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Stop the buzzing and beeping: How to set up quiet hours for iPhone, Android, PC and Mac
You are connected to everything and everywhere between your smartphone, smartwatch, laptop and tablet. Tap or click here for 10 handy tech tips you’ll use over and over.
This can be an absolute lifesaver if you forget something or need access to the internet, but what if you need complete silence and someone is trying to get in touch with you? Loud notifications might suddenly attack you in every direction if you have multiple gadgets.
Save yourself a headache and unnecessary interruptions by putting your devices in quiet mode. Here’s how to set up quiet hours on your gadgets, no matter what you own.
How to set up quiet hours
You may already know about the Do Not Disturb tool. This tells your device not to bother you when it’s enabled. But if you want to keep your phone quiet during set hours, you can. Just set up quiet hours in the Do Not Disturb feature.
When you set up quiet hours, you tell your devices to be quiet for a set amount of time, no matter the activity. These hours will repeat daily for whatever activity is important, whether bedtime, the gym or family time. Here’s how to set it up for your gadgets:
Apple iPhone
You can schedule quiet hours on your iPhone and set up sleep schedules in the Health app to track how much rest you are getting.
Quiet hours on iPhone
- Open Settings > Focus and turn on Do Not Disturb.
- Tap Add Schedule or Automation at the bottom of the screen.
- Tap Time and set the values for From and To for when you don’t want to be disturbed.
- It defaults to Every day, but you can set up individual days under the Repeat section.
- Tap Done.
Setting sleep schedules in the Health app
- Open the Health app.
- Tap Browse at the bottom right of the screen.
- Tap Sleep.
- Scroll down and tap Get Started. This is below Set Up Sleep.
- Follow the onscreen instructions.
Once you’ve set up your recurring schedule, you can do much in the Health app. You can set different schedules for weekdays and weekends or modify them later if your life changes. Tap or click here to enable and use the health features on your Apple Watch.
Android devices
While Android phones don’t have the Health app, you still have options to create a set time not to be disturbed by your phone.
You can do this by adding a rule. It is important to note that the general instructions can vary by phone manufacturer, so it’s important to double-check with your phone’s manual if you can’t find the options listed. Tap or click here for thousands of free online user manuals.
- Open Settings.
- Tap Sound & Vibration.
- Choose Do Not Disturb.
- Turn on automatically.
- Tap Add Rule.
- Choose Time.
- Enter the name of your rule, the status you want, and your choices for alarm override.
- Check that your rule is turned on at the top of the screen.
Quiet times on your PC
It’s not just your phone that sends you updates. Your PC can be pretty nosy depending on what apps you have running or what notifications you have chosen to turn on. Thankfully, like Android and iPhone, you can create quiet hours for your PC.
In Windows 10, this feature is called Focus Assist.
With Focus assist, you choose which notifications you want to see and hear to stay focused. The rest will go straight to the action center, where you can see them any time. Here’s how to set it up:
- Type Focus Assist in the search box in the lower-left corner of your screen and select Focus assist.
- Choose an option: Off, Priority only, or Alarms. (NOTE: The Priority only setting means you will only see selected notifications from the priority list.)
- Next, scroll down to Automatic rules.
- Slide the toggle next to During these times to the right to enable Automatic rules.
- Next, click the During these times section and another window opens where you choose when you want Focus assist to turn on. You can select Daily, Weekends or Weekdays. Then choose the start and end times.
For Mac
Similar to other platforms, you can adjust notifications on Mac based on various settings. You can choose to schedule quiet hours based on your sleep or work schedule or adjust based on what you are doing on your computer.
- Click on the Apple on the top left-hand corner of your screen.
- Choose System Preferences.
- Click Notifications.
- Choose Do Not Disturb on the top of the sidebar.
- Choose options to schedule when you want notifications to be silenced.
- You can choose to schedule based on a set time period, like nighttime or when the screen is locked.
Curious about other features on your Mac? Tap or click here for 10 Mac settings you should be using.
Tags: Android, Apple, Apple Mac, apps, Do Not Disturb, Focus Assist, gadgets, Health app, internet, laptop, Microsoft Windows 10, notifications, preferences, smartphones, smartwatch, tablet, tips and tricks
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