Phones are loud. They buzz in your pocket during dinner, light up your nightstand at 3:00 AM because of a random LinkedIn update, and basically demand your attention every four minutes. Honestly, the default settings on iOS are a nightmare for anyone trying to actually get work done. If you want to turn off notifications on iPhone, you've probably realized that Apple doesn't make it a "one-click" fix. It’s more of a strategic teardown of how your apps talk to you.
I’ve spent years digging through iOS menus. Every time a new update drops, Apple sneaks in a new way for a random app to ping you about a sale you don't care about. You don't have to live like this. You can actually reclaim your lock screen without throwing the whole device in a lake.
The nuclear option: Muting everything at once
Sometimes you just need the world to shut up. Right now. If you're looking for the fastest way to stop the bleeding, you're looking for Do Not Disturb or the broader Focus Modes.
Swipe down from the top-right corner of your screen (or up from the bottom if you're rocking an older iPhone with a Home button). See that moon icon? Tap it. Boom. Silence. But there is a catch. People often think this "turns off" notifications. It doesn't. It just hides them. They're still piling up behind the curtain, waiting to pounce the moment you toggle that switch back off.
Focus Modes, introduced back in iOS 15, took this a step further. You can now set up specific profiles for "Work," "Sleep," or even "Gaming." According to Apple’s own human interface guidelines, these are meant to filter signal from noise. You can literally tell your iPhone, "Hey, only let my mom and my boss reach me between 9 and 5." It’s powerful, but it requires setup time that most people skip.
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How to turn off notifications on iPhone for specific annoying apps
We all have that one app. For me, it was a local news app that felt the need to tell me about every fender bender in a three-county radius. To kill these specifically, you have to go into the belly of the beast: the Settings app.
Scroll down to Notifications. You’ll see a list of every single app installed on your device. It’s a long list. It’s also a hall of shame for every developer who thinks their "daily rewards" are more important than your focus. Tap an app. Toggle the "Allow Notifications" switch to off. Done.
But maybe you don't want to kill it entirely?
There is a middle ground. You can keep the notifications but stop them from making noise. Or stop them from showing up on the Lock Screen but keep them in the Notification Center.
- Lock Screen: The notification shows up while the phone is locked.
- Notification Center: It stays hidden until you swipe down from the top.
- Banners: That little pop-up that appears while you’re actually using the phone.
I personally turn off "Banners" for almost everything. It’s the single biggest distraction when you’re trying to read an article or send an email. If you're curious about the psychological impact of these pings, researchers like Dr. Larry Rosen, a psychologist who specializes in the "distracted mind," have noted that even a silent vibration can trigger a spike in cortisol. Your brain knows something is happening. It wants to know what. By turning off the visual banner, you break that immediate "must-check-now" loop.
The Scheduled Summary: A better way to live
If you’re not ready to go totally dark, Apple’s Scheduled Summary is probably the best feature they’ve added in the last five years. It’s tucked away at the top of the Notifications menu.
Instead of getting 40 separate pings from Instagram or ESPN throughout the day, you can bundle them. You tell the iPhone to deliver a "digest" at 8:00 AM and maybe another at 6:00 PM. It’s a game changer. You still see what happened, but you see it on your schedule.
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High-priority stuff—like phone calls, direct messages, or "Time Sensitive" alerts—still breaks through. Everything else just waits patiently in the summary. It's the most "human" way to handle the digital onslaught.
Managing the "Red Dots" (Badge App Icons)
The red dots. The badges. Those little numbers that tell you that you have 4,382 unread emails. They are designed to stress you out.
If you want to truly turn off notifications on iPhone in a way that helps your mental health, you have to kill the badges. You do this in the same menu where you toggle the banners. Scroll down to an app in the Notifications settings and toggle off "Badges."
Suddenly, your home screen is clean. No more red numbers screaming for your attention. You open the apps when you want to, not because a little red circle is nagging you.
Critical Alerts and the "Hidden" Notifications
There is one type of notification you can't always get rid of easily: Critical Alerts. These are mostly for things like severe weather, health device monitors (like glucose trackers), or home security alarms.
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Apps have to get special permission from Apple to send these. They will bypass your mute switch. They will bypass Do Not Disturb. If your house is on fire or a tornado is coming, your iPhone is going to make noise. You can usually toggle these within the specific app's own internal settings, but honestly, you probably should leave those on.
Why your iPhone keeps waking up
Ever notice your screen lights up just because you picked it up? That’s "Raise to Wake." It’s not technically a notification, but it makes notifications feel more intrusive. If you want a truly dark screen, go to Settings > Display & Brightness and turn off Raise to Wake.
Combine this with "Silence Notifications: Always" in the Do Not Disturb settings, and your phone will finally stay black and quiet until you intentionally press a button.
Making it stick: A practical workflow
Don't try to fix every app at once. It’s boring and you’ll give up halfway through. Instead, do a "Notification Audit" over the next 24 hours. Every time your phone buzzes and it’s something you didn't actually need to know right that second, swipe left on that notification on your lock screen.
Tap Options.
You’ll see a few choices: "Mute for 1 Hour," "Mute for Today," or "Turn Off." Hit "Turn Off." If you do this consistently for one day, you’ll have silenced 90% of the junk that interrupts your life.
It's also worth checking your Mail settings specifically. Most people have "Push" turned on for email. This means every single newsletter, receipt, and spam message triggers a notification. Switch your mail to "Fetch" (where it only checks every 15 or 30 minutes) or "Manual." Your battery will thank you, and your brain will too.
Actionable Next Steps to Take Right Now:
- Open Settings > Notifications and immediately turn off "Badges" for your email and social media apps.
- Enable Scheduled Summary for all your non-essential apps like news, shopping, and games. Set the delivery for a time when you’re actually relaxed, like after dinner.
- Go to Settings > Focus and set up a "Work" profile that only allows calls from your "Favorites" list.
- Audit the Lock Screen. Swipe left on the next useless notification you get and use the "Options" menu to silence that app forever.
Managing your digital space isn't about being unreachable. It's about being intentional. When you turn off notifications on iPhone, you aren't just silencing a device; you're protecting your ability to think without being interrupted by a marketing algorithm.