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Show HN: Smart Silence – Remind your iPhone to stay quiet in quiet places
Hi HN,
I built an iPhone app called *Smart Silence* after sitting in a quiet setting (a service, actually) where someone’s phone rang loudly and interrupted everything. It wasn’t intentional — just one of those forgetful moments. I started wondering: what if our phones could gently remind us to stay silent when it matters?
*Smart Silence* helps iPhone users do just that. It lets you:
- Mark places where silence is expected (like libraries, meetings, classes, or houses of worship)
- Get a reminder when you enter, with an easy Shortcut to enable Do Not Disturb
- Schedule quiet times (e.g. “Mondays 9–11am at this place”)
- Share Silent Places with others — so your community, school, or workspace can use the same setup
- Stay fully in control — no auto-silencing, and no location tracking outside of defined zones
It’s currently available via TestFlight: https://testflight.apple.com/join/47CJ31VK https://testflight.apple.com/join/47CJ31VK
I’d love feedback — especially around usability, edge cases, or features you’d expect. If you run or attend a place where silence matters, I’d love to hear your thoughts.
- russelldjimmy 1y agoI apologise if I’m missing something, but isn’t this already achievable with a location-based Shortcut?
- Brajeshwar 1y agoYes, it is. There are so many tutorials but here is one simple and straight to the point. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKzGThOFy1E https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKzGThOFy1E
- willio58 1y agoWhile shortcuts are cool, I think the vast majority of people never use them and don’t even know what they are. Normies want to download an app and let it ride.
- hulitu 1y ago> While shortcuts are cool, I think the vast majority of people never use them and don’t even know what they are. Normies because the "codies" are not able to write accesible documentation. On which Apple developer website are those "shortcuts" documented ? Is there a link to those on an iPhone.
- xprn 1y agoThe app that could’ve been a blog post
- wingerlang 1y agoYes, and Dropbox could have been a handful of unix commands. I don't think I would use an app for this, but as far as I can tell, it aims to crowdsource silent locations, something a shortcut couldn't realistically achieve.
- ianburrell 1y agoHow do you mark and share locations with a shortcut? Setting up shortcut for one location is one thing, managing a bunch of locations is another thing.
- KMnO4 1y agoRealistically how many locations do you have? On the upper end maybe 5? 6? Shouldn’t take more than 3 minutes to set them all up.
- happyopossum 1y agoYou don’t even need a shortcut - iOS’s native focus modes can be triggered by location directly. It’s one of the configuration options that’s been there since they launched focus modes.
- nytesky 1y agoI don’t know why Apple and Google haven’t published a geofencing protocol where locations can publish DND or limit internet access at these locations. Basically the phone communicates with the venues via an AirTag like network and enters DND or becomes a school mode device. It can be on by default, and some users like on call doctors or firefighter etc can override and take responsibility for managing themselves. I would love my phone to know I’m in Church for a wedding or at a play and not have to remember to switch.
- mike_d 1y agoBecause we can't trust people to not be shitheads.
- bigiain 1y ago> I would love my phone to know I’m in Church for a wedding or at a play and not have to remember to switch. I kinda have the opposite problem. I turn my phone to silent because I'm at a restaurant or cinema or whatever, then 3 or 4 weeks later discover I never remembered to turn it back. And I'm 100% OK with that, I've gotten good enough at turning the ringer on when I'm expecting a call, and not worrying about "missing calls" from people who aren't in my VIP list or who don't leave voicemail.
- staindk 1y agoI have 2 rules set on my Pixel - First one sets my phone to silent when I arrive at work (500m radius I think). It also sets it back to loud (or whatever the previous state was) automatically when I leave that radius. Second one sets my phone to loud when my phone connects to my home WiFi. This helps with the problem you describe - but agreed, phone stuck on silent isn't generally an issue (until I miss some courier's phone call and kick myself).
- copperx 1y agoWhere do you set these rules?
- neepi 1y agoIs this a regional thing? I don't really hear phones ringing in the UK any more. They're almost always on silent by default.
