Alerts and notifications can show on your iPhone's home screen via sound, banner, or pop-up window, displaying messages and reminders from texts, emails, phone messages, and a host of other information from your resident apps. Notifications are one thing. Notification badges are quite another. You can receive notifications with or without the Red Badge of Shame plastered to the upper-right corner of your app icon.
What are notification badges? They're the red dot, usually with a number inside, showing how many notifications you have received in any given app. Badges can appear on the app icons of your home screen, in the App Library, or on both or neither. Badges are useful in some circumstances, but they can also be annoying, provoke anxiety, and clutter up your pristine device screen. We'll show you how to control notification badges in iOS 16 while still letting you easily track the important events in your life.
Show or hide notification badges on your home screen
In most iOS versions, including the latest iOS 16, you control notifications via Settings, where you can enable or disable them with a toggle, as well as specify how they should look and when and where they can appear. You can choose the look, location, and duration of banners, control audio alerts, and choose how and when to view notification badges.
Step 1: Open the Settings app.
Step 2: Tap Notifications.
Step 3: Observe the list of apps under Notification style.
Step 4: Each app notification is handled separately, so review the settings by tapping each app one by one.
Step 5: Within each app, you will see a list of options. To get rid of the badge, toggle the Badges option off.
Show or hide notification badges in App Library
By default, notification counters do not appear in the App Library. Many iPhone users prefer to minimize the number of apps on the home screen via the use of the App Library, so if you prefer to see numbered alert badges while using the library, you must enable this option. Here's how to do it.
Step 1: Launch the Settings app on your iPhone or iPad.
Step 2: Tap Home screen.
Step 3: In the Notification badges section, toggle on the switch for Show in App Library.
Step 4: If seeing the badge in your App Library is preferable, just switch the toggle back on for the full effect.
How to disable app notification badges in Focus mode
The iPhone's Focus mode blocks incoming notifications, but it still can allow the red counter badges to appear on your home screen app icons. You can set your Focus mode to hide them when active. Here's how.
Step 1: Launch the Settings app and select Focus.
Step 2: Tap Do not disturb.
Step 3: Tap Options.
Step 4: Toggle on the Hide notification badges switch.
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