How to Silence Your iPhone at Night — But Still Let Family Calls Through

Remember when the telephone sat on a little table in the hallway, and at night you simply walked past it? If it rang at 2 a.m., something was probably wrong — and you'd want to know.

Your iPhone can work the same way. You can tell it to stay quiet all night long, but make an exception for the people who matter. That way you sleep through the spam calls and still hear your daughter if she truly needs you.

Here's how to set it up. It takes about three minutes, and you only have to do it once.

Turning on "Do Not Disturb"

"Do Not Disturb" is the iPhone's name for quiet mode. When it's on, calls and text alerts won't ring or buzz — they'll just wait silently until morning.

1. Open the **Settings** app (the gray icon with gears). 2. Scroll down and tap **Focus**. 3. Tap **Do Not Disturb**.

You're now on the page where you tell your phone how to behave when it's in quiet mode. Think of this as writing the instructions you'd leave for a house-sitter.

Setting it to turn on every night

You don't want to remember to flip this switch each evening. Let the phone do it.

On that same Do Not Disturb page, scroll down to **Set a Schedule** and tap **Add Schedule**, then choose **Time**.

Pick the hours you want quiet — say, 10:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. Tap the days of the week you want it to repeat (most people pick every day). Then tap **Done**.

From now on, your phone will hush itself at 10 each night and wake back up at 7 each morning. You don't have to do a thing.

Letting the important people through

This is the part that brings peace of mind. You can name specific people whose calls will *always* ring through, even during quiet hours.

Back on the Do Not Disturb page, look for **People** near the top and tap it. Make sure **Allow Notifications From** is selected (not "Silence Notifications From"). Then tap **Add People** and choose the family members or close friends you'd want to hear from in an emergency.

There's one more helpful setting just below: **Allow Repeated Calls**. Turn this on. It means that if anyone — even a stranger — calls you twice within three minutes, the second call will ring through. That's a sensible safety net. A real emergency caller will try again. A robocall won't.

What it looks like when it's working

When Do Not Disturb is on, you'll see a small crescent moon symbol at the top of your screen, or on the lock screen when you wake the phone. That's your sign that the phone is in night mode.

Calls you missed during the night will still be there in the morning — in your **Recents** list under the Phone app, and in your voicemail. Nothing gets lost. The phone just held the messages quietly, the way the answering machine used to.

One thing to try today

Open Settings, go to Focus, then Do Not Disturb, and set a schedule for tonight — say, 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. Then add one or two family members under "People" so their calls will always come through.

Tonight, set the phone on your nightstand as usual. If it stays quiet, it's working. And if you hear it ring, you'll know it's someone who matters.

Need a hand with your technology? We're here to help. Give PorchSwing a call or book an appointment, and we'll walk you through it at your own pace — no rush, no jargon.