Can someone help me understand notifications in Focus Mode?

[pruppert]

I just started using Focus Modes with iOS 16 because of the ability to have different lock screen widgets for different times of day. So I'm a little unfamiliar with the feature and have a few questions.

I'm suddenly not receiving many notifications that I used to get before setting up Focus Modes, and iMessage on my wife's phone tells her I have notifications for messages turned off.

1. It seems that by default a Focus Mode will block all notifications from apps/people unless I specifically and individually whitelist specific apps/people that can give notifications during the Focus Mode. Is that right?
2. Is there any way to default a Focus Mode to allowing all notifications (as long as they are allowed in Settings > Notifications) and then specifically blacklisting the apps/contacts I don't want notifications from during the Focus Mode?
3. If answer to question 2 is no, then say I download an app 6 months from now, and I want notifications from it. I have to remember to go into every Focus Mode again and specifically whitelist that new app after I've downloaded the app? Seems like an unnecessary degree of maintenance if so.

 

[BigBlur]

I just started using Focus Modes with iOS 16 because of the ability to have different lock screen widgets for different times of day. So I'm a little unfamiliar with the feature and have a few questions.

I'm suddenly not receiving many notifications that I used to get before setting up Focus Modes, and iMessage on my wife's phone tells her I have notifications for messages turned off.

1. It seems that by default a Focus Mode will block all notifications from apps/people unless I specifically and individually whitelist specific apps/people that can give notifications during the Focus Mode. Is that right?
2. Is there any way to default a Focus Mode to allowing all notifications (as long as they are allowed in Settings > Notifications) and then specifically blacklisting the apps/contacts I don't want notifications from during the Focus Mode?
3. If answer to question 2 is no, then say I download an app 6 months from now, and I want notifications from it. I have to remember to go into every Focus Mode again and specifically whitelist that new app after I've downloaded the app? Seems like an unnecessary degree of maintenance if so.

1. Correct. "Allow Notifications From" is the default when creating a new focus, and will block all notifications from apps/people that you haven't whitelisted.
2. You can change the focus to "Silence Notifications From" instead, and not pick any apps/people to silence. (This is new in iOS 16.)
3. When installing new apps, you may need to allow or block the new app depending on how your focus mode is set up to work.

In your case, it sounds like you may want to change your focus modes to "Silence Notifications From" and not select any apps/people. That should let everything go through as before.

 

[pruppert]

Thanks. I’ll try that.