How to Manage Notifications on iPhone

Edited 3 weeks ago by ExtremeHow Editorial Team

iOSiPhoneNotificationsSettingsManagementFeaturesMobileDevicesCustomizationControl

In today's digital age, notifications play a vital role in keeping us updated with the latest news, messages, and reminders. However, effectively managing notifications on your iPhone can greatly improve your user experience by minimizing distractions and boosting productivity. iPhone offers a variety of options to customize and manage notifications to suit your preferences. This guide will introduce you to every aspect of handling notifications on your iPhone, ensuring you have full control over when and how they alert you.

Understanding iPhone notifications

Notifications are alerts from apps installed on your iPhone that inform you of new information. They can range from text messages, emails, social media alerts, to reminders from productivity apps. Notifications can appear as banners at the top of your screen, in-between alerts, badges on app icons, or as sounds and vibrations.

Accessing notification settings

To start managing notifications, you need to access the Notifications settings on your iPhone. Follow these simple steps:

• Open the Settings app on your iPhone home screen.
• Scroll down and tap Notifications.
• You will now see a list of all the apps installed on your phone. Each app can have different notification preferences.

Customize notifications for each app

Each app on your iPhone can be customized differently for how notifications are delivered. Here's how you can modify notifications for a specific app:

Step 1: Select the app

In the notification settings, you will see a list of all apps. Select the app for which you want to customize notifications.

Step 2: Allow notifications

At the top, there is an option to toggle Allow Notifications. If you turn it off, the app will not send you any notifications.

Step 3: Choose an alert style

If you choose to allow notifications, you can decide how you'll receive them:

• Lock screen: Show notifications on the lock screen.
• Notification Center: Access notifications by swiping down from the top of the screen.
• Banners: Allow notifications to appear as banners; these are temporary notifications that appear at the top of the screen.

Step 4: Manage sound

You can also choose the sound that accompanies your notifications by toggling on Sound. This setting allows you to decide if you want the app to make a sound whenever it sends you a notification.

Step 5: Enable badges

Badges are small red circles on the app icons that indicate the number of unread notifications. Enable or disable this setting by toggling the Badges app icon.

Step 6: Show preview

• Always: Show notification preview content at all times.
• When unlocked: Show previews only when the phone is unlocked.
• Never: Don't show previews.

Step 7: Group notifications

Notification grouping keeps your screen organized by grouping notifications from the same app into a stack on the lock screen or Notification Center. You can customize this by choosing one of the following options:

• Automatic: iOS automatically sorts messages into groups by thread or subject.
• By App: Notifications grouped by app.
• Off: Disable notification grouping.

Do not disturb mode

Do Not Disturb is a useful feature for turning off all notifications at specific times, such as during a meeting or while sleeping:

1. Open Settings and tap Do Not Disturb.
2. Turn on the Do Not Disturb switch.
3. Set a schedule by tapping Schedule. Select a start and end time to activate Do Not Disturb.
4. You can allow calls from certain contacts by selecting Allow Calls From. Choose Everyone, Nobody, or Favorites.
5. If you want calls to keep coming through even if the caller calls back within three minutes, toggle off Repeated Calls.

Focus mode

Focus mode is a more advanced way to manage notifications by setting specific settings based on what you're doing, such as working, driving, playing games, or personal time:

1. Open Settings and tap Focus.
2. Select a predefined focus or tap New Focus to create a custom focus.
3. Under each focus mode, tap People or Apps to decide which people and apps can interrupt you.
4. Set home screen or lock screen customizations to limit visible apps and notifications.

Notification summary

Notification Summary is a feature on iOS that reduces distractions by providing notifications at specific times:

1. Go to Settings > Notifications > Scheduled Summary.
2. Turn on scheduled summaries.
3. Select apps to include in the summary. Notifications from only the selected apps will be grouped together and shown at the scheduled time.
4. Schedule a time to receive summaries, by setting a time for each summary delivery.

Example: Managing email app notifications

As an example, here's how you would manage notifications for your email app:

• Go to Settings > Notifications > Mail.
• Turn on Allow Notifications if you want to receive alerts for new emails.
• Decide where you want email notifications to appear (lock screen, Notification Center, banner).
• Turn on the sound if you want to hear alerts for new emails.
• Enable badges to see the unread count on the Mail app icon.
• Choose The Show Previews setting based on your privacy preferences.
• Group emails by toggling notification grouping if desired.

Managing notification preferences with Siri

You can also easily change your notification preferences using Siri. Below are how you can manage notifications using Siri:

• Activate Siri by saying "Hey Siri" or pressing the side button.
• Command Siri with phrases like "Turn off notifications for [app name]" or "Turn on Do Not Disturb."

Conclusion

Mastering notifications on your iPhone enables you to reduce distractions and increase your productivity by customizing alerts to your personal needs. From individual app settings to Focus and Do Not Disturb modes, managing your notifications provides a flexible way to interact with your iPhone more effectively. Remember to revisit and adjust these settings as your needs change so you can consistently optimize your notifications for both leisure and work.

  Share This Article

If you find anything wrong with the article content, you can request an update