How to Work with Do Not Disturb

1 Activate Do Not Disturb

Open Settings and tap Do Not Disturb, which is the last item in the second group down. Use the topmost switch to turn on the feature right away; on most iOS devices, a crescent moon is shown in the status bar when Do Not Disturb is active.

2 Schedule quiet time

You can turn on Do Not Disturb from Control Centre by tapping the button that shows a moon icon. You can also have it activate automatically during certain hours: turn on the Scheduled switch and then tap the From/To box just below it.

3 Turn it on

A pair of rotating dials will appear, on which you can swipe up or down to set an hour and minute. The From row will be selected already; use the dials to set the time at which Do Not Disturb will turn itself on automatically.

4 Turn it off

Tap the To row and set the time that you want Do Not Disturb to switch itself off. At that time, your device will return to its usual self, flashing up notifications and calls and playing sounds according to your choices in Settings > Notifications.

5 Tweak the silence

Go back to the top level of Do Not Disturb’s settings. The Silence item offers a choice: you can have Do Not Disturb silence all alerts, or only when your device is locked; so, they’ll play when your attention is on the screen, say.

6 Allow repeated calls

You may have some people who you always need to be able to get through – your kids or boss, say. Turn on Repeated Calls to allow a second call from the same person to get through if it comes within three minutes of the first one.