- nico 1y agoPersonally, my issue is alarms rather than ringing. Silent mode doesn't silence the alarms, and I forget to check them. It would be great if this would silence alarms
- sitkack 1y agoI have no idea why the damn phone doesn't have a global silence slider. No Noise!
- ksenzee 1y agoYep. I had an alarm go off during a funeral last year, when my phone was on silent. There really needs to be an “I’m at a funeral, dammit” mode.
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- anArbitraryOne 1y agoMaybe you could do what banks do and use silent alarms?
- nico 1y agoI’ve tried it, and then I miss the alarms
- hsbauauvhabzb 1y agoiOS doesn’t support batch deleting alarms either. ‘Siri set an alarm for 45 minutes’ leaves my alarm list littered with an inactive alarm I once set, have no future use for, but is annoying enough that I’ll never delete them all. Is there an alarm set to go off in the near future? Hold on, let me scroll through 50 pages of pointless noise. iOS. It just works (tm).
- umbra07 1y agoCan Siri batch delete alarms based on the name? "hey Siri, create an alarm and name it $X" "hey Siri, delete all alarms named $X"
- matricaria 1y agoThis is build into iOS DND already. It can automatically activate based on location.
- kurtis_reed 1y ago> your iPhone This presupposes I have an iPhone. I don't.
- hsbauauvhabzb 1y agoDid you click on the comments section of a post just to nitpick at the title which clearly describes the purpose and OS limitations of another users’ pet project?
- anArbitraryOne 1y agoI'd rather use a pencil and paper than be stuck using one of apple's operating systems
- throwaway314155 1y agoHot take.
- Warh00l 1y agopierceday.metalabel.com/aphone
- ebagsnave 1y agoHi everyone – I’m the creator of Smart Silence. Thank you for all the thoughtful feedback and questions — I really appreciate it. I wanted to respond to some of the points raised and share a bit about where the app is headed. ⸻ “Doesn’t iOS already support this?” You’re right — iOS offers Focus Modes with location-based triggers and automation via Shortcuts. But in practice, these are underused because they’re not easy to configure or manage. Smart Silence builds on that by making the process simpler, more flexible, and community-oriented. Here’s how it’s different: • Quick Silent Zone setup: Add any location (house of worship, library, classroom, etc.) and the app handles the rest — no need to mess with Focus Mode automations. • Silent Zone Sharing: You can share a Silent Zone with others, so groups (like schools or religious organizations) can all use the same settings. • Smart Reminders: It sends a prompt (or runs a Shortcut) when you enter/leave a Silent Zone — keeping you in control, while avoiding disruption. • Easy Reversion: When you leave a Silent Zone, it reminds you to turn sound back on, avoiding the classic “why am I missing calls?” issue. ⸻ New: Scheduled Silent Sessions In addition to location-based detection, Smart Silence also supports scheduled quiet times in those locations. You can set silent hours for things like: • Classes • Meetings • Services • Daily focus blocks (like 9–11 AM “deep work”) This is especially helpful if you work or study in one place, but need silence at specific times. ⸻ Coming Soon: Focus Points System One of the most exciting features I’m working on is Focus Points: • While Do Not Disturb is active in a Silent Zone, Smart Silence uses motion data to see if your phone stays still. • If you don’t pick it up or use it, you earn Focus Points. • These points contribute to daily or weekly focus scores, with streak tracking and possible rewards later on. It’s a lightweight way to encourage discipline and reduce unnecessary phone use during important moments. ⸻ Not Just for Houses of Worship The original inspiration came from watching someone’s phone go off during a quiet moment in a house of worship. They were clearly embarrassed, and it disrupted everyone else too. But this app isn’t just for religious settings — it works anywhere silence and focus are important: • Libraries • Classrooms • Meetings • Meditation groups • Study blocks • Movie theaters ⸻ *“Do people still need this?”* Yes — many people still forget to silence their phones or get distracted by notifications. Smart Silence is about reducing friction and making it easy to be present, whether out of respect for others or to improve your own focus. ⸻ Thanks again for all the feedback. I’m continuing to improve the app and would love more input. Let me know what you’d want it to do — or if you think something could be done better. – Gabe