You probably want a some people to reach you even when your iPhone’s Do Not Disturb is on. You can easily set your Phone app’s Favorites to have this privilege, but it might not be the most efficient method. Each entry in your Favorites can hold only one phone number. So if one person has two numbers (for example, a mobile and land line), then you need two entries in your Favorites. This can quickly clutter your Favorites list.
There is a better way: Create a Contact Group and then allow calls from the group.
Doing this allows any phone number from that contact to call through. No more separate entries from cell and land line numbers. And adding a new contact to the group at any time means that contact can reach you even when Do Not Disturb is on.
The only catch here is that you cannot create Contact Groups on your iPhone. Sigh!
The setup process is not too difficult. You can use the Contacts app on your Mac or you can use the web-based iCloud.
Using Your Mac
- Open the Contacts app.
- Click the File pull-down menu from the Task Bar.
- Click New Group.
- Type the name of your new group. I chose to use “DND Allow”.
- Drag and drop individual contacts from All Contacts to your new group.
Using iCloud
- Log into your iCloud.com account using your web browser.
- Click or tap into the Contacts app.
- Click the plus (+) symbol at the bottom of the left pane.
- Click New Group.
- Type the name of your new Contact Group. I chose to use “DND Allow”.
- Drag and drop individual contacts from All Contacts to your new group.
Remember: You will need to maintain the Contacts in this group using iCloud.com or your Mac.
Configure Do Not Disturb on Your iPhone
- Open the Settings app.
- Swipe down and tap on Do Not Disturb.
- Swipe down to Phone and tap Allow Calls From.
- Under Groups find your new Contact Group and tap it. A checkmark should appear to the right.
That should do it. Best of luck!