What are Badges on iPhone and How to Manage Them

What are Badges on iPhone and How to Manage Them

If you own an iPhone, you may have noticed some small red circles with numbers on some of your app icons.

These are called badges, and they are a way for your iPhone to notify you of new or unread information within an app.

In this article, we’ll explain what badges are, how they work, and how you can customize them to suit your preferences.

Illustration showing badges on an iPhone screen.
Exploring the concept of badges on iPhone: visual indicators that convey notifications and tasks. [PHOTO: Maclife]

What are badges on an iPhone?

Badges serve as visual cues indicating the presence of new or unread notifications or tasks within an application.

For instance, an unread text message prompts a badge displaying the number of unread messages on the Messages app icon.

This feature extends to various other applications, like Mail, Phone, and Calendar.

These badges play a pivotal role in helping users stay informed about critical updates and avoid overlooking any important information.

Moreover, they serve as gentle reminders, nudging users to engage with the app and address pending notifications or tasks.

Once the notifications are attended to, the badge automatically disappears from the respective app icon.

How to Turn Badges On or Off

You have the flexibility to customize which apps display badges and which ones do not. If you find badges distracting or bothersome, you can easily disable them following these steps:

  1. Launch the Settings app on your iPhone.
  2. Select Notifications.
  3. Choose the app for which you wish to manage badges.
  4. Toggle the switch next to Badges to enable or disable them. A green switch indicates badges are enabled, while a gray switch signifies badges are disabled.
  5. Repeat these steps for any other apps you wish to adjust badge settings for.

How to Customize Badges

You can enhance the appearance and functionality of badges on your iPhone by customizing their color, shape, size, and behavior.

However, to access these advanced customization options, you’ll need to utilize third-party apps or jailbreak tweaks designed for this purpose.

Here are some popular apps and tweaks that enable badge customization:

Color Badges

This app allows you to personalize badge colors to match app icons or notification hues.

Additionally, you can fine-tune brightness, contrast, and transparency settings.

Badge Bar

This tweak empowers you to relocate badges from app icons to the status bar.

Furthermore, you can tailor badge shapes, sizes, and alignments to suit your preferences.

Badgomizer

Offering extensive customization capabilities, this tweak enables adjustments to badge color, shape, size, position, font, and animation.

Moreover, you can assign distinct badge styles for different apps.

By leveraging these tools, you can tailor badges to your liking and elevate your iPhone’s visual experience.

Conclusion

Badges are a useful feature on your iPhone that help you stay informed and organized.

They show you the number of new or unread notifications or tasks within an app.

You can turn badges on or off for each app, or disable them completely.

You can also customize badges to make them look and work the way you want.

Badges are a simple but powerful way to enhance your iPhone experience.

ALSO READ: The Ultimate Guide to Taking Screenshots on iPhone 14: Step-by-Step Instructions

 

Leave a Comment