Use Focus Mode on your mobile for less distraction

After a few weeks of vacation, returning to the routine of school, study and work is quite a challenge for many. All those notifications on your phone don’t help with that. Time to temporarily silence the responsible apps with Focus Mode on your Android. That is how it works.

Your digital wellbeing

With Digital Wellbeing in 2018, Google wanted to ensure that users (again) found the healthy balance between technology and life. Pixel and Android One phones were the first to receive the Digital Wellbeing and later a number of manufacturers such as Samsung and OnePlus followed. A year later, the tool became mandatory for all manufacturers and your Android probably also has it.

Focus mode on Android

Digital Wellbeing consists of several parts: Bedtime Mode, Screen Time, App Timers and Focus Mode. You can read more about this here and in this article we limit ourselves to the Focus mode, which is only present in Android 10, not yet in Android 9.0 Pie. With this function you can (temporarily) interrupt apps that are distracting for you. When Focus Mode is turned on, you won’t be able to use these apps and you won’t receive notifications from these apps.

This is how you turn on Focus mode

You turn on the Focus mode (Focus mode on Samsung phones) on your mobile as follows:

1. Open the settings on your phone
2. Tap on Digital Wellbeing and Parental Controls and then on Focus mode
3. Choose which apps you want to pause (e.g. WhatsApp and Twitter)
4. Tap on Turn on now to enable Focus mode
5. Tap on Set a schedule if you want to enable Focus Mode automatically

You can also switch off Focus mode in the same way, or via the notification in your notification bar. To temporarily pause apps when Focus mode is on, tap Take a break and choose a time limit.

You can also add the Focus mode to the ‘Quick settings’ on your phone. This way you can activate the function even faster without having to open the settings. Is the Focus Mode not yet in the Quick Settings? Then add it like this:

1. Swipe down twice from the top of the screen
2. Tap on To process or Edit buttons
3. Tap and hold the Focus Mode tile. Drag the setting to the desired place

Do you have tips or ideas for the theme week on Androidworld?

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