What does "notifications silenced" mean in Messages?

Possible fix for those still having issues. I was having this issue with my spouse. I tried everything recommended in this thread and in others. I checked her status from my son's iPad and realized the "notifications silenced" message seemed to be specific to me. I did not see the same message when trying to message my spouse from my son's iPad.

Here's what I did:

1. Went to messages on my spouse's phone (the phone giving the "notifications silenced" message). I went to our message thread. She had me pinned at the top of her messages. I long pressed my picture and toggled "hide alerts" on and then off again. It was already in the off position, but I toggled it anyway.
2. I unpinned our message thread, I swiped our thread to the left while viewing all messages and toggled the alert icon (bell) on and off. Again, it was not on or silences but I toggled it on/off again anyway. This is probably the same as hiding alerts in step one above, but I was trying everything at this point.

After doing this, the "notifications silenced" on my wife's phone went away. I did not restart any devices. I'm not sure exactly how long it took as I stepped away for a few minutes but this did it for me.

Hope this helps.

It happened to me after updating to iOS 15.3. This is what I did:

1. Click on Settings
2. Go to Focus
3. Click on on "Do Not Disturb". By Default this will be turned off. It did show turned off me. I clicked on it to Turn it on and then turned it off. That was it! So it is a glitch, and this is the workaround that worked for me. Hope it helps other :-)

Thank you so much, k_p95, this worked for me!

• Settings > Messages > Allow Messages to Access > disable Focus.

• Settings > Focus > Share Across Devices should be disabled if you do not want your current or active Focus status to reflect across devices signed into the same Apple ID.

• Settings > Focus > click on the affected Focus > Focus Status > Share Focus Status should be disabled.

• Settings > Privacy > Focus > Messages should be disabled.

In my case (Monterey) this was a bug. My friend did not have Focus enabled and I was seeing it on my Mac but not my iPhone. Quitting Messages and fully restarting my MacBook Air caused this warning to go away and the bug to fix itself. I'm only guessing but it may be a data cacheing bug where she has Focus enabled at night and once it appears on my Mac is stays there regardless of her Focus status the next day when it automatically is turned off on her end (but that is not reflected on my end)

Minimize distractions and get things done with Android’s Focus mode...

Focus mode is available on all devices that currently have Digital Wellbeing and parental controls settings, including new phones launching with Android 9 and Android 10. 

https://blog.google/products/android/android-focus-mode/

RamblerMan905 wrote:

HANNAH_TAPIA

User level:

Level 1

(12 points)

Dec 15, 2021 12:37 PM in response to vinnetta208

what that means is that on there phone they have it on silent mode , like when you go to sleep they have all the messages on there phone so they dont get distracted

You said it, which is why I said to you silent mode.

I'm not HANNAH_TAPIA so, no, I didn't say it.

Also in the OP it shows Vinneta208 in SMS mode so he would not likely see that message as it isn't in iMessage mode. But I do not know this for fact it doesn't show in SMS mode. (Need to get beside my buddy with his iPhone 13 and check it). It does show up in the screen grab up but Molly iMessaged him. He never commented again.

The OP reported they saw the message. It shows in their screenshot. They were upset about it. They probably never posted again because the first answer (their sender has Focus enabled) answered the question for them.

My point is, not everyone in this thread has exactly the same problem. And, some people have found solutions.

Test8989 wrote:

Apple please fix this, both my wife and I have this issue. She uses a 13 Pro max and I use a 12 Pro. I work in the information security world and she is a freelance writer… I’m telling you this to inform you both of us know how technology “works” and this is broke. Conversations are silenced for no rhyme or reason. This is broke.

Please fix!

This is a user-to-user support forum. Apple doesn't read here for comments and suggestions. You can Apple know your thoughts here:

Product Feedback - Apple

Bigmountainmillwright69 wrote:

Apple… you were a quality product but ......

This is a user-to-user technical support forum. Apple doesn't read here for suggestions or feedback. However, you can let them know your thoughts here:

Product Feedback - Apple

HenryBo wrote:

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.

This is a user-to-user technical support forum. Apple doesn't read here for feedback or suggestions. You can, however, let them know your thoughts here:

Product Feedback - Apple

After having run into this and checking ALL of my devices to see that none are in any kind of focus mode, I found the solution...at least in my case.

In a recent iOS update, Apple again apparently reset the setting where iMessage/Messages can coordinate with the device's Focus setting. Re-enabling this resolved the issue for me. Here's how:

1. In the Settings app in iOS, scroll down to Messages and tap on it.
2. The top section is titled "ALLOW MESSAGES TO ACCESS" and the top entry is "Focus". Enable this so Messages can sync with the device's Focus setting.

Note that this must be done on the device where, at some point, you've changed the focus. I move my iPhone's focus setting to "Sleep" at night to silence notifications, and since updating iOS, with the slider above disabled, Messages just kept my inbound messages silenced even though I took the device back out of Sleep focus in the morning. Fixed now. :)

Good luck, hope this helps!

This works on mine, but no promises for others as I still do not understand SMS messages, and surely do not get the whole ”Focus” feature. I only know that it is frustrating.

1 - Go to Settings

2 - scroll down to Messages

3 - Turn on Send Send as SMS

*Again, no promises here! This was simply me going through clicking things on and off and suddenly it seems to take care of the problem.

What you need to do is go to settings then to Privacy and scroll down to Focus and where it says shared with you might have messages on their and just hit the off switch. Do this on all your devices , I just figured this out like 5 mins ago

I’ve been trying to figure it out for days and I finally got it. Settings > Messages > “Allow Messages to Access” and make sure “Focus” is clicked.

I had tried all the other tips people used to fix that same issue and it never fixed it. This finally did.

To turn that off you follow these instructions:

Settings> Focus>Do Not Disturb> Focus Status> On/Off

It just tells people your whole phone is on Do not disturb, please don’t be offended. It is usually sent to anyone with an iPhone when you have it on, I believe.

Below you’ll find the Settings I have set up. Please note I’ve toggled each on/off several times after doing so as well. That being said, you’ll see the screenshot with a contact I was messaging has my “focus shared with them” and says they see “I have messages silenced”. I’m confused for two reasons 1. I never selected share focus with that contact 2. Even if I did I don’t have DND turned on so why would they see the notification?