What is “Share Focus Status” and How to Enable it? iOS & MacOS

Every now and then we need to take a break from this always-connected world of devices. For example, if you want a peaceful night’s sleep, you might want to stop the interference from your phone. In the past, you switched off your devices for this.

However, this can be problematic if you want to receive calls/messages from friends/family members in an emergency. To meet this need, Apple (and other OEMs) introduced many features like Focus mode (which replaced Do Not Disturb mode). In this mode, certain phone features such as notifications are disabled.

Share Focus Status is an attempt by Apple to streamline the process by allowing you Share your focus status with selected or all contacts that your phone is in a focus mode and they may not be able to contact you.

focus mode

Focus mode is a new feature coming to iOS on April 15^th Sept 2021. Like its predecessor (Do Not Disturb), the aim of this mode is allow you to focus to your current scenario (e.g. driving) by limiting distractions from the phone’s notifications or alerts. This feature is great as it allows you to focus more on your work, driving, or getting a good night’s sleep. Once enabled, this feature prevents your phone’s notifications and alerts from bothering you.

Focus mode presets and adjustment

Focus mode has many presets defined as follows:

You can also use Focus mode to create your own custom modes. This function is quite flexible. You can choose apps and contacts that can bypass focus mode, so you never miss anything important, urgent, or emergency related. Focus mode can be scheduled or even automated. Focus mode on one device can be shared between your Apple devices.

The split focus status feature.

Share focus status is a great extension of Apple’s focus mode. If a person is constantly trying to contact you but your phone is in focus mode, that person may not be able to contact you, which can lead to many undesirable situations. The people you contact may think you’re deliberately ignoring them, which can be pretty devastating to your social life.

When this feature is enabled, the person contacting you will know this immediately Your phone is in focus mode and Notifications/alerts are disabled. Then the contact will be notified with you if they want it immediately notify you (if it’s urgent, important or an emergency) or wait to get back to them.

If that person chooses to Notify anywaywill the notification bypass your phone’s focus mode – there is no guarantee that the message is urgent or important and it is solely up to that person to decide) and you will receive a notification. “Notify me anyway” won’t appear on the first message a person tries to send you, but if two/three messages are sent quickly, the person may see the option if both phones have iOS 15 or later.

Another great feature is that while the person contacting you will know your phone is in a focus mode, they will do not know the type of focus mode For example, if your phone is in sleep focus mode or work focus mode, the person contacting you will not know it. This feature protects your privacy about the state of affairs by setting a focus mode on your phone. One point to remember is that the share focus status is on different out Allow urgent notifications. In the latter, you can allow notifications from specific contacts to bypass your focus mode.

Requirements to enable or use share focus state

The following requirements must be met before you can use Share Focus status:

Another factor to note is that Use Share Focus only works for Apple devices That means if a person tries to contact you via an Android phone, they won’t see the sharing focus status.

Activate share focus status

To enable Share Focus on your Apple device:

On an iPhone or iPad

1. begin settings of your iPhone and open it focus.
   

   

2. Now select the focus mode for which you want to enable sharing like driving and make sure Share across devices activated.
   

   

3. Now tap focus status and enable Share focus status by turning on the switch.
   

   

4. You can use these steps to enable focus release state for other focus mode types as well.
   

   

One point to remember is that the feature is “Share Focus State”. enabled by default on all Focus Mode presets. If you create a custom focus mode, you can enable it during setup or afterwards.

On a Mac

1. Start your Mac system settings and open Notifications & Focus.
2. Now go to focus and then activate at the bottom of the menu Share focus status by checking the appropriate box.
   

   

Apps that support share focus status

Currently the share focus status only supported by Apple’s Messages app. You might think that’s why there are no other apps. Because the feature was newly released and the developers didn’t have time to integrate the feature into their apps. So currently, anyone who contacts you through Apple’s Messages will know that your phone is in focus mode.

Share focus status in Messages app

So let’s see the Share Focus Status in action in the Messages app.

1. If you have enabled share focus status on your phone and someone in your Contacts will send you an SMSthen this person sees a Delivered quietly Label just below the message.
2. There’s also a notification at the end of the chat stating that’s the case has muted notifications.
3. Now, if the function “thinks” there is an emergency or urgency, it can display a Notify anyway option at the bottom of the chat.
   

   

Share focus status with selected contacts

Share focus status is enabled by default for all your contacts. You may not want everyone bypassing your phone’s focus mode and that will ruin using focus mode. You can solve this by sharing your focus status with selected contacts. Here’s how to do this in Apple Messages:

1. start the Messages app on your iPhone and select it Chat with the desired contact not to be avoided the focus mode.
   

   

2. Now tap his profile icon and disable in the dialog box that appears Share focus status for that contact by setting its switch to Off.
   

   

You can turn off focus status sharing with any contacts you don’t want to bypass your phone’s focus mode, leaving only the contacts you want to see your focus status for. If you want to enable Share Focus status for the contact in the future, simply enable it in Apple Messages chat with that contact. One point to remember is the contacts you have on the white list in a focus mode do not see release focus status.

Sharing focus status is not displayed in the Messages app

If you don’t see the sharing focus status when chatting with your contact, this feature may have been disabled in your phone’s privacy settings (disabled by default on iOS 15.6 and later). To activate it:

1. begin settings of your iPhone and open it Privacy & Security.
   

   

2. Now choose focus and enable Messages by turning on the switch.
   

   

Disable share focus status

If you’re quite bothered by the share focus status, you can turn it off. In addition:

1. Start your iPhone settings and open focus.
2. Now select the type of focus mode like Driving and open focus status.
3. Then deactivate Share focus status by turning off the switch. You can use the same steps to disable Share Focus Status for other types of Focus Mode as well.
   

   

You can also disable Share Focus Status on your device settings>> privacy>> focus.

Fix Commons issues with sharing focus status

You can solve many of the most common focus status issues (e.g. your contacts can’t see your focus status) by logout login from you AppleID on the device and Disable/Enable iMessage and iCloud on your Apple device.

A single contact who doesn’t see your focus status

If one of your contacts doesn’t see your focus status, then:

That’s it dear readers, if you have any questions or suggestions, don’t hesitate to contact us in the comments section.