You’ve probably noticed that there is a red circle with a white number inside it on a few of your iPhone apps. This is called a Badge App Icon, and it’s a type of notification that lets you easily tell if you have some missed information in a particular app. When there’s a Badge App Icon on the Mail app, that indicates the number of unread emails you have. If you see one on the Settings menu, that means you have an iOS update available.
If you see the icon on your Messages app, it lets you know that you have that many unread text messages. However, many people dislike these badge app icons, and would prefer not to display them. Fortunately this is a notification setting that you can enable or disable at will. Our guide below will show you how to turn off the badge app icon for the Messages app.
If you’ve been exploring the message settings on your iPhone, then you may want to read our what does hide alerts mean article to see if it’s something you want to use.
How to Disable the Badge App Icon for the iPhone Messages App
The steps in this article were performed on an iPhone 7 Plus, in iOS 10.3.3. This is going to stop the white number in the red circle from appearing at the corner of your Messages app. This will not affect any of the other apps on your iPhone, unless you also choose to turn off the badge app icon for those apps, too.
Step 1: Open the Settings menu.
Step 2: Choose the Notifications option.
Step 3: Scroll down and select the Messages option.
Step 4: Tap the button to the right of Badge App Icon to turn it off. I have turned off the Badge App Icon in the picture below.
Does it seem like you are missing older text messages on your iPhone, but you don’t remember deleting them? Find out how to stop your iPhone from automatically deleting text on your device and instead keep them all until you elect to delete them manually.
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.