Notifications on an iPhone come in a lot of shapes and sizes. You are probably familiar with the alerts that pop up on the screen, or the banners that slide down from the top of the screen. But if you aren’t familiar with badge app icons then you may be wondering “why is there a number on my YouTube icon?”
How to Get Rid of the Red Number on the YouTube App
- Open Settings.
- Choose Notifications.
- Select YouTube.
- Turn off the Badges option.
Our article continues below with additional information to answer the question of why is there a number on my YouTube icon, including pictures of these steps.
The app settings on your iPhone typically allow you to enable or disable many of the options that you might want to use.
Among these options are how the phone handles notifications from these apps. An installed iPhone app, such as the YouTube app, can alert you to information that might require your attention. These are called notifications. You may like them on some apps, but might them unnecessary on other apps.
The red circles with the numbers inside of them that you see on some of your iPhone apps are called Badge App Icons. Depending upon the app on which that icon appears, it may be telling you all sorts of different types of information. On the Mail app it’s the number of unread email messages you have, on the Phone app it’s a combination of missed called and voice messages, and on the YouTube app it’s the number of unread notifications that you have.
If you would prefer not to see that number on the app, then you are able to change the setting for the YouTube app’s badge app icon. Our tutorial below will show you where to find and disable that setting and make the number disappear from the app icon.
How to Disable the YouTube Badge App Icon on an iPhone (Guide with Pictures)
The steps in this article were performed on an iPhone 7 Plus in iOS 10.3.3. The same steps will also work for almost any other app for which you would like to remove that red circle with the number inside of it.
Step 1: Open the Settings app.
Step 2: Choose the Notifications item.
Step 3: Scroll down and select the YouTube option.
Step 4: Tap the button to the right of Badge App Icon.
In newer versions of iOS, such as iOS 14, this button now just says “Badges” instead.
Hopefully when you go back to your Home screen that number will be gone and you will have answered the question of why is there a number on my YouTube icon.
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More Information on How to Remove the Red Number from the YouTube App Icon
As we mentioned in our guide above, that number is called a badge app icon and indicates that you have a number of unread notifications. Many other apps use this type of notification, too, although it means different things for different apps.
In the Mail app on your iPhone, it indicates that you have that many unread emails. In the Messages app, you have that many unread text messages. However, if you see that number on the Settings app then you probably have an iOS update available to install.
While you can turn off the badge app notification for the YouTube app, those notifications are still there. You can see them by opening the YouTube app, then tapping the bell icon at the top of the screen. Note that simply tapping that bell icon and opening the notifications menu will mark them all as “read” which means that it will clear the badge app icon notification.
If you want to you can also choose to turn off all YouTube notifications as well. When you go to Settings > Notifications > YouTube there is an Allow Notifications switch at the top of the screen. When that is off it will disable every notification that the YouTube app tries to send.
Kermit Matthews is a freelance writer based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with more than a decade of experience writing technology guides. He has a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Computer Science and has spent much of his professional career in IT management.
He specializes in writing content about iPhones, Android devices, Microsoft Office, and many other popular applications and devices.
