Apple is constantly expanding their notifications system because users keep finding new uses for them. For most people, notifications are the first thing they see when they look at their phone. They can be helpful, but that doesn’t mean that you need one for every piece of information that goes through your phone.
Luckily, you have options. From disabling notifications all-together to choosing exactly how you are notified, here are a few ways to ensure you get exactly the information you need whenever you receive a notice.
Find the Notifications Center
1. Open the Settings menu on your device. Once there, select “Notifications.”
2. This is the home of all those pesky – and not so pesky – notifications you receive. From here, you can do quite a few different things.
Disable or Modify a Single Notification
1. From the Notifications menu, select the app you wish to disable notices for.
2. On the following screen, just toggle “Allow Notifications” to the “Off” position.
3. Alternatively, you can choose to disable specific app notifications from appearing on your lock screen. This is particularly handy for those who want to keep prying eyes from knowing how your online dating life is going.
4. You’re done! Simple, right? But let’s say that you want to do something more complicated than just turn a notification off.
Change the Type of Notifications You Receive
1. From the Notifications menu, select the app you want to manage notifications for.
2. At the bottom of the screen, you’ll see an area marked “Alert Style When Unlocked.” Here, you can choose to receive no notifications when unlocked, Banner notifications that drop down and automatically go away, and classic style Alerts that are there until you dismiss them. Simply touch your preferred style.
3. Of course, not all apps are created equally. Your messaging app, for instance, allows you to toggle whether or not you receive a preview of the app notification on your lock screen. You’ll find this option located below the Alert Style options in any app that makes it available.
Remove Your Lock Screen’s Today View, Notification Screen, and Reply With Messages Options
1. This is especially helpful for the latest versions of iOS which implemented some notification screen changes people aren’t fond of.
2. First, open up Settings. From there, navigate to “Touch ID and Passcode.” Enter your passcode on the next screen
3. Here, you will see the option to disable several Lock Screen views. Disabling “Today View” will turn off your customized Today view section which includes weather, news, and anything else you’ve chosen to have appear there.
4. If you want to customize your Today view instead, you can do so by scrolling to the bottom of the Today view and selecting “Edit.”
5. If you want to skip the customization options and just disable lock screen notifications outright, simply disable Notifications View.
6. Finally, if you’d like to remove the ability to reply to messages directly from your lock screen, you can do so by disabling “Reply with Message.” This will prevent anyone from possibly replying to a message on your behalf without having to unlock your phone
Create Your Own Vibration Notification Patterns
1. This is an old trick, but a good one. First, go to Settings and open up the “Sounds” menu. From here, choose the type of notification or alert that you want to set a custom vibration for.
2. Next, choose “Vibration” for your alert type. At the bottom of the following screen, choose “Create New Vibration.”
3. Here, you simply tap the screen to whatever rhythm you’d like. When you’re done, select stop, save your vibration and give it a name.
4. This feature is particularly useful if you want to be able to separate certain notifications and alerts from the general clutter without checking your phone. That way, you don’t have to look at your phone during a meeting just to see if that was a Tweet or that phone call you’ve been waiting for.
Remember that these are just a few of the options available to you. From apps that allow you to build your own notifications to options that ensure you are the master of your calendar, you’ll find that notifications can easily go from annoyance to essential as long as you take control of them.
Leave a Reply