iPhone owners baffled by mystery icon that appeared at the top of one user's screen

From orange dots in the corner to tiny 'ridiculous' details, new symbols appear all the time on our phones.

And now, a new icon has confused the iPhone community even more, and it's one that hardly anyone has seen before.

With the upcoming iOS 18 update bringing in lots of new features, iPhone users have had a lot to talk about recently.

But, it's easy to forget the quirks your phone already has.

And what one user shared on Reddit, has been an available little known setting for quite some time.

Not only that, but it's a subtly great way to customise your phone.

Reddit/ u/v1s21

Confused at first, one Reddit user asked the community /iPhone on Reddit - 'What does this symbol mean?'

They shared an image of a small badge symbol next to the clock on the status bar at the top of their device's screen.

'This particular status symbol is setting there from morning. I don't know what that represents. Could anyone please help me understand?'

Thanks to the power of social media, we now have the answer.

Turns out, it's the icon for the Work option from Apple's Focus modes.

'Focus is a feature that helps you reduce distractions and set boundaries,' the tech giant explained.

'When you want to concentrate on a specific activity, you can customize one of the provided Focus options—for example Work, Personal, or Sleep—or create a custom Focus.

'You can use Focus to temporarily silence all notifications, or allow only specific notifications—ones that apply to your task, for example—and let other people and apps know you’re busy.'

NurPhoto / Contributor / Getty

One of the focuses is Work which is ideal for people who don't like to be interrupted in their flow state.

It can hide personal apps, silence messages and show only urgent notifications from Teams or Slack.

When Work Focus is active, it shows up as a small badge icon at the top of your screen.

You can edit the details in Settings > Focus, and switch them on or off from the Control Center by swiping down from the top-right corner of your iPhone (or up from the bottom if your iPhone has a Home button).

You can also set Focus modes to turn on automatically depending on location, time etc.

You can even use as a fun way to customise your phone with an emoji that matches your occupation, like one healthcare worker on TikTok.

A similar icon sparked confusion among Apple users back in March when someone noticed a running stickman icon next to their father's contact.

Reddit users explained that the father had Workout Mode turned on with Share Focus Status so other contacts could see he was in Focus Mode.