Here’s a look at Priority Modes in Android 16, a better version of Do Not D
 

• Google is updating Android’s Do Not Disturb mode to make it much more customizable in Android 16.
• Android 16 will let you create custom Priority Modes with their own name, icon, and settings.
• You’ll be able to toggle these Priority Modes from the Settings app or from a new Quick Settings tile.

When you need to focus on something, turning on Android’s Do Not Disturb mode is a great way to eliminate distractions. Do Not Disturb lets you block alerts from apps, messages, phone calls, and alarms until you turn it off. You can customize it somewhat so that it runs on a schedule and allows alerts from certain apps, people, or alarms to still go through, but that’s pretty much it. In Android 16, though, Google is introducing a new feature called Priority Modes that’s basically a supercharged version of Do Not Disturb.

Back in August when Google released the initial beta of the first quarterly platform release of Android 15, I uncovered an in-development Priority Modes feature. When I first enabled Priority Modes, it replaced the existing Do Not Disturb menu. The new Priority Modes menu offered a similar UI to the Do Not Disturb mode menu, but it had some additional display settings ripped straight from Digital Wellbeing’s bedtime mode as well as the option to create a fully custom mode, complete with its own name, icon, and settings. The Priority Modes feature also had its own Quick Settings tile in Android 15 QPR1 Beta 1, although nothing happened when I interacted with it.




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