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How to Customize Focus Notifications, Home Screens, and Lock Screens on iPhone

Control which people and apps can notify you in an iPhone Focus, choose its Home and Lock Screens, and set schedules, filters, and sharing options.
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Customize an iPhone Focus in Settings > Focus: choose which people and apps can notify you, select the screens that appear while it is active, and set an optional schedule. You can also link a Lock Screen directly to a Focus so selecting that screen can switch the Focus on.

Open or create a Focus

  1. Open Settings > Focus.
  2. Choose a built-in Focus, such as Do Not Disturb, Personal, Work, or Sleep, or tap the add control to create one.
  3. For a new profile, choose Custom, then give it a name and choose a color and icon.

Apple’s setup instructions are available in its Set up a Focus on iPhone guide. Labels and available options can vary by iOS release. Apple Intelligence is not required for the Focus settings described here.

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Choose which notifications get through

Open the Focus you want to edit, then use its People and Apps sections to choose how notifications are handled. Apple describes two approaches:

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  • Allow notifications from: selected people or apps can notify you while the Focus is on.
  • Silence notifications from: selected people or apps are muted, while others are not excluded by that list.

Check the options for calls and repeated calls if you want to let urgent callers through, and decide whether to allow time-sensitive notifications. These exceptions can make a Focus less restrictive, so review them if your aim is to minimize interruptions. For Apple’s detailed steps, see Allow or silence notifications for a Focus on iPhone.

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Choose the Home Screen and Lock Screen for a Focus

In Settings > Focus, open a Focus and choose its screen customization options. Select a Lock Screen and a Home Screen page to use while that Focus is active. This lets a work Focus, for example, show a work-oriented page rather than your usual Home Screen.

You can also link a Lock Screen from the Lock Screen itself:

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  1. Touch and hold the Lock Screen until the wallpaper gallery appears.
  2. Tap Focus.
  3. Choose the Focus to link to that Lock Screen.

When the linked Focus is active, its Lock Screen appears. Selecting a different Lock Screen linked to another Focus can switch the active Focus as well. Apple explains Lock Screen customization in Create a custom iPhone Lock Screen.

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Set what notifications look like on the Lock Screen

A Focus has options for how silenced notifications appear while it is active, including whether they are shown on the Lock Screen and whether the Lock Screen is darkened. These settings affect the Focus experience; they do not replace the iPhone’s general notification-preview privacy setting.

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To change preview privacy, open Settings > Notifications > Show Previews and choose Always, When Unlocked, or Never. A Focus can silence or show notifications according to its rules, while Show Previews determines when notification content is visible. Apple documents Lock Screen features in Access features from the iPhone Lock Screen.

Schedule a Focus or turn it on manually

In the Focus’s settings, use Add Schedule to set it to activate at a specified time, in a location, or while you use a particular app. A schedule is useful when the same routine repeats; manual activation gives you control over when it starts. You can still switch a Focus on or off when needed, regardless of a schedule.

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Use Focus filters in supported apps

Focus filters let supported apps show a narrower set of information while a Focus is active—for example, using a particular mail account or calendar. They affect what those apps display, rather than serving as another way to allow or silence notifications.

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Apple notes that Focus filters do not sync across devices when Share Across Devices is on. If a filter behaves differently on another device, check that device’s Focus and app settings.

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Decide what to share and what to sync

Share Focus Status controls whether people contacting you may see that you have notifications silenced. You can choose which Focus profiles share this status. It does not control which notifications you receive.

Share Across Devices is separate: it keeps Focus settings in use on your other Apple devices. Consider whether you want a Focus to apply across your devices before enabling it. Apple’s Focus setup guide covers these options.

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