Why does FaceTime get through 'do not disturb' on my iPhone?

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Level 2

162 points

Why does FaceTime get through 'do not disturb' on my iPhone?

I see that this question has been asked before through many different versions of iOS, but I have not seen a solution. I'm using an iPhone XS currently running iOS 15.0.2. I have a 'sleep' focus from 11pm which uses 'do not disturb' in effect, and I have not made any exceptions for people or apps to interrupt me until morning. This has worked well up to now, suppressing sounds and notifications etc, but last night at 1:00 am I got a FaceTime call from a friend in another time zone (his mistake in fact) - and the phone announced the call using the robot voice and the screen lit up.

Is there a way of stopping this? Is the fact that my Apple Watch 6 is also part of this night-time regime significant?

iPhone XS

Posted on Nov 11, 2021 5:46 AM

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Answer 1

alma1090

Community Specialist

Nov 12, 2021 11:31 AM in response to Living Fossil

Hey Living Fossil!

Time Sensitive notifications can still get through even with Focus enabled. Here’s how you can manage them to see if this is why that call came through:

Use Focus on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch

“Allow Time Sensitive notifications

When you first set up a Focus, you can turn on Time Sensitive Notifications to allow people and apps to notify you immediately, even when you have a Focus turned on. Here’s how:

Go to Settings > Focus.
Select the Focus, then tap Apps under Allowed Notifications.
Turn on Time Sensitive.

You can also allow certain contacts to reach you in the event of an emergency, even when you have a Focus set up. Here’s how:

Open Contacts and select a contact.
Tap Edit, tap Ringtone or Text Tone, then turn on Emergency Bypass.
Tap Done.”

Regards.

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Answer 2

alma1090

Community Specialist

Nov 12, 2021 8:29 AM in response to Living Fossil

Hello and welcome to Apple Support Communities, Living Fossil!

We understand you received a call even though you had the Sleep Focus enabled. We'd be happy to provide information to help you address this.

Do you have the Phone app allowed? Also check if you have Time Sensitive enabled in Settings > Focus > Sleep and Allowed Apps.

Let us know your findings.

Have a great day!

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Answer 3

Living Fossil Author

Level 2

162 points

Nov 18, 2021 1:40 AM in response to Living Fossil

Still hoping for a solution to this problem - as far as I can see, the advice I've been given so far does not really address the issue, which is that FaceTime gets through even when no apps have been authorised for a particular focus. The advice is about the opposite, i.e. allowing certain types of notification or other intervention to come through.

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Answer 4

Living Fossil Author

Level 2

162 points

Nov 12, 2021 9:55 AM in response to alma1090

Thanks for the reply. No apps are allowed in my Sleep focus . Same with Do Not Disturb. The Sleep focus is time sensitive, starting at 11:00 pm. I don’t see why FaceTime gets through at 1:00 am. Is there a setting I’ve missed?

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Answer 5

Living Fossil Author

Level 2

162 points

Nov 13, 2021 4:59 AM in response to alma1090

Thanks again for replying. However I don't want to have ANY contact getting through to me when I'm asleep (in a real emergency we have a landline, and that's good enough when I'm at home). So surely I don't want to turn on Time Sensitive. It says next to that switch:

"Allow apps not in your allowed list to send notifications marked as Time Sensitive immediately"

I don't want this functionality as I don't want any apps to contact me while I'm asleep, so why would I turn the switch on?

I'm grateful for the information about Emergency Bypass and I may use it when I'm on a trip, but as explained I don't want it now.

It seems to me that none of this discussion explains why I got that FaceTime call in the middle of the night, when that focus doesn't allow any people or apps. Sorry if I am being dumb about this.

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Why does FaceTime get through 'do not disturb' on my iPhone?

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