! I really appreciate your time.
When the Do Not Disturb function is turned on in iOS 11, you should not receive phone calls. The only exception is that you can manually select to allow calls from certain people. In the Settings app go to Do Not Disturb, the scoll down to the word “Phone” and just below that you will see Allow Calls From. Is yours set to “No One”? Mine it set to Favorites, and I wonder if yours is too?
-Jeff
I am trying to reach an iPhone and it is going straight to voicemail. This is my attorney, and a new iPhone. It states that I have not been blocked. ?????????