The iOS 10 Feature No One is Talking About

Image showing iOS contacts app icon

Have you ever longed for better control over your Do Not Disturb settings on your iOS device? Have you ever missed an important phone call or text message because your phone was on Do Not Disturb and/or Silent? If you answered “yes” to either of the questions above, then iOS 10 has a feature you will love!

It’s called Emergency Bypass, and you will not find it in your Do Not Disturb settings. Instead, it is done on a contact by contact basis. You can choose to set Emergency Bypass for when a contact calls, messages, or both. If this option is set, your phone will alert you even if it is on silent or Do Not Disturb. Yes, it will play sound and vibrate, while all other calls and messages are silenced.

To set up emergency bypass:

  1. Navigate to the contacts app, or the contacts tab in the Phone app, and locate a contact for whom this feature is needed.
  2. Tap on the contacts name and tap edit at the top right of the screen.
  3. Locate the Ringtone and/or Text Tone field, and tap on it as if to change the tone.
  4. The first option on this screen will be “Emergency Bypass.” Tap the switch to enable this option.
  5. Tap Done at the top right of the screen.
  6. Now on this screen, you should notice, the option you chose to enable Emergency Bypass for should now say “Emergency Bypass on.” For example: Ringtone: Emergency Bypass On or Text Tone: Emergency Bypass On.
  7. Tap done at the top right of this screen.
  8. Repeat the steps above for any additional contacts you wish to add.

It’s surprising that this feature has not been covered by the media, but we sincerely hope this feature means you never miss another urgent phone call or message due to Do Not Disturb. Enjoy, and please share this post to let others know about this important feature!

Quick Tip: Bypass iOS Wi-Fi requirement

Personal Hotspot icon

There are some occasions where you might want to download something on your iOS device but you are told that you must have a Wi-Fi connection. Here is how you can get around this obstacle. Just remember though that this will take up your data plan but if you are wanting to try this then you probably realize this. Here is what you will need to do this.

Requirements

  1. You need an iPhone that has the personal Hotspot feature enabled
  2. A Mac running a newer version of OS X or Mac OS.
  3. A Lightning Cable

Instructions

To use your iPhone to download items that require Wi-Fi, do the following.

  1. make sure Bluetooth and Wi-Fi are turned off.
  2. Connect your Phone to your Mac using a lightning cable.
  3. Turn Personal Hotspot on and select USB Only
  4. In yourMac’s menu bar, turn Wi-Fi off.
  5. You may need to go to Network settings under System Preferences and enable iPhone USB.
  6. Go to System Preferences and then to Sharing.
  7. Select the iPhone USB in Source, and Wi-Fi under, “to computers with.”
  8. Find the checkbook under the sharing table and check share Internet connection to start the connection.
  9. You can now connect to your Mac with your iPhone over Wi-Fi and it will think it is getting Internet from your Mac.

This is a great process for using your phone with your Mac to download any content that would require a Wi-Fi connection. You can also do this with a Windows PC if you create an Ad Hoc connection as well.

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