So there you are, doing your best to connect with a friend over a cup of coffee, but you can’t help but notice the pulsing alert on your phone’s touchscreen. What if it’s your babysitter trying to reach you, or a nasty email from your boss?
You surreptitiously unlock your phone to see what the fuss is about—and just like that, you become one of those people who can’t keep their hands off their handsets, even when there’s a flesh-and-blood person in front of them. (Oh, and that message on the screen? It was a promo for a half-off sale. Great.)
The good news is that your Android phone or iPhone boasts a series of tools that can help you concentrate on the people who matter, rather than being distracted by random calls, messages and alerts.
Read on for four ways to keep your eyes and hands off your phone, starting with...
Sure, activating Do Not Disturb mode for iPhone and iPad (tap Settings > Do Not Disturb, or tap the Do Not Disturb button from the swipe-up Command Center pane) or “Priority” mode on Android (click the volume button, then tap Priority) is a great way to keep your phone from buzzing during lunch, but you may still find yourself tempted to check your messages. After all, what if your spouse is trying to reach you—or your irate supervisor, for that matter?
You can set “Do Not Disturb” and “Priority” mode (pictured) to screen your calls and text messages, allowing only the most important ones through.
Here’s a trick that’ll help keep your mind on your Caesar salad: just set Do Not Disturb and Priority mode to screen your calls and text messages, allowing only the most important ones through. That way, you’ll be confident that your silent Android phone or iPhone isn’t actually ringing off the hook with mission-critical calls, and more likely to pay attention during your lunchtime chat.
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For iOS:
There’s little chance you’ll get through an important meeting without glancing at your iPhone if your screen is constantly flashing with alerts for new email messages. Luckily, the iOS Mail app has a feature that can ease your email notification overload.
Mail’s “VIP” alerts give you separate notifications for your most important email contacts.
Mail’s 'VIP' alerts give you separate notifications for your most important email contacts, perfect for leaving you alone unless a message from a close friend or someone in upper management lands in your inbox.
Open the Mail app, back up to the main Mailboxes screen, tap the VIP mailbox, then tap Add VIP to add a contact to your VIP list. Once you’ve added some names to the list, tap VIP Alerts to manage your VIP notifications. You could, for example, give messages from VIPs a special ringtone or a custom vibration when they arrive in your inbox, or allow VIP alerts—and only VIP alerts—to light up your lock screen.
While iOS’s Mail app will let you pick and choose your VIPs, Gmail has its own secret formula for determining which messages are most important to you.
Gmail’s Priority Inbox sifts through your incoming messages finds the email that you’re most likely to want to answer.
Using your prior emailing habits as a guide, Gmail’s Priority Inbox sifts through your incoming messages, finds the email that you’re most likely to answer, and puts them into an “Important and unread” folder. Everything else (such as random email promos, newsletters, and other lower-priority messages) goes into the aptly-named “everything else” section of your inbox.
Once that’s done, you can set Gmail to alert you only when new messages land in your Priority Inbox—and hopefully, you’ll feel better about leaving your silenced phone alone.
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So, you’re in a meeting, your phone is sitting dutifully—and silently—on the table in front of you, and you’re giving your colleagues your full attention. But then it happens: Your phone’s lock screen lights up, and your eyes can’t help but flick down to the display ... which is nothing more than a random Facebook update.
It’s easy to pare your lock-screen notifications down to an absolute minimum—or off completely.
Luckily, it’s easy to pare your lock-screen notifications down to an absolute minimum—or turn them off completely, even when you don’t have Do Not Disturb or Priority mode switched on.
For Android:
For iOS:
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