Stay Focused With New ‘Do Not Disturb’ Mode

Do you have a “No smartphone rule” when you need some quiet time? With the new HTC One max and Sense 5.5 you don’t have to completely turn off your phone or hide it in your drawer for a period of Zen. Just follow these tips for when you don’t want to deal with calls, messages, and various alerts.

Switch on “Do not disturb” mode

Ward off interruptions during an important meeting or when it’s bedtime. Sense 5.5 and the HTC One max introduce “Do not disturb” mode, which lets you automatically reject calls and mute other notifications.

You can turn on the Do not disturb option by either going to “Settings” > “Sound” or by swiping down the status bar with two fingers to open the Quick settings panel. While in Do not disturb mode, you won’t receive any incoming calls and you also won’t hear audible notifications. The data connection will remain active.

You can choose to automatically return to normal mode by tapping “Auto turn off” and setting a specific time. If certain VIPs need to get through to you, tap “Do not disturb exceptions” and then select the contacts or contact groups that will be allowed to bypass the mode. To make sure that alarms will still play, tick the “Alarm & timer” option.

Block calls and messages

But what if you just want to avoid certain contacts, such as a pesky sales agent? To block specific persons from calling you, go to the People (Contacts) app, press and hold a contact, and then tap “Block contact”. Calls from these contacts will be automatically rejected.

There’s also a slush pile for messages you don’t want to receive (SMS and MMS from blocked callers also go here). In the Messages app, press and hold the sender, and then tap “Block contact”. If you want to check what’s in your unwanted messages folder, on the Messages screen, tap the down arrow and then select “Block”.

Schedule data time off

Want to disconnect from the Internet during off-peak hours? Starting from Sense 5.5, you can manually schedule your phone to drop the data connection during a specific period of the day. In Settings, tap “Power” > “Sleep Mode”. If Sleep mode is currently selected, turn it off for a while and then also disable “Learn sleep mode automatically”. Under “Manually set sleep time”, select the start and end time for disabling data connection, and then switch back Sleep mode on.

Sleep mode takes effect after the screen has been off for 15 minutes and there are no items downloaded or streamed and data used. This option helps conserve power and data usage as well. The data connection resumes once the screen is turned on again.

What’s the biggest distraction you want to avoid in your everyday life? Share your own tips on how your HTC phone helps you overcome it.

The post Stay Focused With New ‘Do Not Disturb’ Mode appeared first on HTC Blog.

by Raymond Calbay via HTC Blog