by Sandro V Cuccia, sandro.cuccia@gmail.com Ahh the bliss of some peace and quiet! No matter how much we love our ios gadgets, we still want some quiet time away from the distracting sounds our beloved devices make when requesting our attention. Now, there's a solution that puts the quietus on the incessant din... I confess I am a ringtone and notification junkie! I have custom sounds that resonate when any of my contacts phone or text me. I have dozens of apps that include built-in sounds as part of their notification features. I have sounds for incoming news bulletins, weather alerts, package delivery alerts, time-to-pay-themortgage alerts, low bank balance alerts, my-new-ipad-mini-has-arrived-in- Anchorage alerts I could go on and on. If the sounds weren't enough, I also have vibrations enabled on my iphone. And don't get me started on the camera flash LED that blinks along with the audible alerts! I walk around with my breast pocket lighting up like a Christmas tree and firing off alerts like an emergency annunciator! And, to top it all off, I get a nice massage! Problem is; I have so many different beeps, rings, pops, and buzzes that I no longer remember what each means! But that's another story for another time. For now, I want to tell you about a great way to stop all this - even if temporarily. 1
Of all the great new ios features over the past three years, my favorite has to be Do Not Disturb. It provides dual functionality. First, it lets you silence - on demand - all calls, alerts, and notifications. Secondly, it lets you establish a time period when you do not want to be disturbed so that you and others (like my wife and goldfish) well, won't be disturbed. A very small number of apps incorporate this feature internally, but now it's available throughout as part of ios. Let's examine how to enable and use the Do Not Disturb feature installed on your iphone, ipad and ipod touch. First, a caveat for you: The Do Not Disturb feature does not silence an alarm or timer set in Apple's Clock app! This is actually a desirable feature, but be aware of it. To enable Do Not Disturb, tap Settings. You will find the Do Not Disturb control near the top. This is pretty straightforward. When the switch is set to ON, and the device is locked (screen off), all sound alerts, vibrations, phone rings, LED alerts, and screen wake with alerts are all disabled. Simply put, your device will do nothing to disturb your peace. However, it does continue to work diligently in the background, fetching and accumulating your email, alerts and other notifications for later perusal. 2
There are two exceptions. The first, as mentioned before, an alarm set via Apple's Clock or Timer will go off. Also, there are settings that will allow certain incoming calls to ring. I'll cover this aspect shortly. Now, let's look at your other options. Refering to the illustration above, tap on Do Not Disturb to access its settings. 3
The top-most Manual control switch will allow you to instantly activate Do Not Disturb (as you can do directly by tapping the moon icon in the Control Center that you get by swiping up from the bottom of any screen). The options discussed below will still apply even in this ad-hoc Do Not Disturb mode. Next, There are three options you can configure to give you a great deal of flexibility when using Do Not Disturb: First, tapping on the Scheduled on/off switch will allow you to set a range of time when you do not wish to be disturbed - all calls and alerts are silenced. Incoming calls are sent to voicemail. Notifications will accumulate, without activating the screen, for you to peruse later. In the illustration, you can see that my quiet hours are between 11:00 PM and 7:30 AM. 4
Next, there is a control called Allow Calls From where you can choose between "Everyone," "No One," or "Favorites." You also have the option of allowing calls only from any of your contacts, or only from members of specific groups configured in your Contacts app. This means that you can create a special group of contacts for the purpose of allowing their calls through during the Do Not Disturb period. The Favorites listed in the top section refers to the Favorites list of contacts that you configure in the Phone and/or Contacts app. You may be wondering how things differ on the ipad and ipod touch since phone ring issues don't apply. On these devices the Do Not Disturb controls govern the use of FaceTime as well as all other alerts. Finally, back in the Do Not Disturb settings, you'll see a Repeated Calls switch. When this switch is ON, a second call from the same person within three minutes will ring. This accommodates emergency situations where someone is calling you repeatedly until you pick up the call. However, I suggest you don't advertise this to your contacts. There's always that one goofy uncle who, armed with that knowledge, will surely pester you with calls at all hours. (Heh, heh I'm the goofy uncle in my family!) It bears repeating that the ad-hoc Do Not Disturb [manual] switch located at the top of the Do Not Disturb settings screen and in the Control Center (the pane that appears when you swipe up from the bottom of any screen) is completely independent of the second set of Do Not Control settings we examined above. It is NOT a master switch. In other words, the settings for Scheduled, Allow Calls From, and Repeated Calls will prevail, no matter what. 5
In the illustration below, the Control Center is extended from the bottom, and a number of controls and "switches" are seen. The round button containing a depiction of a quarter-moon is the Do Not Control button. Tap it to enable and disable Do Not Disturb. When the button is lit - that is, it's white - it means that the particular function is enabled. When it's grey, or "dark", the function is disabled. 6
Finally, you can quickly view the status of your Do Not Disturb setting. When it's enabled, an icon depicting a quarter-moon will appear to the right of the current time in the status bar at the top of the screen. In conclusion, I'm sure you'll agree with me that Do Not Disturb is an awesome feature. Be careful, though. All bets are off when you are actively working on your device or its otherwise unlocked while Do Not Disturb is enabled. All alerts will activate until you lock the device. You could use Silent Mode controls on your device, but that still lets vibrations through. Setting the device in Airplane Mode doesn't prevent local app alerts from sounding. And - as if I haven't stressed this enough - clock and timer alarms will ring when your device is in Do Not Disturb mode and/or Silent Mode is enabled. 7