Focus: setting up "personal" focus

vesta822 wrote:

Thank you. Here's the problem, I am clear on how to "silence" but how do I "allow everyone" else who gets a hold of me: the majority of which are not in my contacts.

If you select "Silence Notifications From" (using the directions above) and add the person you want silenced, everyone else will be allowed. You don't need to do anything else.

Also, make sure that you go to Settings>Phone>Silence Unknown Callers and make sure it's set to "Off".

Hello vesta822,

It looks like at this time you have Focus enabled, and are looking to mute notifications from one contact, rather than everyone. If this is correct, you can follow these steps to 'Silence specific people':

Allow or silence notifications from specific people during a Focus

1. Go to Settings  > Focus, then choose a Focus—for example, Do Not Disturb, Personal, Sleep, or Work.

2. Tap People (or tap Choose People), then do one of the following: 

• Allow specific people: Tap Allow Notifications From, tap , then select from your contacts.

You can also turn on options to allow calls from certain groups of people and allow repeated calls (two or more calls from the same person within 3 minutes).

• Silence specific people: Tap Silence Notifications From, tap , then select from your contacts.

You can also turn on Allow Calls From Silenced People.

Note: Regardless of your Focus settings, you can allow calls from your emergency contacts to come through. See Allow calls from emergency contacts when notifications are silenced, below.

You can view more information about how to manage your notifications for a Focus here: Allow or silence notifications for a Focus on iPhone - Apple Support.

Best wishes!

You don't do it through Contacts. If you want to mute a person in Messages, go to the Messages app. Go to the main screen. Find the conversation with the person you want to mute. Put your finger on it and pull to the left. Tap the purple icon with the bell with the line through it. The line will disappear and the conversation will be muted.

We understand your concern, vesta822,

Other than using Focus and adding the contacts that you'd like to receive notifications from, you can mute one contact in Messages, so you don't hear the notification if you'd rather not set up Focus. You can view your list of messages from all contacts and swipe left on the contact you'd like to mute and choose Mute.

Since phone calls don't include an option to mute one contact, another option would be to choose a specific ringtone for that contact. You may also have the option to purchase a silent ringtone so you don't hear their calls as outlined here: Use tones and ringtones with your iPhone or iPad - Apple Support

"Buy ringtones from the iTunes Store

1. Open the iTunes Store app.
2. Tap  More.
3. Tap Tones. 
4. Find a ringtone that you want to buy, then tap the price.
5. Choose an option to automatically set the ringtone. Or tap Done to decide later.

6. You might need to enter your Apple ID password to complete your purchase.

Store availability and features might vary by country or region. Learn what's available in your country or region.

Ringtones on iTunes aren't full songs; they're just snippets."

We hope this helps.

Take care!