How to Disable Memories Alerts in iOS 12 - MacRumors
Skip to Content

How to Disable Memories Alerts in iOS 12

by

photos iconHave you ever woken up to your iPhone or iPad alerting you to the fact that "You Have a New Memory" on this day, in the form of photos and videos you shot years ago? If the answer is yes, you've been the willing (or unwilling) recipient of a Photos feature notification called Memories.

In iOS 12, the Photos app automatically curates photos and videos that you've taken into specific memory collections. Essentially, these are homemade movies of past events like family gatherings or vacations which your device generates without any input required on your part (although you can edit them).

Despite Apple's good intentions, the risks inherent in its Memories feature are pretty obvious. So if you're less than enthusiastic about the idea of your iOS device digging up bygones from the annals of your Photo library, here's how to switch off those Memory alerts.

How to Disable Memories Alerts in iOS 12

  1. Launch the Settings app on your iPhone or iPad.
    how to disable memories alerts in ios 12 01

  2. Tap Notifications.
  3. Select Photos from the list of apps.
    how to disable memories alerts in ios 12 02

  4. Tap Memories.
  5. Toggle the Allow Notifications switch to the OFF position.

Note that this doesn't disable the automatic Memories feature, which will still appear in the Photos app's For You tab, but at least you won't receive unexpected reminders about events that you intentionally consigned to the history books long ago.

Related Forum: iOS 12

Top Rated Comments

Seoras Avatar
101 months ago
Memories has to be one of best things Apple has done for its users. My kids love seeing the Memories of themselves (I've tagged their faces and "it" finds them in my pictures and makes great videos with music).

As a parent you take 1000's of photos of your kids but you rarely take a chance to look back over them. Memories is a fabulous way to enjoy exactly that - memories. It's especially good if you have an Apple TV. Makes great family viewing once a month I find.

Yet there will be those who will gripe, especially here on MR, about interference, annoyance and just general negativity towards anything Apple does. I seriously doubt most of the posters on MR forums are genuine apple users. If they were they'd have moved off onto some other company's platform long ago where I'm sure they'll find it's all fluffy clouds and unicorns of tech goodies and empowerment and root access for their mother.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
sfobear Avatar
101 months ago
What would be even better is Apple letting me take care of my own photos.

Let me decide what albums I want to see, if I want collections of people created automatically, if I want to have albums by filters, and all the other stupid add ons they force on my content trying to make Photos "friendly" (or more accurately I suspect, demo-able).
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
101 months ago
Are there any simple alternatives for the Photos app like iOS 5.0? I do not want “memories” or algorithms to analyze my photos for faces and objects and I sure as hell hate swiping up (or on that scrolling thing) and it showing photos I don’t want to show.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Porco Avatar
101 months ago
‘You have a new memory’

Oh good, I’d forgotten. :rolleyes:
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
iSayuSay Avatar
101 months ago
Did I miss something in iOS? Is there no DELETE button for photos if they make you that ***** miserable?

A lot of high and mighty retorts to my post with really little content other than the usual tripe from under a stoney bridge somewhere in neverland.

Memories is awesome.
If your life sucks that much it 'aint my problem or Apples.
Suck it up and sort it out instead of landing it on someone else as their responsibility to make you happy.
Or you can just comprehend and read the whole article to the point of sentence

“Despite Apple's good intentions, the risks inherent in its Memories feature are pretty obvious. So if you're less than enthusiastic about the idea of your iOS device digging up bygones from the annals of your Photo library, here's how to switch off those Memory alerts."

I don't need someone to make me happy, but **** happens and this is a good article for someone who FOR SOME REASON needs to disable Photo memories.
Those heartbreaking photos may not be the brightest moment of your life. But would you delete the last photos of deceased friend or family member? You might wanna keep it, but don't want to reflect back by the time it appears on Memories. Like I said, life is not just black and white moments.

Just because you think it's awesome doesn't mean everyone have to like it. Hey no need to be so bitter, you have a perfectly happy life and happy kids, remember? LOL
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Brien Avatar
101 months ago
Memories has to be one of best things Apple has done for its users. My kids love seeing the Memories of themselves (I've tagged their faces and "it" finds them in my pictures and makes great videos with music).

As a parent you take 1000's of photos of your kids but you rarely take a chance to look back over them. Memories is a fabulous way to enjoy exactly that - memories. It's especially good if you have an Apple TV. Makes great family viewing once a month I find.

Yet there will be those who will gripe, especially here on MR, about interference, annoyance and just general negativity towards anything Apple does. I seriously doubt most of the posters on MR forums are genuine apple users. If they were they'd have moved off onto some other company's platform long ago where I'm sure they'll find it's all fluffy clouds and unicorns of tech goodies and empowerment and root access for their mother.
Some of us don’t want or need all these smart features. I’d much prefer a barebones camera roll and nothing else.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

General iCloud App Feature

iCloud, Photos, Find My and More Experiencing Issues

Tuesday August 18, 2026 1:56 pm PDT by
Several iCloud services are experiencing issues, according to Apple's system status page. Find My, Game Center, Photos, iCloud Calendar, iCloud Mail, iCloud Contacts, iCloud Web Apps, and iWork for iCloud are all experiencing service interruptions. Apple says only some users may run into problems. The issue started at 3:33 p.m. Eastern Time and is...
General iCloud App Feature

iOS 27 Shared Albums Go Full Res at the Cost of Your iCloud Storage

Thursday August 20, 2026 5:48 am PDT by
In iOS 27, new Shared Albums you create in the Photos app retain full-resolution quality for the first time, but they now eat into your iCloud storage – and that includes any items added by other people invited to contribute. Currently, photos in a Shared Album are automatically reduced to 2,048 pixels on the long edge (except for panoramic photos, which can be up to 5,400 pixels wide)....
foldable iphone boards

Alleged Foldable iPhone Motherboard Photos Surface Online

Wednesday August 26, 2026 4:33 am PDT by
Images and video claiming to show circuitry from Apple's upcoming foldable iPhone are circulating on X and Chinese social media platforms. For example, on X, the user "LusiRoy7" posted a short video alongside an image, as well as a labeled composite image identifying components, purportedly depicting the motherboard of Apple's foldable iPhone. The image appears to show the CPU, a hinge...