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How to Disable the Annoying Red Badge Alerts for Apps on Your iPhone's Home Screen

May 29, 2014 06:59 PM
Smartphone screen displaying various app icons including Gmail, Instagram, and Safari.

I don't read all of my emails, and even though it may sound a little bit odd, I don't listen to all of my voicemails either. For me, the problem isn't reading or listening to them, it's how it affects my iPhone's home screen.

Those little red circles with white numbers riddled throughout your home screen are called Badge App Icons, and their purpose is to let you know how many unread alerts you have for each particular app. Some of these Badge Alert Icons are on by default, as with the stock Phone and Mail apps.

Phone and app icons with notifications for calls and emails.

If you're like me and don't particularly care that you have over 13,000 unread emails, they're fairly easy to get rid of in iOS 7, whether you have an iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch.

How to Disable Badge App Icons for Mail

To get rid of the annoying 13,000+ unread messages alert for the Mail app on your home screen, simply go to the Notification Center section in your device's Settings menu and find the Mail app.

Settings menu on a smartphone showing options for Airplane Mode, Wi-Fi, Cellular, Personal Hotspot, Notification Center, and Do Not Disturb.
"Settings menu with Notification Center options on a smartphone."
Settings menu on a smartphone showing options for Airplane Mode, Wi-Fi, Cellular, Personal Hotspot, Notification Center, and Do Not Disturb.
"Settings menu with Notification Center options on a smartphone."

Since you might have multiple email accounts, like Gmail and iCloud, you'll have to select which account you want to disable badges for. After selecting the account, turn off Badge App Icon.

Email application settings menu on a smartphone.
Settings menu for email notifications on a smartphone.
Email application settings menu on a smartphone.
Settings menu for email notifications on a smartphone.

If you're using iOS 5 or 6, to disable Badge alerts, go to Settings, then Notifications, select Mail, and swipe Badge App Icon off.

How to Disable Badge App Icons for Phone & Other Apps

Turning off badges for Phone and other applications is a very similar process, except you won't have to choose between alternate accounts. Just find the app in the Notification Center settings (in this case, the Phone app) and disable Badge App Icon.

Notification center settings on a smartphone showing app options.
Settings menu for app notifications on a mobile phone.
Notification center settings on a smartphone showing app options.
Settings menu for app notifications on a mobile phone.

Again, for iOS 5 and 6, go to Settings, then Notifications, select the app you want, and swipe Badge App Icon off.

Your Home Screen, Now Clean & Clutter-Free

After disabling badges, you should no longer have the numbered icons lingering in the corner of your app icons. Instead, you'll have a nice, clean home screen.

Smartphone app icons for Phone, Mail, Safari, and Music with notification badges.

Before

Phone, Mail, Safari, Music app icons

After

Smartphone app icons for Phone, Mail, Safari, and Music with notification badges.

Before

Phone, Mail, Safari, Music app icons

After

This is great for all those apps that you use, but don't necessary clear alerts for. For me, Mail and Phone are the biggest culprits, but Facebook and Twitter can also be annoying. Plus, disabling Badge Alerts can potentially save you a little battery power on your iPhone.

If You Still Want to Be Notified of New Alerts...

Now, if you're afraid of missing important messages and still want to see new alerts for particular apps, you still have options.

In the same settings menu for each app, you can enable Sounds, which will give a sound or vibration when new alerts come in, Banners, which are new notifications that appear at the top of the screen, or Alerts, which appear in the middle of the screen.

Settings menu displaying options for app notifications and styles on a smartphone.
Notification settings on a mobile device displaying options for recent items.
Settings menu displaying options for app notifications and styles on a smartphone.
Notification settings on a mobile device displaying options for recent items.

If those sound distracting, you can always make sure Show in Notification Center and/or Show on Lock Screen are enabled for each app.

The next big software update for iPhone is coming sometime in April and will include a Food section in Apple News+, an easy-to-miss new Ambient Music app, Priority Notifications thanks to Apple Intelligence, and updates to apps like Mail, Photos, Podcasts, and Safari. See what else is coming to your iPhone with the iOS 18.4 update.

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