iPhone user left baffled after ‘never seen before’ icon appears on contact photo

Status icons are helpful in telling you whether someone's online, busy or AFK.

But one Apple user was left confused after they noticed a peculiar symbol next to their parent's contact photo in their smartphone.

Reddit user slykido999 screenshotted a few of their contact widgets on their iPhone and asked: 'What is the little running icon on my dad’s contact?

'I’ve seen the car one or the moon for “DND”, but I’ve never seen this one before (and my dad doesn’t have an Apple Watch).'

The 'Dad' contact widget appeared to show a little running stick figure icon at the top right corner.

Users questioned the running stick figure icon / Reddit/u/slykiddo999

Thankfully, some users came to the thread with answers.

'Workout focus maybe?' one user replied.

'You must be right. Looking at the other focus’ you can do the fitness focus has the same icon. I’ve never seen that before! Pretty cool,' another user then commented.

Other users took the opportunity to poke humour.

'They are rated as the fastest person in your top contacts, gps will calculate how fast everyone can move when not in a vehicle and the fastest person wins this icon,' one joked. Another Reddit user exclaimed: 'Beast mode activated!'

The mysterious symbol is in fact Focus mode, introduced by Apple with the iOS 15 update back in September 2021.

'Focus is a feature that helps you reduce distractions and set boundaries,' Apple 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.'

Focus was released by Apple in iOS 15 /Westend61/Getty

It's Apple's version of DND mode, perfect for times when you're doing an activity and don't want to be sidetracked by tempting notifications.

Apple elaborated: '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.'

If you want to set up Focus for yourself, simply go to Settings and then tap on the Focus you want to customise or schedule. You can also specify which apps and people can reach you while a certain Focus mode is active.

So, you can still receive important things like emails but avoid distractions like Snapchat or Elon Musk's latest tweet.

Moreover, you can let other people know that you're in Focus by turning on Share Focus Status in your iPhone settings.