Notifications are a very useful feature in and of themselves. But gradually, with the increase in the number of applications, there are so many messages that appear that it becomes annoying. Obviously, something needs to be done about this. And with the release of iOS 15, two options appeared at once to save the user from unnecessary notifications and annoying messages. One of the features is actually the improved Do Not Disturb mode that was present in past iOS releases. The second is a custom filter that can process all messages generated by a smartphone.
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In the current versions of iOS, in general, a lot of attention is paid to fine-tuning the system, for example, the “Focus” mode. But the system notifications block has also changed for the better. It must be said that both functions slightly overlap each other. If you do not like using the Focus mode, then you can start processing notifications with the exception of unnecessary ones using the Summary.
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Classification of notifications in iOS
To better manage notifications in iOS 15, Apple developers created a priority system with multiple levels. More specifically, in iOS, notifications can now have one of four priority levels. Let’s talk about them in more detail:
- Passive notifications… The most insignificant messages sent by various games and other not very important applications have a similar level. It is believed that these notifications should not distract the user from his business or work. For example, such a message may inform us about the appearance of new levels or some content in the game, about the progress of the application development, or remind us to rate the program in the App Store.
- Active notifications. These messages are already of higher priority. This is the type of priority that is set by default for all types of notifications in iOS. If the iPhone or iPad has default settings, then such messages will not be able to bypass the configured and activated user focus mode. Only some written exception can prevent this.
- Time-sensitive notifications. This level is assigned to important messages that the user should see immediately. Notifications with this priority are able to interrupt the set focus mode and be displayed to the user as quickly as possible. For example, it can be a bank notification, a signal from a smart home, some important information regarding the health of the owner.
- Critical notifications. As the name suggests, this priority level is set for the most critical messages. They are not disturbed not only by the active focusing mode, but even by the silent mode installed on the iPhone. For notifications to receive this high priority in the app, Apple’s consent must be obtained. Obviously, emergency warning systems or meteorological programs will receive this status.
Application developers have the ability to prioritize their notifications. Already the algorithms of the program itself will choose whether to make the message important and immediately display it on the screen, or not let it break the focusing mode, postponing sending it until later.
IOS developers encourage colleagues to exercise autonomy, but they recommend not overusing it and prioritizing apparently useless messages. And sooner or later, all applications in general will switch to giving their notifications a specific priority level: passive, active, or time-sensitive.
In the first two cases, notifications will wait until the focus mode ends or the notification summary is triggered, while urgent notifications can be displayed instantly. Currently, only standard iOS apps prioritize notifications.
The notifications in the summary are automatically sorted by priority, with the most important ones displayed at the top.
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How do I set up scheduled notifications on my iPhone or iPad?
If you do not want to see annoying notifications at a certain time, you can turn them off by setting a schedule.
To do this, follow the path Settings → Notifications → Scheduled delivery…
At the very top, activate the switch, which is responsible for the operation of the function, then a menu with additional options will appear below.
Time intervals for delivery of notifications can be set in the section “Schedule”… They are called summaries themselves. In total, 12 such notification delivery intervals can be configured here. For example, it might be prudent to allow your smartphone to display messages in the morning, during lunch, in the evening, or before bed. If you have a very busy work schedule, then you can ask the iPhone to notify you at the end of each hour, pupils or students can set an output during the break between classes.
To add an additional summary, click the button “+ Add summary”…
Pay attention to the switch “Show next bulletin”… With its activation, you can view the next summary of notifications not only at the appointed time, but also at a convenient time for you. To do this, you just need to swipe up and down in the Control Center or on the lock screen. This way you can see all the messages that accumulated before the bulletin was triggered.
Now let’s talk about the section “Attachments in summary”… Here are all the programs that have sent you notifications lately. In this case, the list can be sorted both by the average number of messages per day, and in alphabetical order. It is worth activating the switch in front of the selected application, as it will no longer instantly send you notifications from it. Now these messages will find their place in the bulletins, the display time of which can be set above.
It would be logical to use this opportunity and leave the right to send notifications only to the most important programs and utilities. The rest will put messages in the summary so that they can be viewed at a convenient time for the user.
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How to set up notifications for a specific application?
There is another way to configure application notifications, for this you need to go to its settings section in Settings → Notifications → <Ваше приложение>…
Here you need to pay attention to the section “Delivery of notifications”, which just offers to select the desired option for the appearance of messages on the screen. “Instant delivery” allows you to display notifications without any delay, alternative – “Delivery on schedule”… This option will be active when the schedule summary is enabled.
In the first case, you will see the usual list of parameters for notifications.
If you choose to deliver on a schedule, you will be able to enable or disable the display of red circles on icons (badges), as well as customize the appearance of banners on the locked iPhone screen. There is also a link button for changing the schedule of the summary.
For some applications, new switches will become available in the settings: Urgent notifications and / or Important alerts. While such options can be seen only in standard iOS applications, the options make it possible to display time-sensitive or critical notifications, which we have already discussed in this article.
Developers will later add similar switches to their programs, while users will be able to set priorities themselves, sending some messages to the summary, and receiving important or urgent messages without delay.
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What do the new lock screen notification options look like?
Starting with iOS 15, the interaction with banners on the locked screen of the iPhone or iPad has also changed. Now by sliding the notification banner to the left, a button will appear “Parameters”… By clicking on it, a menu will appear with a choice of several available actions.
- Turn off for 1 hour… Notifications from this app will not bother you for an hour. This option has the same effect as the “Do not disturb”…
- Turn off for today… Until the end of the day, you will not receive any notifications from the program.
- Add to summary… The notification will be sent to the bulletin for further processing at the allotted time. You seem to postpone the message for later, it will be shown the next time the summary is shown. This is convenient enough to clear a message without forgetting to reply to it. Otherwise, it will be temporarily hidden and will not interfere with further work. However, this menu item will be available only after activating the summary and configuring the schedule.
By itself, this option is so convenient that it is worth activating the notification summary for its sake. You may not even add any attachments there, but it will already be possible to forward messages to the summary that you will be ready to reply to later.
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