Focus settings limited - don’t get any messages when I’m on my phone in focus

Hi Little_AmberD,

Thanks for posting here in Apple Support Communities. You should be able to choose the contacts that come through when you have Do Not Disturb enabled. Check out the link below as it may help to address the issue you're facing.

Use Focus on your iPhone or iPad - Apple Support

Turn on Focus

1. Go to Settings > Focus. 

2. Tap a provided Focus option—like Do Not Disturb, Personal, Sleep, or Work—then tap Customize Focus.

3. Set up your Focus. You can select allowed or silenced notifications from people and apps, connect your Lock Screen or Home Screen, have this Focus turn on automatically, and add Focus filters.

You can also enable Time Sensitive notifications from apps, which allows apps not in your allowed list to send notifications marked as Time Sensitive.

You can also turn on Focus from Control Center. Just open Control Center on your iPhone, or on your iPad, touch and hold Focus, then select the Focus you want to turn on.

When you set a Focus, the icon appears in the status bar and on your Lock Screen, and your status is automatically displayed in the Messages app. When people try to send you a message, they'll see that you've silenced notifications, but they can still notify you if it's urgent.

When you use Focus on one device, the setting is automatically applied across your Apple devices that are signed in with the same Apple ID.

Regards.