Some Android phones, specifically those from Samsung, sport a nifty tool called Do Not Disturb mode. This feature should be mandatory on all phones.

The notion behind Do Not Disturb mode is simple: During certain hours of the night (or anytime, really), you don’t want your phone to bother you. You don’t want to hear a notification. You don’t want the phone to ring.

I’m reminded of this mode the last time I was out of town. I kept my Android tablet on the desk in my hotel room. At 3:00 AM an email floated in, sounding an notification. It woke me up. So I got out of bed and silenced the tablet. (At home I keep the tablet in the office.)

With Do Not Disturb mode, the notification wouldn’t sound and I would have had a full night’s sleep. Further, I wouldn’t have to remember to un-mute the tablet later that day.

Check for Do Not Disturb Mode on your Android gizmo by obeying these steps:

1. Open the Settings app.
2. Choose the Sounds and Notifications item.
3. Choose Do Not Disturb.

If you don’t see that item, then your phone lacks this special mode. Otherwise, the Do Not Disturb screen appears, which I’m providing for your visual entertainment in Figure 1.

Figure 1. The Do Not Disturb screen.

Don’t bother with the Master Control at the top of the screen unless you want Do Not Disturb Mode on right now and for all time. Instead:

4. Enable the Set Schedule item, as shown in Figure 1.
5. Tap the Start Time item to set when Do Not Disturb Mode kicks in.
6. Tap the End Time item to set when Do Not Disturb Mode kicks out.

In Figure 1, you see that on my phone, Do Not Disturb Mode is active at 10:00 PM and stops at 6:00 AM.

7. Optionally tap the Days item to set on which days of the week the mode is active.

I choose every day.

An important setting to consider is Allow Exceptions. When you tap that item, you see the Allow Exceptions screen, shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2. Setting exceptions for Do Not Disturb mode.

I’m okay with Alarms, obviously; who wants to miss that 4:00 AM alarm for the airport?

The Calls item may seem odd, but I allow exceptions (shown in Figure 2) for my Favorite contacts. That includes mostly my family but also some other important people. Otherwise, beyond alarms and calls from those folks, the phone will be silent from 10:OO PM to 6:00 AM.

And that’s the way I like it!