Notifications are a problem. In a ceaseless bid to capture as much of your attention as possible, apps will notify you ad nauseam about every little thing. You can go to Settings > Notifications and change a lot of settings to limit this on a per-app basis, but let’s face it, not many people do.
What’s worse, the never-ending scroll of notification bubbles quickly consumes your lock screen, covering up whatever touching photos or cool artwork you have there. Now that Apple lets you customize your Lock Screen in iOS 16, it’s having none of that! You can choose from three options for how notifications appear on your lock screen, two of which are designed not to take up much space.
Start swiping and pinching
There are three possible views for notifications on the Lock Screen: Count, Stack, and List. List is the expanded, scrolling list of individual bubbles that we’ve always had on iOS. If you’re averse to change, that’s what you want.
Stack is a small, well, stack of notifications. They fade into the distance below, with the most recent notifications on top.
Count is the ultimate in simplicity. It places a small bit of text at the bottom of the lock screen showing how many notifications you have, and that’s it. If you think you might be spending a little too much time with your phone, or if you just don’t want anything cluttering up your beautiful new custom lock screen, it could be worth a try.
If you want to change between views you can do it right on the Lock Screen. When you’re in Count view, you can swipe up or pinch out on the notification list to switch to Stack mode. When you’re in Stack mode, you can swipe up to see your notifications in List mode or pinch out to change the view to List. In List view, you can pinch in or swipe down to switch back to the prior view.
Change how Notifications are displayed in Settings
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You can also change the way notifications are displayed on the lock screen in the Settings app. This is an easier method that requires no guesswork—just pick the view you want from the images. Open Settings, then tap Notifications. At the top of the screen you’ll find the options for Count, List, or Stack view, with icons indicating what they look like. Pick the one you like and your Lock Screen will show that view the next time you lock your phone.
Read about all the new features coming with iOS 16 in our complete guide to the iOS 16 iPhone update.
Author: Jason Cross, Senior Editor
I have written about technology for my entire professional life - over 25 years. I enjoy learning about how complicated technology works and explaining it in a way anyone can understand.