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A Simple Guide to Turning Off Apple’s AI Notification Summaries
With the introduction of iOS 18, Apple unveiled a sleek AI-powered feature that summarizes multiple notifications from the same app into a single card on your lock screen. This feature, part of the Apple Intelligence suite, aims to simplify your notification experience. But let’s face it—while the idea is great, the execution isn’t always perfect.
Sometimes, these summaries are hilariously inaccurate, and other times, they can be downright confusing. If you find them more of a hassle than a help, don’t worry—you can easily turn them off or tweak them to your liking.
Here’s a step-by-step guide to disabling or customizing Apple’s notification summaries on your iPhone, iPad, or Mac.
Turning Off Notification Summaries on iPhone or iPad
- Open Settings
Start by heading to your device’s Settings app. - Navigate to Notifications
Scroll down and tap on Notifications to access all your notification preferences. - Find Summarize Notifications
Look for the Summarize Notifications tab and tap on it. - Choose Your Preference
- Turn It Off Completely: If you want to disable AI-powered notification summaries for all apps, toggle the Summarize Notifications switch to the off position.
- Customize by App: If you only want to turn off summaries for certain apps, scroll through the list of apps, select the ones causing issues, and toggle off their summaries.
Disabling Notification Summaries on Mac
- Go to System Settings
Click the Apple menu in the top-left corner of your screen, then select System Settings from the dropdown. - Access Notifications Settings
In the sidebar, click on Notifications to open the notification preferences. - Adjust Summarize Notifications
- Turn off the Summarize Notifications feature entirely by toggling it off.
- To disable summaries for specific apps, browse the app list and toggle off the summaries for the apps you prefer.
Things to Keep in Mind
- No Category-Specific Options: Unfortunately, Apple doesn’t currently offer a way to turn off notification summaries based on app categories like News, Productivity, or Shopping.
- Apple’s Plans to Improve: Apple has acknowledged that the AI behind these summaries isn’t perfect. A future software update promises clearer labels to indicate summaries are AI-generated and may contain errors.
Why Turn Off Notification Summaries?
While Apple’s notification summaries can be handy, they’re not for everyone. Turning them off might give you a more straightforward and accurate notification experience—especially if you rely on precise details from apps.
Whether you’re opting out entirely or just making tweaks, this simple process ensures your notifications stay as helpful as possible without unnecessary AI guesswork getting in the way.
