General
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Welcome to the Apple "iPad, Messages and privacy" course. You'll learn how to protect your privacy by blocking a contact, how to silence your iPad, and how to stop it from interrupting you with messages and other notifications when you don't want to be disturbed.
If you're getting lots of nuisance messages from the same number, you can block them. This means they won't be able to contact you again from that number.
To get started, tap the Messages icon. The Messages app will open, and the last message you received will be open at the top of the list. At the top of the message on the right of the screen, you'll see the name or number of the sender. Tap this to open their contact details. Now look for the info icon, which looks like a little person in a circle, and tap it. Scroll down to the last option in the list, Block this Caller, which is red. Tap it and a panel will pop up reminding you that you won't be able to be contacted by this person. That's okay, so tap Block Contact.
Now that we have blocked this contact, the last option in the list has changed to Unblock this Caller. If you wish for this contact to be able to contact you once more, you can tap this to unblock them.
Now swipe up from the bottom of the screen to return to the Home screen.
If you want your iPad to be quiet, you can switch it to Silent Mode. Tap the Settings icon to open the Settings app. From the list of options on the left side of the screen, look for Sounds and tap on it. The Sounds settings will open on the right side of the screen.
Look for a bar in the middle of the screen under Ringtone and Alert Volume. Use your finger to turn the volume down by moving the slider all the way to the left. A message will appear briefly at the top of the screen to let you know that Silent Mode is on. Your iPad will now remain silent when you receive messages and other notifications. The screen will still light up to alert you if you receive a notification, it just won't make a sound.
To turn Silent Mode off, use your finger to turn the volume up by moving the slider back to the right. Another message will briefly appear to let you know that Silent Mode is off.
When you switch on Silent Mode, notifications for text messages and emails will still be visible, but your iPad won't make any alert sounds.
When you switch on Do Not Disturb, notifications will be ceased altogether. This can be a handy setting to use when you're focusing on something important and don't want to be disturbed, or when you're sleeping. Once you switch this setting off, your iPad will catch you up on any messages or emails that you missed.
You can turn Do Not Disturb on at any time regardless of what app you have open using the Control Centre. Swipe down from the top right of the screen to open the Control Centre.
The swipe should begin with your finger in the bezel, which is the area that surrounds the screen.
Look for Focus, which is in the middle of the group of icons next to a small moon shape. Tap on it to see some Focus options. The first option in the list is Do Not Disturb. Tap on it to turn it on. When this setting is on, the button will be white. This means that your iPad won't notify you of any messages or emails it receives.
You'll only want to switch this on if you do not want people to be able to contact you.
To turn Do Not Disturb off, just tap it once more. When this setting is off, the button will be grey, and you are available to be contacted once more. Tap anywhere outside the group of icons to return to the main Control Centre, and tap again to close the Control Centre and return to the Settings app.
You can schedule Do Not Disturb to automatically turn on and off at times and days of your choosing. Let's look at how to do this now.
From the Settings app, look for Focus in the menu on the left side of the screen. Tap it to open the Focus options on the right side of the screen. Now tap on Do Not Disturb. There are some nice features here that you might like to use, but for now, scroll down until you see the Set a Schedule option and tap Add Schedule to see some options.
Next, tap Time to go to the time screen and choose the times you want Do Not Disturb to automatically turn on and off.
Tap the time next to From and some time options will appear. Scroll up or down through the list and choose the time you want the schedule to start from. Tap outside the Time options to set it.
Tap the time next to To and repeat these steps to set the time you'd like Do Not Disturb to automatically switch off.
Below the Time options, you can also choose which days of the week you want Do Not Disturb to automatically switch on. You can tap these individual days to switch them off, but for this demonstration, we'll leave them all switched on so the schedule is set for every day.
Now tap Done at the top right of this screen to return to the main Do Not Disturb screen. You can see your new schedule here under Set a Schedule. Do Not Disturb will now automatically turn on between 10:00 pm to 7:00 am every day, and you will not be able to be contacted between these hours.
To turn this schedule off, tap on it to go to the schedule settings. At the top of this page is a green switch. Tap on the switch to turn it off. The switch will move to the left and become grey, which means that the schedule is now switched off. Tap the back arrow to return to the main Do Not Disturb settings.
One of the best features of Do Not Disturb is that you can set exceptions. You can allow certain people to still be able to contact you while Do Not Disturb is switched on so you can be unavailable to everyone except people of your choosing.
Scroll back up to the top of the Do Not Disturb page and tap People to go to the Notifications screen. Tap the Add icon, which looks like a plus symbol in a circle, to open a list of your iPad's contacts. Tap the name of a contact and a blue tick will appear next to their name. Tap Done on the top right of this screen and the contact's name appears in a grey circle in a white box.
Anyone whose name appears in this box will be allowed to contact you when Do Not Disturb is switched on.
Now swipe up from the bottom of the screen to return to the Home screen.
You've reached the end of this course and should now know how to block contacts and how to use the Silent Mode and Do Not Disturb features on your iPad.
If you're unsure about any steps, you can rewind the video or click the chapter headings to jump to the start of a chapter. If you're ready to move on, there are many other courses to explore on Be Connected.