You may be familiar with Focus mode, which includes functions such as Do Not Disturb, your sleep schedule and Do Not Disturb While Driving. But did you know that you can also link such a Focus mode to a lock screen, home screens and even an Apple Watch dial? This allows you to personalize your iPhone, iPad or Apple Watch even more, with the apps you need during the specific Focus mode.
There may be several reasons why you want to link a different lock screen, home screen or Apple Watch dial to a Focus. If you often go to Do Not Disturb, you may want a wallpaper on your iPhone that is less distracting. Or you only want the much-needed apps on your home screen, to avoid being tempted to open Instagram or TikTok during Do Not Disturb. For your Apple Watch, it can be useful to link an exercise watch face to an Exercise focus.
Link access screen to Focus mode
You can link one of your lock screens to a Focus mode in two ways. You can do this directly via editing a lock screen, but also via the settings of a Focus. Also read our tip about customizing your lock screen.
Link focus to specific lock screen
- Open the Lock screen and touch it to change.
- Choose the lock screen you want to link a Focus to or create a new one.
- Tap the Focus button at the bottom of the screen.
- Under Link focus, choose a focus mode.
As soon as you activate this focus, the corresponding lock screen will also become active with the desired theme, font and the chosen widgets.
Choose access screen for specific Focus
You can also follow these steps for the same result:
- Go to Settings > Focus and choose the Focus for which you want to set a lock screen.
- Under the heading Customize screens, tap the left silhouette of the lock screen.
- Create a new lock screen or choose one of your existing ones to link to it.
As soon as you activate the relevant focus, the set lock screen becomes active. The reverse also applies: if you switch to an access screen to which a Focus is linked, this Focus becomes active.
Link home screens to Focus
You can also choose which home screens should be visible for a specific focus. It is wise to first create a home screen with the apps you want. You can place multiple copies of the same app on a home screen, so that you can use an app on multiple home screens. Once you have created a home screen that you only want to see with a specific Focus, you can hide this home screen by default.
To create a separate home screen:
- Press and hold on an empty spot on the home screen and scroll all the way to the back to a new blank home screen.
- Move the apps you want to use on this home screen. If you do not want to affect the original position of your apps on your existing home screens, first go to the app library and drag a second copy of the app from there to the new home screen to be created.
- Then tap the three dots at the bottom while you are still in editing mode. Then uncheck the home screen you just created.
- Exit editing mode and go to Settings > Focus and choose the focus you want to create custom home screens for.
- Under the heading Customize screens, tap the middle silhouette.
- Now check the newly created new home screen to show during focus. You can also check several or create a new one immediately.
- Tap Done to save your edits.
As soon as you activate the Focus in question, your iPhone’s home screen will change to the one you set. The apps that are not currently visible can still be opened via the app library or Spotlight. But they are no longer so prominently visible.
If you want to set up multiple separate home screens for a specific Focus, simply repeat the steps above.
Link Apple Watch face to Focus
- On your iPhone, go to Settings > Focus.
- Choose the focus for which you want to adjust the dial.
- Under the heading Customize screens, choose the watch face for your Apple Watch.
- Under the heading Set a schedule, choose when Focus mode will become active.
Would you like to read more about the Focus mode and all its options? Then check out our guide. Also read our other tips about this useful function:
- Focus: everything about this useful feature
- Focus filters on iPhone, iPad and Mac: this is how you use them
- Expand focus further with automations in the Assignments app: this is how you do it
- This way you can set a Do Not Disturb schedule per day
- Enable Do Not Disturb While Driving with Driving focus
