How to Fix Focus Mode Not Working on iOS 15?

After updating to iOS 15, you must have come across a new feature, Focus Mode, Focus lets you stay in the moment when you need to concentrate or step away from your iPhone. If you are among the few users who have been reporting issues with this feature, then this guide is for you. To enable efficient usage and manage notifications through prioritization, Apple has introduced the Focus Mode in iOS 15.

The issue is even after enabling and the feature and barring certain notifications, they continue to show up. This is undesirable for those users who may want no interruption in their lives. Interestingly, the opposite happens as well, where the notifications do not show even after they are set to show as per the user’s priority. Normally, the users who are on the developer beta of iOS 15 may face a bug with the Focus Mode.

Reasons Why Focus Mode is Not Working on iOS 15

Here are some other reasons due to which the Focus Mode may not be working on iOS 15.

The schedule for the Focus mode is not correctly set.
You may have enabled repeated calls from contacts who are allowed to reach you out when the Focus Mode would be active.
Time-sensitive notifications are enabled, which keep popping up on your iPhone screen.
The Focus Mode may not have whitelisted the apps from which you continue to receive notifications.
The feature Share Across device in the Focus Mode has been enabled, causing you to jumble up your notifications and either miss them or see them when you don’t require them.

Here are the troubleshooting methods that are going to help fix the Focus Mode in iOS 15.

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1. Check if the App is Whitelisted

Check if the App you Are Receiving Notification from is Whitelisted. Unless you have whitelisted or allowed an app to show you notifications, Focus Mode should not allow it for the specified time of no disturbance. So, you need to check and make sure that the apps that you want to restrict are barred from showing notifications.

Open the Settings app.
Then navigate to Focus and tap on it.
Select the type of Focus.
Under the Allowed Notifications tab, tap on Apps. Make sure it is set to None Allowed.
The same goes for the other option, People, which means your contacts. Set that to None Allowed as well.

2. Disable Repeated Calls

If you have allowed a few close ones to call you even during the Do Not Disturb period, and they’re trying to call you repeatedly and regularly, then maybe you can disable the repeated calls feature. Otherwise, there will be no point in using the Focus Mode and Do Not Disturb.

Go to Settings.
Open the Focus type. For instance, I opened the Do not Disturb.
Under Allowed Notifications, I have allowed 3 people to call me even during Do Not Disturb is enabled.
To avoid receiving their calls repeatedly, I can disable repeated calls.
And to do that, tap on People. You will see the list of allowed contacts.
Under the Also Follow tab, tap on Calls From.
Set Calls from to No One [except the allowed contacts]
Navigate to the option Allow Repeated Calls. Toggle the switch to disable the option.

This means these whitelisted contacts can call you up but only once during the period when Do Not Disturb is allowed.

3. Update the iOS Build on your iPhone

If you are running any developer beta of iOS 15, then make sure to regularly update the iOS build to keep it bug-free. It may be a bug in the system causing the Focus Mode to not work as intended.

Launch the Settings app.
Then go to General.
Under that, tap on Software Update.
The system will check for available updates.
Make sure the iPhone is hooked to a stable WiFi to download and install the update.
Follow the on-screen instructions to install the iOS update.

4. Restart your iPhone

If some of the above tricks did not fix the Focus Mode issue, try to reboot your iPhone. often it may be a stubborn minor technical snag that has shown up out of nowhere. So, there is no problem with restarting, which often fixes up a lot of issues.

Grab your iPhone and press the power button.
Powering off will initiate, and you will be redirected to the next screen.
Follow the instruction when you see Slide to power off on your device.
After a few seconds, restart the iPhone and check if Focus Mode is working as intended or not.

5. Disable Time-Sensitive Notifications

Certain notifications are deemed time-sensitive by the iOS, and they notify you at the right time. However, to ensure absolutely no disturbance from any notification, you can turn off the time-sensitive notification in the Focus Mode in iOS 15.

Open Settings.
Navigate to Focus and tap on it.
Access the Focus type for which you want to disable the time-sensitive notifications.
Under Allowed Notifications, tap on Apps.
Tap on the toggle beside the option Time Sensitive to disable such notifications.

6. Disable Focus Sharing on iPhone

If you did not know, when you enable Focus Mode on your iPhone, if you have an iPad or a MacBook, then on those devices, Focus Mode will be enabled as well. This is known as Focus Sharing.

Now, you do not wish to get any notifications on your iPhone, doesn’t mean that you would want to miss out on other notifications on your Mac. So, to avoid confusion, you can disable the focus sharing feature on your iPhone.

Open the Settings app.
Go to Focus and tap on it.
Under that, go to Share Across Devices.
Tap on the switch beside it to disable the feature.

7. Check the Scheduled Time for Focus Mode

Focus Mode in iOS 15 normally follows a scheduled time. If you have set any custom time limit, then make sure to check that it is appropriately implemented.

Open the Settings app.
Go to Focus.
Then tap on the type of Focus that you follow. [in this example, I have used Do Not Disturb]
Go to the tab Turn On Automatically and tap on the time.
Use the From and To drop-down menu to set the time from which you want the particular Focus Mode to remain enabled.
Also, make sure to tap on the switch beside the option Schedule to auto-enable the Focus Mode every day.

8. Resetting the iPhone

You can always reset the settings of your iPhone in case none of the above troubleshooting fixes the issue for you.

Open the Settings app.
Then tap on General.
Under that, tap on Transfer or Reset iPhone.
Tap on Reset.
select Reset All Settings.

After you reset your iPhone, make sure it is running the latest iOS build that is available. These are all the troubleshooting methods that you can implement to fix the Focus Mode on iOS 15. I hope this guide was informative.

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