Setting up Notification Center on iOS 5
By Charles Starrett
Contributing Editor
Published: Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Tips Categories: iPad, iPhone, iPod
Among all the features and improvements in iOS 5, the revamped Notifications system—dubbed Notification Center—is one of the most anticipated and welcome. Like a lot of things, while it’s good out of the box, it can be even better if you take a little time to configure it to match your priorities and preferences. To do so, simply open the Settings app and tap on Notifications. You’ll be taken to a view that lets you choose how you’d like the apps to be sorted, and shows you which apps are in Notification Center and which aren’t. Tapping on any of the apps brings up a view with even more options, letting you decide whether it appears in Notification Center, how many updates to show if it does, what type of on-screen alert you’d like the app to present—you can choose between old-school, screen-blocking alerts, sleek, top-of-the-screen banners, or none at all—whether or not you want the red, numbered update badge to appear on the app’s icon, and whether or not its notifications appear on the lock screen. It might take a few minutes to get everything set up to your liking, but the first time a relatively minor notification comes in, appears briefly at the top of the screen—you can even swipe to the left on the banners to make them disappear more quickly—and leaves you, uninterrupted, right where you were, it’ll all be worth it.
Recent Tips
- Restricting web access in iOS 7
- Advanced Mail searching in iOS 7
- Using Smart Mailboxes in iOS 7 Mail
- Changing Siri’s voice
- Search the web from your iPhone home screen
- Fix iPhone battery + crash issues by reinstalling apps
- Adjusting the location alert radius in iOS Reminders
- Redeeming Gift Cards using your camera
- Zooming in Google Maps with one finger
- iOS 7: Blocking inbound calls and messages
- iOS 7: Monitoring and Controlling Cellular Data Use
- Organizing Home Videos in iTunes
- Storing Google Maps for offline use
- iOS 7: Changing the Mail Flag icon
- iOS 7: Displaying Shortened Names
- Browsing Photos and Videos in Messages
- iOS 7: Enabling or Disabling Automatic App Updates
- Turning off Parallax in iOS 7
- Sending more than five photos via e-mail
- Shuffling music by Genre in iOS 7
- Remove your old backups after upgrading your iPhone
- Transferring your passwords to your new iPhone
- iOS 7: Securing the Lock Screen
- Preparing for iOS 7
- Reporting iMessage Spam
- Displaying traffic info in Apple Maps
- Saving battery by closing background apps
- Copying results from the iOS Calculator
- Dealing with a blank updates screen in App Store
- Restoring the default Home Screen layout
- See all Tips. »
Comments
If you have a comment, news tip, advertising inquiry, or coverage request, a question about iPods/iPhones/iPad or accessories, or if you sell or market iPod/iPhone/iPad products or services, read iLounge's Comments + Questions policies before posting, and fully identify yourself if you do. We will delete comments containing advertising, astroturfing, trolling, personal attacks, offensive language, or other objectionable content, then ban and/or publicly identify violators.
Recent News
- Congress passes bill to legalize phone unlocking
- Bose sues Beats over noise-canceling patents
- iLounge Game Spotlight: Modern Combat 5: Blackout
- Apps of the Week: ShipAntics, Modern Combat 5, This American Life 3.0 + more
- Report: Apple could launch own mobile wallet this fall
- Report: Apple ‘tentatively’ plans mid-September iPhone event
- Apple faces class action suit in California for labor violations
- Apple, AT&T now sending $40 checks to some iPad 3G owners
- Apple denies iOS “back door” access in new report
- Notes from Apple’s Q3 2014 earnings call
Recent Reviews
- Incipio offGRID Smart Bluetooth Low Energy-Enabled Portable 6000mAh Backup Battery
- Divoom Voombox Travel Rugged Portable Wireless Speaker
- Logitech protection+ for iPhone 5/5s and +trip
- Beats Powerbeats2 Wireless
- Incipio Steno Ultra-Thin Bluetooth Keyboard Folio for iPad Air
- OtterBox Resurgence Power Case for iPhone 5/5s
- Gumdrop Cases FoamTech Case for iPad Air
- Ztylus Camera Case + RV-2 Revolver Lens for iPhone 5/5s
- JBL Synchros Reflect In-Ear Sport Headphones
- JBL Synchros E50BT Over-Ear Headphones
Recent Articles
- What’s New in iTunes 12
- iLounge Picks: Five Great Summer Party Speakers
- Editorial: Endings And Beginnings
- Live From CE Week 2014: Brand New iPad, iPhone + Mac Accessories!
- What’s New In iOS 8 For iPad, iPhone + iPod touch
- iLounge Multi-Editorial: WWDC 2014’s iOS 8, OS X Yosemite + More
- The Complete Guide to Apple TV Channels
- iHistory: From iPod + iTunes to iPhone, Apple TV + iPad, 2001 to 2010
- iHistory: From iPod + iTunes to iPhone, Apple TV + iPad: 2011 to Today
- Viewing only downloaded iTunes Match tracks
1
Love the new notification center, probably one of the biggest improvements in iOS 5 with repstect to 4.X.
Although there seems to be some problem at least in my iphone, an upgraded iPhone 4. When I re-sort the apps included in the Notification center the new sorting is not stored and if I exit from the Notification center setting and enter again the apps are sorted as they were before I modified it. Anyone else having the same problem?
Posted by smiduri on October 20, 2011 at 1:20 AM (PDT)