As you install more and more apps on your iPhone or iPad, the number of notifications also steadily increases. Every app has something to say at set times. Sometimes useful information, often not. How do you tame that message flow and limit it to the essentials?
Ready for a new iPhone? Check which iPhones Bol.com has on offer!
If you install a news app, it is logical that you will receive a notification for newsworthy matters. Most of those apps already filter the importance of the news themselves, so that you are not bothered by it every time. For example, you will (usually) not receive any news about farmer Bietstra suffering from a potato beetle, but you will if an important political event or disaster occurs.
You can often set the apps themselves about what you want and don’t want news about. So no problem. These problems arise over time when all kinds of other apps also generate notifications. Often it is nonsense, think of games that try to tempt you to play the game again or to make an in-app purchase.
To prevent this, it is actually important to pay close attention when you first start each app and to critically examine questions for access to things (contacts, camera, etc.) but also to allow notifications. It’s tempting to always give permission for everything, but that pays off later.
Allow notifications (or not)
Fortunately, it is possible to adjust the ‘notification authority’ of apps to your liking afterwards. First start the app Settings. Tap in it Notification. You will now see a list of apps that are capable of creating notifications. Click on an app you no longer want to see notifications from.
The most obvious option is to then turn the switch behind Allow notifications to turn off. From that moment on, it remains silent as far as this app is concerned.
It is also possible to fine-tune the notifications more. For example, if you always want to see the messages from a certain app (and do not have to swipe down on the screen first), you can click Choose strip style in front of Forever instead of the standard temporary. You then have to wipe messages yourself, but the chance that you will ever miss something important is a lot smaller.
You can also indicate whether or not you want to hear sound when a notification is placed from an app. Sometimes an app generates a lot of notifications (think of a news app in case of a major disaster) and you are way too distracted by all the beeps. In that case you can – temporarily or otherwise – switch the switch Sounds turn of. The notifications will continue to appear, but you will no longer hear them.
Get rid of the numbered red balls
For anyone who gets nervous about the red ball with unread messages (or notifications) from an app: turn the switch behind Badges from. That doesn’t affect the display of the notifications (which just stay in the notifications list and appear), but the nagging ball is gone.
Notifications can also be grouped, in principle you can just click this option Automatically to leave. If you do not want grouped notifications, the option can also be turned off completely if desired.
Finally, you can also indicate where notifications are shown. All three options are by default Lock screen, Notification center and Strips switched on.
For less important apps you could also choose to turn off Strips and (or) Lock screen. The messages will still remain traceable in the message center (swipe from top to bottom from the top edge of the screen to open it). In this way you can set everything per app according to your wishes and needs.
Automatic overview
below Notification you will also find the option Planned overview. By turning on the switch below that option, iOS (and iPadOS) can also group messages if desired and present such a group to you in one lump at regular intervals. With that, you might miss out on some real-time notifications that you thought were important. So it’s a matter of experimenting and considering whether you see something in this position.
Set focus schedule
What remains is that sometimes you just don’t want to be disturbed at all. Not a single message and few or no phone calls. For this, both iPhone and iPad the Focus function on board. Below that you will first find the manually switchable option Do not disturb.
Turn on the switch and – in the basic setting – there is no one to disturb you anymore. If you do want to receive important conversations from specific people, you can add them to the list below People. Click on it and then on add. Select the contacts that are allowed to ‘harass’ you and click Ready. For apps you can do the same via the block apps.
You can have any notifications shown on the lock screen (or not if you don’t want to be distracted at all), while that same lock screen is also dimmable. You arrange that via the option Access screen. If you have fixed working hours and do not want to be disturbed, you can also set a daily Focus schedule.
Switch
Finally, a quick silence tip for the iPhone. There is a small slide switch on the side of those devices. By persuading that you immediately switch on the Silent mode.
Also useful to know if you suddenly no longer hear ringing signals and notifications: most likely the switch has been moved by accident.
.