What Is The Half-Moon on My iPhone and iPad – Turn it Off

What is the half-moon on my iPhone or iPad that appears? A crescent moon icon usually sticks on your device in two forms. Occasionally it sits in the status bar, right at the top of your home screen, while at times, the half-moon is only visible next to any of your text messages, but what is it?

When you see a crescent moon icon clinging to the status bar, it signifies Do Not Disturb mode(DND) is activated on your device. At the same time, if the half-moon icon appears to occur only next to specific text messages, it indicates that the DND feature is enabled, but only for that particular conversation.

DND is a feature that stops notifications and alerts from popping up. It blocks calls and temporarily deactivates the audio section of any smartphone. Alongside ringtones, the vibration or lighting up of the phone screens is halted when the screen is locked. 

What Is The Half-Moon on My iPhone & iPad (Text Messages & Status Bar)

Either the half-moon appears on your status bar or in your text messages. Let’s talk about what each moon icon means.

Half Moon Next to A Text Message

The half-moon next to any text message implies that the chat is being muted, either intentionally or by mistake. So until you disable it, you’ll not get any notifications for an incoming message.

Now, in this case, the moon icon shows up in two different colors. When blue, it reveals that you haven’t opened the chat, and the last message received is yet to get seen. On the contrary, a gray half-moon symbolizes that all the received messages are read.

Half Moon on the Status Bar

You usually see the half-moon icon on the status bar of your iPad or iPhone when DND is activated. In such a situation, your device will restrict sending any form of notification. All the incoming calls will directly get diverted to the voicemail. Messages will still hit up your inbox but without notifications/sound.

Apart from the general message and calling utilities, the other available apps will also lose their capacity to pass alarms. 

How To Turn Off Half Moon Icon on iPhone or iPad

Now that you own a fair bit of information about the occurrence and substance of the half-moon or crescent moon icon, it is time you learn about the ways of getting rid of it. 

The process is pretty simple, but it is crucial you figure out if the half-moon is appearing on the status bar or next to any conversation, and then proceed accordingly. W hile the former can be resolved by disabling DND, the latter will require a different fix.

How to Turn off DND on iPad & iPhone

You can either employ the Control Center or visit the Settings panel for disabling the DND feature on your iPhone. There are several ways to choose from, and here is the step-by-step guide that will help you do that in minutes.

• Accessing Control Center

Accessing the Control Center is considered one of the easiest ways to disable DND and eliminate the half-moon icon. 

• Step 1: Take and unlock your iPhone
• Step 2: Swipe down to access the Control Center. In case you own an older variant of the iPhone, you’ll need to swipe up.
• Step 3: Look for the half-moon icon from the available options and tap on it. It will disable the Do Not Disturb mode.

To verify that you’ve successfully disabled DND, check the color of the half-moon icon. Once disabled, the half-moon becomes white before eventually turning dark.

• Using the Settings Panel

If for some reason, you find accessing the Control Center a bit troubling, there is nothing much to worry about. Here is how you can launch the Settings menu and disable DND for good.

• Step 1: Unlock your iPhone and click the Settings icon on your home screen.
• Step 2: Click on Focus (half-moon icon)
• Step 3: Do not Disturb – Toggle on/off

Getting Rid of Half-Moon Icon Next to the Text Messages

As already mentioned, the half-moon icon next to your conversations in the messaging app hints that the notifications for some specific chats are muted. So to get rid of the crescent moon, you’ll have to undo the changes.

• Step 1: Unlock your iPhone and navigate to the Messages app.
• Step 2: Select the conversation where you see the half-moon icon.
• Step 3: Tap on the circle “i” or the “Details” button. You’ll find it on the top right corner of the respective messages thread.
• Step 4: Once you land on the Details screen, find the “Do Not Disturb” mode and turn it off.

 

For iOS 11 or later

• Step 1: Hover over to the messaging app on your iPhone.
• Step 2: Swipe from right to left on the message thread
• Step 3: Now, click on the bell icon to mute the chat

Scheduled DND

The Do Not Disturb feature has seen a considerable amount of evolution the recent times. It is not the usual DND anymore; instead, it powers with flexible scheduling capabilities. In other words, you now have complete control over the desired quiet hours throughout the day.

You can enable Do Not Disturb in a “Scheduled” format by inputting your preferred period of time. Apart from desirably choosing quiet hours, you can select locations, set exceptions, and impose DND accordingly.

Here is how you can schedule DND

• Navigate to Settings and tap on Focus
• Find the option that says Do Not Disturb (Apple has started bundling DND within the Focus mode since the release of iOS 15)
• Click on “Add Schedule or Automation”
• Now, from the screen that pops up, pick the time and location. Make sure to set the From and To values properly according to the period for which you want the DND feature to be activated.
• Finally, hit the Done button.

Focus Modes

Apple released Focus Modes in iOS 15. In essence, these are different Do Not Disturb modes meant for particular occasions. So, instead of muting all your notifications, focus modes allow you to mute and allow a particular set of applications.

Currently, there are four different focus modes available. They are:

• Do Not Disturb
• Personal
• Sleep
• Work

To access your modes, head to Settings > Focus. After doing so, you’ll be greeted with the option to Set Up any of the modes. Once you follow the on-screen instructions, you’ll be able to set up personalized reminders for when someone tries to message you alongside muting notifications.

To enable a focus mode, you need to follow the same instructions as when you did when enabling Do Not Disturb. These are:

• Open the Control Center by swiping vertically downwards from the upper right corner of your screen
• Tap on the crescent icon and select the focus mode you wish to choose

Note: When you enable a focus mode / Do Not Disturb, your preferences will be shared across all your device that are signed in on the same iCloud account. You can turn this feature off by heading to Settings > Focus > Share Across All Devices

FAQ

Wrapping Up

While we’re okay to get some calls and notifications now and then, they can be quite annoying for longer durations. I personally am a great fan of Do Not Disturb especially with the introduction of Focus Modes.

Plus, with recent studies providing us with clear insight into how we shouldn’t use our phones before we sleep, it is time we give all of ourselves a break.

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