As part of its digital health initiative in iOS 12, Apple has introduced some improvements to the way app notifications can be managed, enabling users to more easily reduce the number of daily distractions their iPhone or iPad throws their way.
One of these new features is called Instant Tuning, which allows you to quickly adjust the future behavior of app notifications whenever they appear in the Lock Screen or the Notifications Center. Here's how to make the most of it.
How to Use Instant Tuning in iOS 12
Next time an alert appears in your device's Notifications Center or on the Lock Screen, swipe left on it, then tap Manage. Alternatively, if your device supports 3D Touch, hard press on the alert and then tap the three dots in the upper right corner of the expanded notification.
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A Manage Notifications pop-up will appear on the screen featuring two blue button options. Deliver Quietly ensures future alerts from this app only appear in the Notification Center (accessed by swiping down from the top of your device's screen).
Note that selecting this option means alerts will no longer show in the Lock Screen and you won't see any banner notifications on any other screens. Deliver Quietly also turns off any sound or vibration alerts set for the associated app.
If you tap Deliver Quietly and then decide you'd rather not stick with the setting, open the Manage Notifications pop-up again in the same way and tap the Deliver Prominently button to reinstate the previous settings.
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The second option, Turn Off..., completely disables all notifications for the related app. Tap this button and you will be prompted to confirm it's what you want.
Below the two large blue buttons is a less prominent Settings button that takes you to the individual app's various notification options, usually accessed via the main Settings app.
From here you can adjust where alerts should appear (if at all), enable or disable sounds and badges, select alert preview options (Always, When Unlocked, Never) and choose how notifications should be grouped (Automatic, By App, Off).
Top Rated Comments
Why on earth would you want quiet notifications?
Is it really so hard to imagine? There are plenty of things that I'd like to know about but are not time sensitive and therefore do not wish to bother me with a chime or alert.The only difference between quiet notifications and no notifications is that quiet notifications adds them to a hidden app with no proper UI. The only time I ever open notification center is if I saw a banner that I was reading that hid itself too quickly. Without having it appear on the lock screen or as a banner, I'd never even know to open notification center to look for anything.
Why on earth would you want quiet notifications?
Surprise! Different people use their phones in different ways.The only difference between quiet notifications and no notifications is that quiet notifications adds them to a hidden app with no proper UI. The only time I ever open notification center is if I saw a banner that I was reading that hid itself too quickly. Without having it appear on the lock screen or as a banner, I'd never even know to open notification center to look for anything.
I’m loving this feature in the beta. I’ve changed most of my notifications to Deliver Quietly. I’m definately less distracted as a result, and when I want to catch up on what I’ve missed I just swipe down to reveal Notification Center and everything is there in one place. I can then either tap to open the relevant app or just dismiss the notifications if they’re not worthy of my time.
Yes, I get that you don't want to be bombarded with banners and sounds. In that case, you set the app to only display the badge on its icon, which Quiet Notifications disables.
So... don't use Quiet Notifications. Problem solved. I myself will probably for some things, but you are definitely not being forced to.With the badge, you know how many notifications you have waiting for you in the app, plus that little reminder that the app exists and has useful data. And then you launch it and it has a nice UI for showing you whatever it has.
With Notification Center, you don't know what's in there until you open it. You have no reminders that it exists or that it needs to be checked. And should you open it, the UI is garbage. Checking your email from a command line has a better UI than Notification Center.
The only time I ever open notification center is if I saw a banner that I was reading that hid itself too quickly. Without having it appear on the lock screen or as a banner, I'd never even know to open notification center to look for anything.
A reasonable assumption would be that if a rational person enabled Quiet Notifications for some Apps, they would periodically open Notification Center at a time of their choice when convenient to check for those Notifications, much like I periodically open email to check for mail since I have push/timed pull disabled (or else I would get non-stop email notices).