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Control Center toggle for Do Not Disturb is poorly designed

MonstaMash

MonstaMash

macrumors regular
Original poster
Dec 24, 2011
206
82
I get to see literally hundreds of iPhones per week at my job, and almost 40% of them have the crescent moon symbol at the top. When I ask if they are aware that "Do Not Disturb" mode is enabled, almost no one realizes it was toggled. This is because it is so easy to accidentally tap this in the Control Center.

Many customers are missing calls and texts because of this, or simply think their device is broken because they are unaware what the moon symbol means.

My hope is that Apple either adds a way for iPhone users to understand exactly what Do Not Disturb is, or remove how easy it is to accidentally trigger.

Anyone else work in an industry where you get to see a high volume of iPhones? Are you seeing the same issues.
 
MonstaMash said:
I get to see literally hundreds of iPhones per week at my job, and almost 40% of them have the crescent moon symbol at the top. When I ask if they are aware that "Do Not Disturb" mode is enabled, almost no one realizes it was toggled. This is because it is so easy to accidentally tap this in the Control Center.

Many customers are missing calls and texts because of this, or simply think their device is broken because they are unaware what the moon symbol means.

My hope is that Apple either adds a way for iPhone users to understand exactly what Do Not Disturb is, or remove how easy it is to accidentally trigger.

Anyone else work in an industry where you get to see a high volume of iPhones? Are you seeing the same issues.
Click to expand...

Settings, Do Not Disturb and bam, there's an explanation.
 
My mother's phone had it on for about a day. She didn't know what the hell was going on, other than she kept missing her calls.

There needs to be a popup periodically when DND is on, along with an explanation.

Something like that popup when you setup a new phone, about Spotlight and Rearranging icons.
 
Yeah it's Apple's fault for customers being unaware of the features on their iPhones...
 
If they can't spot the icon and don't know the features of their phones...
The Android o/s is MUCH more complicated.
 
I have never accidentally hit this and it took me maybe 10 seconds to figure out what it does.
 
mjschabow said:
I have never accidentally hit this and it took me maybe 10 seconds to figure out what it does.
Click to expand...
I'm not talking about users on this forum, like me and you, I'm talking about non-technical users, who this affects.

Look at the next couple of iPhones you see in the wild (from non-technical users), and count how many have DND enabled without their knowledge.
 
Richardgm said:
My mother's phone had it on for about a day. She didn't know what the hell was going on, other than she kept missing her calls.

There needs to be a popup periodically when DND is on, along with an explanation.

Something like that popup when you setup a new phone, about Spotlight and Rearranging icons.
Click to expand...

Kinda defeats the whole point of do-not-disturb then. Just like when libraries periodically make announcements reminding the patrons not to talk to maintain a quiet reading environment, never mind that they themselves are disrupting the peace and quiet of the place...:p
 
Abazigal said:
Kinda defeats the whole point of do-not-disturb then. Just like when libraries periodically make announcements reminding the patrons not to talk to maintain a quiet reading environment, never mind that they themselves are disrupting the peace and quiet of the place...:p
Click to expand...


A popup when you unlock the device. Not when the device is sleeping.
 
TC03 said:
I use DND all the time. A pop up would be horrendous.
Click to expand...

Guys, I did say periodically. Meaning if DND appears to be on by mistake the pop up will show.

For example, if DND is on for more than 24 / 48 hours, the user is obviously using the phone, then I think it would be appropriate for there to be a popup while the user unlocks the device.
 
They made it easy to activate for a reason. It's a useful feature and that's why they included it on control center. It's not Apples fault people don't know how to use their device.
 
T5BRICK said:
This is ridiculous. You want a popup to remind users that DND is enabled?? How about educate users on how to use their phones.

http://www.apple.com/support/iphone/
Click to expand...

Yes! I've always had this downloaded on my phones. I seem to remember, once upon a time, this was installed on iPhones by default.

If people were to read this, 75% of the silly "query" type posts on this forum would be avoided!
 
The OP has a point. I've occasionally turned BT off by mistake when closing Control Center, since there's very little space between the row of icons and the inverted caret at the top. Apple could easily add several rows of pixels to separate them so it would be harder to hit one on the buttons inadvertently. Yes, I'm aware that the BT symbol disappears when BT is off, but it's not something I check when I get into my car, which is when I need it the most.

Pop up reminders that DND or another feature is on or off might be overkill for most, but could be helpful as a user selectable option.
 
MonstaMash said:
I get to see literally hundreds of iPhones per week at my job, and almost 40% of them have the crescent moon symbol at the top. When I ask if they are aware that "Do Not Disturb" mode is enabled, almost no one realizes it was toggled. This is because it is so easy to accidentally tap this in the Control Center.

Many customers are missing calls and texts because of this, or simply think their device is broken because they are unaware what the moon symbol means.

My hope is that Apple either adds a way for iPhone users to understand exactly what Do Not Disturb is, or remove how easy it is to accidentally trigger.

Anyone else work in an industry where you get to see a high volume of iPhones? Are you seeing the same issues.
Click to expand...

How can it be accidentally activated? Slide up to activate CC, press home to close it.
 
Jeez, what are people going to complain about next? The Airplane Mode button?

And if you actually do hit DND by accident, there's actually text that pops up on the screen that says "Do Not Disturb: On". It's kinda self explanatory what it does.
 
Almost everywhere in the OS you see the moon at the top if DND is on....... How can this not be noticed? And the argument people don't know what this means is irrelevant, they should inform themselves about their phones.
You just type into Google 'iOS moon' and surprise, there is the answer. That costs about 10s.
 
Well you can't make it harder to turn it on becuase then people who do know what they are doing are going to get mad. But I had a teacher who was complaining becuase she got her first iPhone an iPhone 5c and she was saying she was not getting phone calls or text. That's all I needed to hear I knew she had do not disturb on. I didn't even walk over there I said to swipe up from the button of the screen and make sure the moon was not highlighted. She turned it off and said she had no idea that it even swiped up. But that's the only time I had ever seen someone have a problem with it. But about every 2 weeks at my school I will see some one walking down the hall way with the flash light on. And there was one time I found my flash light on.
 
dannyyankou said:
Jeez, what are people going to complain about next? The Airplane Mode button?
Click to expand...

At least there's a popup telling you you need to disable Airplane Mode if you want to make a call or text.

It's a little too unclear if someone accidentally turns on DND as to what the hell is going on. And as for that moon? My mother didn't even realise "that wasn't there before".
 
A popup is needed. This has nothing to do with educating users. Sometimes, by accident, users enable DND and miss calls. This has happened to both of my parents. It's very simple to implement a pop-up warning system.

+1 to the OP. -1 to everyone else.
 
Control Center toggle for Do Not Disturb is poorly designed

Paddle1 said:
A Pop-Up is disturbing and defeats the purpose of Do Not Disturb.
Click to expand...



DND does not hault system notifications . It stops app push notifications and calls. And I hardly think one popup in a rare circumstance is a disturbance.
 
Last edited:
The half moon icon notifies the user that 'do not disturb' is toggled. If they fail to spot that then they really should be more observant.
Secondly, the fact no calls are coming through should alert them to the fact that their mute switch is depressed, or they're on 'do not disturb'.
I'll say it again, Android phones are a lot more user-unfriendly.
 
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