What exactly is Focus Mode on the iPhone?

The application ecosystem is the one of the main anchors of a smartphone. Huawei’s smartphones are not so attractive outside China because of lack of apps. Smartphone users are increasingly installing apps for one purpose or another. For this reason, most users find it difficult to effectively manage the apps on their smartphones. The new Apple Focus Mode is a feature that makes things easier. iPhones does not have a gaming mode probably because it has confidence in its hardware and software. However, most Android smartphones come with gaming mode. This mode usually works by managing resources and using them for gaming. Android game mode can also block calls, block notifications and make gaming exclusive. These are all very practical features that comes with game mode but Apple did not follow the trend. At least, not conventionally. 

In fact, Apple has been thinking about this for a long time. What we know as Focus Mode incorporates many game mode features. On Focus Mode, users can set up an exclusive page for games. They can also hide this page to avoid from affecting the layout and use of the normal main interface. When we do this step, we have ushered in the very critical “focus mode” setting. We can set a separate “game mode” in focus mode. In this mode, we set to show only the game desktop that is hidden by us.

Focus Mode brings decent operations

Focus mode can also block notifications and incoming calls. Users can decide to select the application notification that they need. In fact, we can permit incoming calls from specific numbers. After completing a series of settings, it will surprise us to know that we can game mode features in through the focus mode. We ca use certain Focus Mode settings to enjoy “off-duty mode”. This mode goes beyond just blocking calls or restricting messages. 

For example, when you meet your girlfriend, you can turn on the “love mode” to automatically hide all sensitive application pages. You can set the timer for the “love mode” to activate so all sensitive pages automatically hides. There is an automatic operation that makes the focus mode smarter. When we get home from get off work and enjoy the time off work, while turning on the “off work mode”, automatic operations help us turn on the air conditioner, close the curtains, and turn on the TV. To put it simply, the off-duty mode is automatically turned on when you get home. Similarly, when you step out of the home, the off-duty mode automatically turns off .

After so many years, Android still can’t do “focus mode” well

At this point, let us also talk about the “focus mode” of Android. In the first half of 2019, OnePlus added a “Meditation Mode” to its “Hydrogen OS”. The purpose is to allow consumers to better leave their mobile phones and enjoy life. Also, it is to encourage users to focus on the meditation mode. More importantly, it prevents users from staying up until two or three o’clock because the phone takes up the whole day, especially at night.

The original intention of this function is good, and the market feedback is also very good. Many users say that they can concentrate more on work and study, and can also avoid staying up late at night.

But the problem is that once the “Meditation Mode” of OnePlus is on, users can only make emergency calls and answer incoming calls. Today, the “Meditation Mode” has also disappeared from the OnePlus phone with the decline of the HydrogenOS. It can’t help but make people feel embarrassed. We complain, but the function is indeed a good function but it has a couple of lapses.

In addition to OnePlus, there are several other Android manufacturers that has made good attempts. However, most of these options has some serious lapses. There is one that put the smartphone into automatic flight mode after locking the screen. Bamuda’s mobile phone screen automatically mutes notifications, focusing on work. Although they all have their own characteristics, they are all a function of treating the symptoms rather than the root cause. These are far inferior to the “meditation mode” of OnePlus. After so many years, Apple now has a new Focus Mode and it does it better. 

Apple does it better

The option of automatically disabling smartphones is just like learning for elementary school students. You don’t need to care about what you want to learn, and you can’t learn if you don’t want to learn. How to improve your self-control is the foundation of everything. Smartphones bring distractions but this doesn’t mean users do not need some information. Apple’s Focus Mode give users the option of choosing what to deactivate. This mode is so specific that it completely defeats any previous option in the market. 

In Apple’s eyes, mobile phones have long been an inseparable product. Since you can’t refuse, enjoy it. Therefore, Apple divided the modes required for various time periods and launched the function of “focus mode” to better integrate mobile phones into life, subdivide usage scenarios, and provide greater convenience. The only problem with Focus Mode is the “learning cost”. I personally think the learning cost of “focus mode” is too high. In today’s impetuous society, many users do not have so much time to learn the use of a new function. If you have time to think about it, the “focus mode” will definitely help you a lot.