What does "notifications silenced" mean in Messages?

I’m having the same problem as others now I’ve updated to the latest update. A friend of mine with an iPhone same as mine can’t message as when I sent message he’d get it in green but then messages he sent me didn’t come through at all and my messages to him before were blue both being on iPhones but on screen I get half moon and that his notifications are silenced how do we fix this he says he’s done nothing and all I’ve done is update

Does anybody know how to over come this stupid notifications silenced I’ve been sending and receiving texts from an iPhone to my friends iPhone but he can’t send me anything and when I text him it is green and not the normal blue what do I do it’s been since I updated.

Beardsmore1954 wrote:

when I text him it is green and not the normal blue what do I do it’s been since I updated.

That means that one of you doesn't have an active data connection (either WiFi or Cellular). It has nothing to do with Focus.

It’s all sorted now spend hours on phone with apple yesterday it was because I changed network and opted to keep my old number but in settings it was the new provider number and also my friend has do not disturb on his phone but I was able to by pass that so I’m all sorted so thanks you.

UrsulaKirk59 wrote:

Like you? You make me laugh! L’ chaim!

My participation here is entirely for my own amusement (and occasionally edification). However, I'm glad to hear I've also provided you with some amusement. Sounds like a win/win.

I have deleted every available Focus on both of my devices. I have DND turned OFF. I have restarted both my devices. The "notifications silenced" message is still being sent to my HUSBAND and MOTHER. What in the heck am I supposed to do? This is ridiculous. I never wanted this stupid "feature" and now I am being forced to navigate it, and it doesn't even appear to work. (The reason this started was that my mother was seeing this message and kept telling me, even though I told her I hadn't turned anything on. Her contact was already somehow in the "allowed" list, so she shouldn't have been seeing it anyway.) Please help me! This is so annoying.

I have the same issue where it’s says I have silenced notifications and I even deleted all my focuses. 🤷‍♀️ And it still says it…. I have tried all Trouble shooting and nothing works. Is apple even aware of this happening? They need to fix this! This has been happening since new update 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️

I did eventually fix it, but only by going through some steps with an Apple help person through chat. It was simple enough, just making sure things were toggled correctly and then restarting, but it seemed to work! I have transcribed the relevant info we did below, hope it helps someone else! Note: I have an ipad and an iPhone, so it mentions both. All relevant steps were performed on the iPhone:

Ensure all Focus features are turned off on your iPad then go Settings > Focus and turn on "Share Across Devices" on your iPhone.

Then from the same tab Settings > Focus > Do Not Disturb tap "Focus Status"

On that screen, toggle "Share Focus Status" to On

After that, go back to Settings > Privacy > Focus and make sure "Shared With" Messages is toggled On. Now toggling on and off the Do Not Disturb setting will work as intended and people should not see either the "notifications silenced" message nor "Notify Anyway" warning when the Focus is off. 

If the previous setting is already toggled On, toggle it off and then back on.

Then restart, using this method, noting that there are no pauses or delays and all buttons should be pressed as quickly as possible: 

Press and quickly release Volume Up button

Press and quickly release Volume Down button

Then press and hold the Side button for 30 seconds until you see the Apple logo

This resolved it for me. It is very specific, but I hope it can help someone else.

I fixed it by following saralucky’s advice

turned share on in both focus and privacy, then did a restart and turned them back off.

I did a simple restart though, none of the quick press volume and all

Saralucky’s advice fixed my iPhone. Now when DND is on and the sender begins typing a message to me, they get the message that notifications silenced before they send the message. When DND is off they don't get the message. Finally got this issue resolved.

For crying out loud Apple please stop messing with our devices - you charge arm and a leg for them so let us do what we want to do with this $1200 junk. I have no watch and the iPhone keeps asking me to pair it and i have focus off but it keeps telling people i silenced them so for the love of God leave us alone. We have enough problems in life to sit down and try to fix your bugs for you.

Mine corrected itself when I took my Apple Watch off. When I wear my watch it says notifications silenced on other end of conversations with other Apple phones but when I took off my watch it allowed me to get notification alerts on my actual phone again. 🤷‍♀️ Maybe this helps

having same issue. I don’t have multiple devices. I have 1 device. My phone is the only device I have. So does this mean if people are still seeing that my notifications are silenced that someone else has access to my iCloud account?

I thought it was fixed, but now having same issue again with a different person. Before it was my mom's phone that was the issue. Now my wife is getting it. No telling how many others think I have them muted.

I hope apple finds a fix for this, i have clients mad at me and i dont even know how to fix it. I hope someone at apple can look and see youve been making noting but mistakes for the past few years your products are no longer easy to use and helpful. if you want to add features allow us the consumer to opt in and opt out on what we want. also add the calculator back to the macbook tool bar.