Apple really intends you to use Control Center for this. Perhaps they should add text to the Settings to say this, though.
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Excellent links, @ddmiller , thanks!
Interestingly enough, to the semantics of the topic, is that the English version of that page refers to ‘on or off’, while the link in the local page where I’m living refers to ‘activate or deactivate’.
In practice, the latter is more accurate to what is actually happening.
I’m just saying, it would be nicer if Apple was more precise with their language and really offer users ability to turn things they don’t want or use fully off and not turn them back on during update/upgrades. In the case of Focus, it’s clearly ‘always on’, as you can see in foreign language and actual implementation on the provided links.
Anyway, back to the OP, and speaking of accuracy, maybe I should say it’s not that I don’t like Focus, it’s just not useful for me and I would find it more respectful of customers if Apple allowed us to really turn this off and remove it from Control Center.
My feeling is that I prefer to have the option to use or not use something, rather than a radically stripped down yet premium priced product (for those into outdoors gear, the Patagonia Effect ha ha). For me, options have intrinsic value and a major reason why I have an iPhone, not a flip phone.
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In Tahoe, it’s easy enough to hide. You can turn off almost any System menu bar icon (including Focus). You can also have the Focus icon appear only when a Focus is active. So, if you’re confused by Focus, just upgrade to Tahoe 
Very interesting thread! I had originally ignored Focuses since it was released, other than creating a new “Sleeping” focus that I was able to get to work better than apples “Sleep,” which seemed to necessitate buying in to Apple’s whole “Sleep” routine, which I don’t want.
But about a month ago I decided to explore it a bit — and have ended up diving in the deep end, as it were. My iPad, iPhone, and two Macs all synchronize my current focus, and I have my phone’s Action Button set to bring up a full list of my focuses to choose from.
My phone and iPad both have restricted home screens devoted to the apps and widgets that I most want to see/use when in a particular mode — and even have different wallpapers (simple graduated colors) so that I can tell at a glance what mode I’m in. (I wish those were easier to accomplish on the Mac, but will investigate Keyboard Maestro’s abilities in that area soon.)
For some modes, I restrict notifications entirely or selectively — by app and/or by contact; but mostly I’m using the modes to control the sheer quantity of apps and widgets available to me: not so much to keep me focused as just to provide handier access.
I have about a dozen modes, including:
- driving/errands
- gardening/lawn-care
- researching
- writing
- performing/rehearsing music
- winding-down (end-of-day)
- sleeping
- meal prep
I’m still getting some of the kinks out, but it’s working quite well and has definitely saved me a little time and a lot of on-going mental navigation. I wish Apple made it easier to apply some of these concepts on the Mac, but so far it’s a big success on my other devices.
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Yes, I have another one called “Dinner”, but really its sole purpose is to change my watch face to one with a very prominent timer complication. While using Siri to set timers on the watch is very reliable, sometimes while I’m cooking I have multiple timers running, so it’s good to have a quick way to see them.
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I don’t mind being able to turn on Do Not Disturb or set up recurring Focus for specific times or events. However, I detest that it sometimes activates unexpectedly. I’ve tried disabling any feature that could cause this, and perhaps I’ve finally resolved the issue since it hasn’t occurred in a while. It was quite frustrating to wonder why I wasn’t receiving any alerts for texts or other notifications, only to discover that my iPhone was on Do Not Disturb for no apparent reason.
I use Do Not Disturb mainly at the movies, where I can set it on my Apple Watch and it will also silence the phone. I always set it to turn off when I leave the location (lest I forget).
I’ve never seen it activate randomly. That would really be annoying.