Digital Trends may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site. Why trust us?

Apple rumored to redesign notifications in iOS 16

By Michael Allison April 11, 2022

Apple is set to unveil iOS 16 in a few months at its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) 2022, and according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, the company may be tackling one of the major issues of iOS: Its awkward notification center. The company is not expected to make any sweeping changes in the vein of Android 12, however.

Man looking at notifications on his iPhone 12. — Dan Baker/Digital Trends

Apple’s handling of notifications in iOS has been criticized as being ill-thought-out for a few years now, especially in contrast to Android’s. “Android has evolved to make the notification tray, and notifications in general, as useful as possible, but trying to be productive in an iOS notification tray — although possible — is much more difficult,” Digital Trends’ Michael Heller noted in 2021, adding: “Conversely, iOS displays the illusion of simplicity while hoping you don’t notice the redundancies all around.”

The company had changed how notifications work by merging them with the lock screen in iOS 7, adding in bundled notifications, as well as a new notification summary with iOS 15, but it still hasn’t caught up to the immensely flexible and functional Android notification center.

Where Android works better is the snoozing, as well as more actionable notifications and more ways to see where an app has notified you or not, as well as a less messy interface in general. In other words, you have a lot of ways to see and manage your notifications. If Apple can implement a few things to bridge the gap between iOS and Android, or even create something that is better, it may be enough to lure some Android holdouts over to iOS.

It is not yet clear if Apple may debut any other sweeping interface changes to the operating system. Gurman says Apple is also expected to add in new health-tracking features and other unspecified but significant improvements.

Apple is expected to unveil iOS 16, MacOS 16, tvOS, and perhaps even a new operating system for its rumored headset in June.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics

Michael Allison

Mobile News Writer

A UK-based tech journalist for Digital Trends, helping keep track and make sense of the fast-paced world of tech with a…

Mobile

Apple and Google are teaming up to make tracking devices less creepy

Apple AirTag lifestyle image.

Apple and Google are partnering to develop a new standard for Bluetooth tracking devices that seeks to stop malicious stalking and other abusive use of gadgets like the Apple AirTag. Essentially, this would be a universal, OS-level tracker detection and alert system that will work uniformly across Android and iOS. The two companies are inviting stakeholders to review the proposal and submit their feedback within the next three months.

Once the feedback period is over, all the involved parties will work together to finalize the technical standardization, with the hope of releasing a market-ready version by the end of the year. Following the release and adoption by makers of tracking devices, the tech will be generally made available via a software update for Android and iOS devices.
Better late than never

Mobile

Your iPhone just got a first-of-its-kind security update

Deep Purple iPhone 14 Pro held in hand with a wooden gate in the background

Smartphone users should be completely accustomed to getting regular security updates to make sure that their data is protected. Now, Apple is simplifying things by introducing a new way to quickly update iPhone security without needing to push a full-on iOS update.

Apple has been running beta tests of its Rapid Security Responses (RSR) feature that's meant to make security patches easier. As of May 1, RSR has launched for all Apple device owners.

Mobile

5 hidden iPhone 14 Pro features you need to use

iPhone 14 Pro in Deep Purple, held in a mans hand.

Apple’s iPhone 14 Pro has been out for a while now, and we’re going to be getting the iPhone 15 lineup in several more months. But that doesn’t mean that the iPhone 14 Pro is a bad phone – in fact, it’s still incredibly powerful! You have the fast and snappy A16 Bionic chip that powers it all, the new always-on display, Dynamic Island, 48MP main camera, and more. And since it uses iOS 16, there are plenty of fun software things to check out as well.

But unless you know where to look, you may not be utilizing all of the cool features of the iPhone 14 Pro, or at least making the most out of it. We’ll show you some of the best features that you should be using on your iPhone.
Take photos in full 48MP resolution