Share focus status greyed out after IOS 15.5 update

1 I toggled the iCloud setting on my phone and it didn’t fix it.

2 I removed my older Mac Book from my Apple account (No focus setting)

3 I made sure on my new Mac Book iCloud was on and I still couldn’t toggle shared focus

4 on my new Mac book I opened iCloud settings again and realized Messages wasn’t selected. I toggled it on, rebooted both my phone and my Mac book and …. Success!!!

5 az921 you are a HERO! I spent hours and hours with Apple support over this! Thank you!!!

🙏🙏🙏

Description: Share Focus Status is greyed out.

I cannot see when other iPhones have focus shared and notifications silenced in Messages and other iPhones do not see my [username] has notifications silenced in their Messages app.

What has been tried with Apple Support and had zero success:

• toggling off and on Focus
• toggling off and on Settings / Focus / Share Across Devices
• toggling off and on Settings / Messages / Allow Messages to Access Focus
• toggling off and on Settings / Privacy / Focus / Shared with Messages
• logging out of iCloud everywhere else (two Mac laptops)
• removing those additional Mac OS devices from iCloud so that my iPhone was the only thing listed
• Resetting iPhone with General / Transfer or Reset iPhone / Reset All Settings

I really like the feature of my friends being able to see that I was on Do Not Disturb and had notifications silenced when they try to Message me. It was working great everywhere for a while. Broken for the last 3 weeks or so.

Hello Shaneyfelt82,

Thanks for choosing the Apple Support Communities. To start, let's ensure a few things are set. Please make sure the following are enabled:

1. Settings > Focus > Share Across Devices is enabled
2. Settings > Privacy > Focus > Messages is enabled
3. Settings > Messages > Focus also displays as enabled

If you're using any other devices signed into the same Apple ID, make sure they have the same settings. Let us know what you find, and we'll go from there.

More info on using Focus can be found here.

Use Focus on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch - Apple Support

Cheers!

I have had the same problem for months and I recently realized the solution for it. The share focus status is greyed out most likely because your icloud drive in settings is turned off. Just go to settings -> apple ID -> icloud drive and toggle that on. Then your share focus status should not be greyed out anymore!

I did pretty much everything everyone has suggested in this forum, even the iCloud drive, but none seemed to change anything.

Someone mentioned old laptops under the same apple ID ... I have two old laptops still connected to my Apple ID and there is no Focus setting like in Mac OS 12.5.1. I wonder if that breaks the Share Across Device setting on my iPhone and that causes 1) my Share Focus Status to be greyed out like most of you and 2) others don't see the message "This person has notifications silenced" in Messages.

Itsericayo wrote:

Apple refuses to fix this problem everyone who updated their phone has. It’s been like this for over a month.

No, most people don't have this problem. I don't. I understand the fact that most people don't doesn't help you. But, what it does mean is that it's going to be harder for Apple to figure out what the problem is if only some people have it.

You should be sure to let Apple know about your issue. The more people who do, the more data they will have:

Product Feedback - Apple

I thought that same thing, RoyMiller.

That said, I expected signing out of my iCloud on my older Macbook / 11.6.7) would remove the dependency.

Another potential cause:

• Does anybody experiencing the issue use VPN software on any of their devices?

There has to be something that all of us have in common causing this bug to surface only for us.

Related / Unrelated: My Mac laptop's Messages app wasn't syncing with my iPhone Messages.

• In Messages/ preferences/ iMessage on my Mac, I put my phone number instead of just my email address (I don't know how my phone number was removed, but now it lists my email AND my iPhone's number)
• 
  
• iPhone General / Settings / Messages / Text Message Forwarding and selected my Mac laptop

Ten minutes later my girlfriend texts, "hey, I can see your "notifications silenced, notify anyway" , how did you fix it?"

Shocked, I did some troubleshooting with her and sure enough, she can see when I have notifications slienced from either my Mac or my iPhone again.

It's still not entirely fixed because:

• My Mac can see when other iPhone folks have their notifications silenced
• Folks can see when I have my notifications silenced from my Mac or my iPhone , but my iPhone still can't see when theirs are silenced
• Share focus status is still "off" and grayed out

I spent another few hours on the Apple support line and they just said try to upgrade to 15.6 - which I did and it didn't fix it.

My question to you fine folks:

Do ANY OF US that are experiencing this issue have just a single iPhone and no other Apple devices associated with your iCloud account?

If my theory is correct, the answer is no.

Also, the Apple tech made the senior techs aware of this thread. Hopefully it will get some traction soon.

Thanks for being in this busted boat with me and trying to figure it out.

To be more specific this bug is causing paranoia as well.

Allow me to elaborate:

I realized “share focus status” toggle had gone locked/grey/unusable when my significant other & I added a contact at the same time. In my partner’s phone it shows the contact’s “focus status” On, saying the usual “notifications are off” line or whatever. Curious me thought the person’s “focus status” wasn’t showing on my phone because the person hadn't saved my # in their contacts; therefore not allowing me to see their “focus status”, nor share mine as well.

But Then!!! I learned you can share “focus status” with ANY unsaved/or saved number. That’s also when/how I realized my focus toggle was completely locked.

I tested all my theories with my other phones & I that’s how I came to the conclusion it had nothing to do with the person not saving my #.

On one of my iPhones it tells me that my main line’s “focus status” is on, BUT on my main line it doesn’t allow me to fiddle with my own ”focus status” nor see others’ “focus statuses”.

I mean, I guess now I know that my “focus status” is halfway working, since it shows everyone my notifications are off, even though it doesn’t work for my main line or my main phone. I have the newest iOS 15.5 too.

It definitely was an inconvenience because it had me thinking the worst for a moment.

Never assume people always investigate first.

Koheebee wrote:

Hello, IdrisSeabright

"And my answer is still the same."

What is your answer that is still the same?

I have spent over 5 hours through 3 calls with Apple Support.

I'm not sure that sub-conversation is going to be helpful to you. But, for your convenience, I've screenshotted my answers from earlier in the thread:

I have literally the same phone (13 pro max) as a friend, both on 15.5. Mine is 256gb, hers 128gb. Literally identical phones down to the color otherwise. She has the issue and I do not. We’ve checked all the settings. Can we get some confirmation that Apple is actively tracking this weird bug?

Bakerab wrote:

Can we get some confirmation that Apple is actively tracking this weird bug?

You could try asking Apple by using the "Get Support" link at the top right of every page of these forums. However, I don't know if the support folks will have an answer for you.

From my main Iphone my “Share focus status” option has gone grey too, probably about a week ago, but it shows my other phones that my ”Do not disturb” status is on. I know this because I have multiple phones and I’m able to see it. Yet it doesn’t allow me to select to share it with them (contacts) or not.

it doesn’t tell me if others have their notifications on/off either anymore.

Whoa! Yours is a halfway combo of the issue many of us are seeing. Somehow when your Share Focus Status-option toggle switched "locked to grey", your phone was still in a state to notify others that your notifications are silenced, but you're still not seeing theirs. I already have over 4 hours and multiple calls to Apple support on this... I'm losing faith and time (sigh).

I'm sure this is affecting many more iPhones than Apple knows about. In order to see the bug you actually have to have additional iPhones like you, OR one of your contacts brings it to your attention.

Example: "wait, you were on Do Not Disturb when you didn't respond?? My iPhone Messages app didn't show that you had notifications silenced?!"

Thanks for sharing, JRY22!

I have the same issue.

I think it has something to do with the other devices we have. I have an old MacBook Pro with Catalina, maybe the old macOS is causing this issue.

Do you also have old devices associated with the same appleID?