Your iPhone’s Favorites list is similar to speed dial. It allows you to swiftly get in touch with your top contacts without scrolling through your entire address book. However, that’s not all the Favorites list does.

Your iPhone also treats favorite contacts as VIPs, so that you’re less likely to miss important calls from them when using Do Not Disturb or other Focus modes. That way, you can still focus, knowing that important people can still get through to you if need be.

Keep reading to learn more about why you should set up your iPhone’s Favorites list, and how to add contacts to the roster.

Your iPhone Can Always Let Favorite Contacts Reach You

Along with the usual Do Not Disturb feature, your iPhone offers multiple Focus modes, such as work, fitness, and sleep. You can set up and customize Focus modes so that specific contacts and apps can still get through to you while limiting other notifications. To simplify the process of creating a Focus mode, your iPhone lets you allow all incoming calls from your entire Favorites list.

You’ll still want to be mindful of this, though, and consider whether you still want to allow calls from all these people while adding them to your list.

Your Favorites will only be able to get through to you if they call you, which means you’ll avoid getting unwanted texts in the middle of a meeting or hike. However, you can add contacts to the Allowed People section, if they are ultra VIPs, so you still get texts or emails from them.

If you do leave a friend off the list, the Focus feature allows repeat calls, which means anyone trying to reach your number can get through on the second try if they call twice within three minutes. To benefit from this feature, make sure you enable Allow Repeated Calls in your Focus settings. Then you can be more choosy about who you want on your Allowed People list.

An additional perk of having a Favorites list is you can program it to auto-reply to texts when you’re driving, letting top contacts know to hang tight until you get off the road.

How to Add Favorites to Your iPhone

To add people to your Favorites list, open your Phone app and tap Favorites in the bottom-left corner. Once you hit the add (+) symbol in the top-left corner of your screen, your contacts list will open.

Use the search bar at the top of the screen to quickly locate the contact you’d like to add. Tap their name and choose the top contact method you’d like to assign to them—this is the action your phone will complete when you tap their name in the Favorites list.

If you add multiple methods—if you text and call the same contact often—both will appear as separate entries. This double-entry is handy if you want fewer menus and buttons when reaching out to someone. Alternatively, if you want to keep repeat contacts out of your list, you can press and hold a Favorite’s name to quickly view other ways to reach out.

Later, if you decide to make adjustments, you can remove contacts by selecting Edit in the top-right corner of your Favorites list and clicking the minus (–) symbol beside their name. You can also swipe left on their name—just remember to press and hold, not tap, so you don’t accidentally phone them.

Make Managing Your iPhone’s Contacts a Cinch

Adding Favorites to your iPhone is quick and convenient. Not only does it enable you to reach out to your top contacts effortlessly, but it also makes creating Focus modes painless and gives you peace of mind knowing important calls from your contacts will still come through.

If you worry about your VIPs being unable to reach you with your notifications off, just add them as a favorite contact and tweak your Focus settings.