If you want to block out the never-ending notifications and focus on one thing, the focus mode in iOS 15 proves to be a boon. But what to do When you look at a particular home screen page, can’t help but see various social media apps and suddenly have the urge to check them out? Wouldn’t you feel a little unfocused? Most likely, you would! This is where this nifty hack on how to create and use a custom home screen in Focus can come to your rescue. Let me show you how it works.
Customize Home Screen in Focus Mode in iOS 15
iOS 15 offers a better way to hide home screen pages that you want to keep out of sight when Focus mode is on. So you can concentrate on the task at hand without being distracted by certain home screen pages and control your app usage when you need to focus on one task. For me it’s best to just create a separate page with the necessary apps. For example, if you created Focus for meditation, make a specific home screen page with only meditation-related apps. If you’ve created a custom Focus for business, design a home screen page that contains nothing but your business apps.
If you are wondering how custom home screen pages work in Focus mode, let me tell you that they are like any other page that you can hide or show at any time, depending on the “Focus” you create. Unfortunately, there is no way to create a custom home screen page that only opens when you enable a Focus mode on your iOS device. For a more simplified experience, you can also set up a “Focus with Siri” shortcut, which we’ll detail later. Having said that, let’s get started with the guide!
Create Custom Home Pages for Different Focus Modes
Create custom home screen pages for different Focus profiles like reading, mediation, business, personal and more to get started. Simply long press an empty area of the screen to enter shake mode and then move all your preferred apps to a clean screen. It’s that simple. You can also move apps from the App Library to a new home screen page to create a custom home screen.
Set Custom Home Pages for Different Focus Modes
Now that you have created custom home screen pages, set them up for different Focus profiles.
- Go to the Focus option via the Settings app and then click a Focus.
Note: If you haven’t created a Focus yet, or if you want to create a home screen page for a new one, you can easily create a custom Focus. Just tap on the “+” Press the (Settings -> Focus) button in the upper right corner of the screen and then customize the Focus according to your needs.
- Now select Home Screen located under the Options section and then Special Pages choice.
- Here you will see thumbnails of all your home screen pages. Once the focus mode is enabled, select what you want to show and then tap Done in the upper right corner of the screen to finish.
It’s worth noting that you can repeat the same steps to enable custom home screen pages for other Focus mods as well.
How to Remove Custom Home Screen Pages
If you want to remove any home screen page or add a new one, here is what you need to do:
- Go to the Focus option via the Settings app.
- Choose your focus and then select the Home Screen option.
- Under the Special Pages option you will see the Edit Pages option. Tap on it to make the necessary changes.
Once all this is done, you can easily enable Focus mode via Control Center. For that, swipe up from the bottom of the screen (on iPhones older than iPhone X) or swipe down from the top-right corner of the screen to bring up the Control Center. Tap Focus then specific Focus to turn it on/off. Only your custom home screen page will appear during the time focus mode is enabled.
Additionally, you can take advantage of the Smart Activation feature to automatically activate a specific Focus mode at relevant times based on time, location or app. For this,
- Open the Settings app to navigate to the Focus section to select the preferred Focus.
- Select the Smart Activation option. After that, tap the “+” button on the left of the screen. Add Program or Automation and then customize.
Create Siri Shortcuts for Different Focus Modes in iOS 15
While the usual methods are fine, you can create shortcuts to turn certain Focus modes off/on and even switch between them easily. This nifty trick requires you to make a shortcut for each of your Focus modes for quick activation. Additionally, you will need to create another shortcut to turn off any Focus and return to the home screen.
How to Create a Shortcut to Activate Focus Mode
- Hungry Tap the Shortcuts app on your iOS device, then tap the “+” button in the top-right corner of the screen.
- Now give the shortcut a suitable name and then Add Action choice. After that, type Focus in the search bar and select Set Focus, which shows the following Script.
- Now, choose Closed The option inside the action box to open the action until it is turned off. Next, tap on Focus option is available in the same action box.
- Then select the Focus where you want to apply the shortcut.
- Next, you can add an appropriate icon to the shortcut for a more personalized look. Tap the icon to the left of the shortcut name and then select an icon from it. glyph Episode. There is also an option to change the color of the shortcut icon. Tap the Color tab and then choose a matching color. After customizing your shortcut, Completed in the upper right.
You can also add this shortcut to the home screen for easy access. To do this,
- Tap the Share button at the bottom and select “Add to Home Screen” on the share page.
- Next, tap the Add option in the upper right corner of the screen.
Now that you have created a shortcut for a Focus on your iOS device, you can make copies for the same one to have it available on another home screen page or a specific Focus page. Open the Shortcuts app -> Tap the three dots in the upper right corner of the shortcut -> Select the Share button -> Add to home screen to create a copy. Make sure you move the shortcut to the home screen page you want to use. Depending on your needs, you can create as many shortcuts as you need for other Focus modes by following the same steps outlined above.
How to Create a Shortcut to Disable Focus Mode
Now we will create a shortcut to disable any Focus mode and quickly go to the home screen.
- Go to the Shortcuts app on your iOS device, tap the “+” icon, name the shortcut, then tap on it. Add Action.
- Now, type Focus in the search bar and then Set Focus.
- This newly created shortcut will now turn off any Focus by default. Then add it to the home screen so you can easily disable the Focus mode by following these steps from the previous section.
Make sure to make copies for the same shortcut so you can access it from another home screen page or a specific Focus page. After that, move the shortcut icon to the home screen page you want to use.
Change Home Screen with Focus Shortcuts
After customizing your Siri shortcuts to enable or disable Focus mode, all you have to do is tap the Focus shortcut icon to take action. Pretty useful, right?
For added convenience, I recommend creating shortcuts for all Focus modes and moving them all to your home screen and custom home screen pages. It not only helps you to activate Focus mode quickly, but also allows you to conveniently switch between different Focus modes. Also, make sure there is a shortcut on each of the special pages to turn off Focus mode.
Once you have everything set up, you can change your custom home screen Focus pages by tapping the shortcut. As mentioned above, only the pages you select will appear when a particular Focus mode is active. And if you want to disable the selected Focus, tap the “My Home Screen” shortcut (or the one you created to disable Focus). Check out the GIF!
Tips for Customizing the Focus Mode Home Screen in iOS 15
So you can create and use custom iOS 15 home screen pages for different Focus modes. Ever since I came across this nice trick, I’ve been using it to keep unwanted home screen pages out of sight. So far, it’s worked pretty well for me.
Let us know what you think of this feature in the comment section below.