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What features are affected by Do Not Disturb?
Do Not Disturb, or DND for short, is a quick and easy way to temporarily disable all notifications on your smartphone. The feature is baked into Android and iOS, and when active, it silences all calls, messages, and other alerts.
DND is incredibly handy for those times when you need to focus on work, catch up on sleep, or attend an event without being distracted. It doesn’t prevent your phone from receiving new notifications—they’ll still come through so you can catch up on them later—but DND does ensure they don’t make a sound.
Do Not Disturb was introduced to iOS 5 way back in 2012, while on Android, it dates back to version 6 Marshmallow, released in 2015. On both operating systems, it can be configured to allow alerts from selected contacts so you don’t miss potentially important calls or texts.
Does Do Not Disturb hide your location from others
While Do Not Disturb is great at temporarily disabling your notifications for calls, messages, and everything else, it doesn’t have the ability to hide your location from others. Activating DND won’t disable the location services on your iPhone or Android device.
This is because your phone’s location preferences are completely separate from those for notifications—the two aren’t linked in any way. So, if you’re wondering if someone can track you with your phone number while DND is active, the answer is yes.
We recommend you don’t turn off location services unless you really have to since this prevents you from using anything that relies on GPS data, such as Google Maps, workout trackers, and apps like Uber. Instead, it’s often better to mask your location or simply keep your phone free from spyware.
Using Clario Anti Spy’s Virtual location tool on Android, you can manually set your location to anywhere in the world, so that if someone tries to track you, they won’t see where you really are. Try this:
- Download Clario Anti Spy and create an account.
- Under Virtual location on the main menu, tap Set up.
- Follow the steps on the screen to allow Anti Spy to mask your location.
- Set your location on the map to change it immediately.
If you have a stalker and you’re trying to figure out how to stop sharing location without them knowing, Virtual location is a great option because it doesn’t tell them your location is off; it simply masks your real whereabouts with whichever location you set manually.
Alternatively, if you use an iPhone, you can use Clario’s Anti-spy setup utility to hide your location and safeguard your most important data against any malicious spy apps. Here’s how:
- Install Clario Anti Spy and set up an account.
- Tap Set up under Anti-spy setup.
- Select a category and follow the recommended steps to boost your iPhone’s security.
- Repeat this process for all categories to ensure the best protection.
Common myths about Do Not Disturb and location services
If you’re not familiar with Do Not Disturb, it’s easy to get confused about what it actually does—especially with so much misinformation out there. In the same way that many iPhone users falsely believe that Airplane Mode turns off location services, some think Do Not Disturb does the same, but this isn’t true.
Activating DND to stop sharing location or block GPS doesn’t work on Android or iPhone. It also doesn’t disable tracking services or freeze location on Find My iPhone; Do Not Disturb simply silences your notifications until you deactivate it—and that’s it!
Conclusion
You can’t use Do Not Disturb to turn off your location on Android or iPhone because that’s not what the feature is designed to do. Although the Do Not Disturb mode can’t hide your location, it can prevent your phone from pestering you when you don’t want to be distracted. You’ll need to take additional steps to block location sharing.
To mask your smartphone’s location without actually disabling location services, use Clario Anti Spy’s Virtual location feature on Android. Or, if you have an iPhone, take advantage of the Anti-spy setup utility to ensure you’re making the most of the privacy protections baked into iOS to avoid being tracked.
