Why this 3-year-old iOS feature is one of my favorite things about the iPhone

Apple’s latest software update for the iPhone — iOS 18 — is a big deal. Between more customizable home screens, a huge Control Center update, and all of the new Apple Intelligence features, this year’s iOS update has a lot to like.

However, as I’ve been using my iPhone 16 over the last few weeks, I’ve realized that one of the iOS features I use the most has nothing to do with the iOS 18 update. Instead, it’s an iOS feature that was introduced over three years ago and remains one of my favorite iPhone features year after year. Yes, I’m talking about Focus modes.

How I use Focus on my iPhone

Joe Maring / Digital Trends

Apple introduced Focus modes to the iPhone as part of its iOS 15 update in 2021. The idea behind them is simple: You can use different Focus modes depending on what you’re doing throughout the day. For example, you may have a Gaming Focus mode, a Reading one, a Vacation one, etc.

You can have multiple Focus modes and customize them however you want. There’s no right or wrong way to use Focus modes, but after religiously using the feature for the last three years, I’ve found a method that works perfectly for how I use my iPhone.

What is it? My Work Focus mode is automatically enabled between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. every weekday. While it’s on, I only receive notifications from three contacts (my partner and my parents), and I only allow notifications from a select handful of apps — including Microsoft Teams, Outlook, and my banking apps. So far, pretty simple stuff. However, the real magic of my Work Focus is how it changes my iPhone home screen.

Joe Maring / Digital Trends

Once my Work Focus kicks on, my iPhone home screen changes completely. Instead of my usual home screens filled with time-wasting apps like NFL Fantasy, Letterboxd, and Duolingo, it’s replaced with a single home screen dedicated to my job.

I have eight apps (Teams, Asana, Parse.ly, Apple News, Notes, Feedly, Authy, and X/Twitter) on my single work-focused home screen, plus two widgets, with one showing my daily reminders. I also have a clock widget showing the various time zones in which different Digital Trends employees/contributors are located.

My Work Focus home screen (left) and my “normal” home screen Joe Maring / Digital Trends

Apple has allowed you to tie home screens to Focus modes since the feature’s introduction over three years ago, and if you ask me, it’s the single best part of using Focus modes on iOS. Having my work apps/widgets right where I need them during the workday is fantastic, and once the clock strikes five, my iPhone returns to the usual, non-work-centric setup I prefer when I’m off the clock.

It’s such a simple thing, but I also find it invaluable. When it’s worktime, I can look at my phone and have immediate access to work messages, emails, etc. When it’s time to log off for the day, all of my work apps disappear, and my home screen again shows all my favorite non-work apps. It’s great.

Android doesn’t have anything like it

Andy Boxall / Digital Trends

Some Android phone manufacturers have tried to copy Apple’s Focus modes over the years, but annoyingly, none of them have copied the part I find most useful.

Samsung, for example, has a Modes feature that, at least visually, looks like it was pulled straight from iOS. You can customize notification preferences during Modes and associate specific wallpapers with them. However, you cannot link a Mode to a customized home screen.

OnePlus finds itself in a similar boat. OnePlus phones have a Zen Space app that allows you to set up “spaces” with allowed applications and customized wallpapers/backgrounds you see while a space is active. Once again, however, these can’t be tied with home screen layouts.

Frankly, it’s shocking that no one in the Android space has yet to copy this. So many Android phones try to have their own version of iOS Focus modes, but they forget to add the one aspect that makes it so useful to me.

Still one of my favorite iOS features

Joe Maring / Digital Trends

I don’t actively think about Focus modes when I use my iPhone throughout the day. When I’m working, I have my work home screen. When I’m not, I have my “normal” home screen setup. It all works flawlessly in the background without fail, so it’s not something I pay much attention to.

That can make Focus modes not all that exciting to talk about, but I think that’s precisely why they’re such a helpful feature. I spent about 20 minutes configuring my Work focus how I wanted three years ago when my iPhone got iOS 15, and ever since then, it’s been an integral part of how I use my iPhone each and every day.

This is the type of feature I hope to see more of from Apple. The company is throwing a lot at the wall right now with Apple Intelligence — be it Writing Tools, Genmoji, or something else. Not all of this is going to stick, but I hope this rush of new AI features leads to something as practical and functional as Focus modes. All these years later, it remains one of my favorite things about my iPhone.