3 smart shortcuts for activating Do Not Disturb on Android

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: Google’s got a wild new idea about “reinventing” how we silence our phones.

It’s happening now, in the current Android 15 era of our favorite operating system. Google eliminated the simple, one-tap system for silencing a device and putting it into Do Not Disturb mode and instead bundled that setting into a perplexing new Modes menu. Now, when you want your phone to zip its metaphorical lip, you’ve gotta tap the Modes tile within your Android Quick Settings panel, then find and activate Do Not Disturb from there.

That may seem like a small distinction, but for something as foundational as silencing your frickin’ phone, it’s an extra step that adds up and quickly feels cumbersome — especially if you’re hunting for it multiple times a day. More than that, it’s an extra slice of confusion that creates needless murkiness around what oughta be a simple-as-can-be core phone function.

And, oh yes: We’ve been here before. Way back in the Android 5.0 “Lollipop” era of Android, Google similarly sought to revamp the simple silencing function — with a similar sort of setup, even, around overly complicated “modes.” Long story short, it was bewildering and annoying, everyone hated it, and Google eventually backtracked and brought back a simple one-step silencing system.

Now, it seems, history is poised to repeat itself again in yet another amusing Android flip-flop. Freshly uncovered code suggests El Googenphlorp has heard the outcry and is actively working to restore a one-tap Android Do Not Disturb toggle that’ll exist alongside the new Modes option.

There’s no telling how long it’ll take to show up for most of us, though. And in the meantime — whether you’re using a device with the latest Android version and its ever-fun Modes maze or not — you’ve got some spectacular ways to not only restore a simple Do Not Disturb toggle on your own but also to improve upon it and make it even more effective.

Pick whichever path you prefer, and prepare for an instant and immensely practical upgrade to your day-to-day Android-using experience.

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Android Do Not Disturb shortcut #1: The simple toggle return

We’ll start with the simplest possibility of all, and that’s bringing back the one-tap Do Not Disturb toggle in your Android device’s Quick Settings section — without having to wait on Google to make it happen.

This one couldn’t be much easier to manage. Just install the free and aptly named Simple DND app from the Play Store. Open it up and follow the prompt to grant the app the permission to manage your phone’s Do Not Disturb state — then tap the Add Tile button on its main screen and confirm that you want to do that.

One tap, and boom: Simple DND puts a simple Do Not Disturb tile right back into Android’s Quick Settings for you.JR Raphael, Foundry

And that’s it: You should now see a new single-step Do Not Disturb tile right in your Quick Settings, if you swipe down twice (or swipe from the right side of the screen, on certain devices) to open it.

Do Not Disturb, right back where it belongs — thanks to Simple DND.JR Raphael, Foundry

That, of course, is simply restoring the once-standard Android behavior in a roundabout way. But you can also make it even easier to access your device’s Do Not Disturb mode and silence or unsilence your phone on the fly, if you want.

Android Do Not Disturb shortcut #2: The Pixel tap dance

If you’re using a reasonably recent Pixel device, you’ve got an incredibly cool and impossibly convenient way to make Do Not Disturb easy to toggle.

For this path, you’ll need to go download a handy (and completely free) little app called Mute. Install it, then open ‘er up and follow the prompts to allow the app to modify your system settings.

Next, head into your system settings and scroll down until you see the line labeled “System.” Tap that, then tap “Gestures” followed by “Quick Tap to start actions.”

Flip the toggle next to “Use Quick Tap” into the on position, then tap the option for “Open app” to select it — and once it’s active, tap the gear-shaped icon alongside it and select “Mute” from the list that pops up.

Quick Tap strangely doesn’t support toggling Do Not Disturb out of the box, but the Mute app fixes that.JR Raphael, Foundry

Make your way back out of that menu, and now, anytime you double-tap the back of your Pixel, you’ll feel a brief vibration and see a small visual confirmation that Mute has been activated. Your phone’s media and ringer volume will shoot all the way down to zero, and Android’s Do Not Disturb mode will be activated. Double-tap again, and Do Not Disturb will go back off while your volume settings pop back up to their previous levels.

You might have to experiment a bit to figure out the exact right spot on the back of your phone where the tapping gesture works most reliably. On most Pixels, it’s higher than you might expect — right beneath the camera module.

Once you know where to tap, though, you’ll have a swift ‘n’ satisfyingly simple new way to switch your phone in and out of Do Not Disturb without having to mess with any on-screen menus. As long as the screen is on — even if the device is locked! — all it’ll take is two quick taps to silence or unsilence as needed.

Android Do Not Disturb shortcut #3: The notch nudge

No Pixel? Or maybe you just aren’t into the whole tap-a-tap tactic? No problem.

With the help of a clever and convenient app called Touch the Notch, you can transform that blacked-out space at the top of your screen — y’know, where the front-facing camera lives — into a simple switch for impressively efficient toggling of your device’s Do Not Disturb status.

Just snag the app, then open it once to configure it. The first time you do, you’ll be prompted to pay four bucks to bump up to the app’s full version. You may want to do that, for reasons we’ll explore in a moment, but you don’t have to commit right off the bat. If you’d rather try the app out first and see whatcha think, tap the “x” in the upper-left corner of the upgrade offer to skip it.

Now, tap “Required permissions” on the app’s main screen, then tap the checkbox next to “Touch the Notch.”

With that one-time initialization out of the way, you can scroll down the app’s main screen and review the available options. If you didn’t upgrade to the app’s full version, you’ll be limited to “Single touch” — which isn’t exactly optimal but will get the job done and at the very least let you see what the app can do.

Personally, I’d suggest going with “Long touch,” which does require the one-time $4 upgrade but works brilliantly well and is far less likely to be activated accidentally. Tap that line, then find and select “Do Not Disturb” in the list of choices that comes up and make your way back out of that menu.

Touch the Notch adds all sorts of interesting possibilities into an otherwise unfunctional area of your phone’s screen.JR Raphael, Foundry

Now, for the real magic: At this point, all you’ve gotta do is press and hold that blacked-out spot at the top of your screen (a.k.a. the notch) for a split-second, no matter what else you’ve got goin’ on with your device, and boom: Android’s Do Not Disturb mode will flip on and back off, with every press you make.

srcset='https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/android-do-not-disturb-toggle-notch.webp?quality=50&strip=all 800w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/android-do-not-disturb-toggle-notch.webp?resize=300%2C23&quality=50&strip=all 300w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/android-do-not-disturb-toggle-notch.webp?resize=768%2C59&quality=50&strip=all 768w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/android-do-not-disturb-toggle-notch.webp?resize=150%2C11&quality=50&strip=all 150w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/android-do-not-disturb-toggle-notch.webp?resize=640%2C49&quality=50&strip=all 640w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/android-do-not-disturb-toggle-notch.webp?resize=444%2C34&quality=50&strip=all 444w' width='800' height='61' sizes='(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px'>Toggle on, toggle off: Touch the Notch’s Do Not Disturb sorcery in action.JR Raphael, Foundry

Doesn’t get much easier than that. And you don’t need any special fixes from Google to make any of these paths instantly available.

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