iPhone bedside mode

iPhone bedside mode FAQ: Does the iPhone have a "bedside mode" like the BlackBerry bedside mode? If so, how does it work?

The iPhone currently doesn't have a bedside mode like the BlackBerry, but there are some things you can do to get a similar behavior. Here's how I create something like an iPhone bedside mode.

My "iPhone bedside mode" setup

I use my iPhone as an alarm clock, and so I achieve something like an "iPhone bedside mode" as follows:

• I set the iPhone alarm clock.
• I set the iPhone volume as desired. I normally do this while looking at the iPhone alarm clock screen, though I don't think that matters.
• I switch the iPhone to vibrate mode.
• I set the iPhone on something soft, so when it vibrates it doesn't make much noise. (I actually set it on the floor, but when I'm traveling I either set it on the bed or on a folded towel on bedside night stand.)

The only drawback to this approach is that if you receive an important phone call during the night you probably won't hear it. Personally I don't currently receive any important phone calls at night, so this isn't a problem, but I can see where it can be a problem for some people.

iPhone bedside mode - Approach #2

There is another iPhone bedside mode approach that can also work, but it's a little more complicated. In short, you turn off the iPhone wireless and data capabilities, while still leaving the iPhone "phone" feature turned on so you can still make and receive phone calls.

This iPhone bedside mode approach goes like this:

1. Go to your iPhone Settings
2. Turn Wi-Fi off
3. Within Settings, tap the General button
4. On the General screen, tap the Network button
5. In that section, tap "Enable 3G" so that slider switches to Off
6. Tap the "Cellular Data" button so that slider switches to Off

At this point you have turned off (a) Wi-Fi access, (b) 3G access, and (c) older pre-3G data access, in short, all forms of data networking.

You can test this approach now to make sure your iPhone phone functionality still works, and once you confirm that, you'll have yourself a nice iPhone bedside mode setup.

In the morning, just remember to reverse these steps, and you'll be ready to go.

Other iPhone bedside mode approaches

The only other thing I can think of to achieve an iPhone bedside mode is to switch your iPhone into "Airplane Mode". The caveat here is that this is more drastic than what I just wrote about, as it turns off all data access and phone access. This process is much easier (just go to Settings, and tap the Airplane Mode slider), but it has the drawback that you won't receive any phone calls.

iPhone bedside mode - Summary

I hope these iPhone bedside mode tips have been helpful. As far as I know, these are the best approaches to trying to achieve a bedside mode with an iPhone. If you know of any other ways to do this, I'm certainly open to hear about it; just leave a message in the Comments section below.