Tim Hardwick
In iOS 18.1, Apple introduced an AI-powered notification summarization feature across all apps, which means your iPhone will automatically condense your alerts to show only the key details. The feature aims to reduce notification overload, but it doesn’t always work as advertised. Keep reading to learn how to control the feature.
Image source: r/AppleIntelligenceFail
Powered by Apple Intelligence, the new summarization feature analyzes the contents of notifications and creates shorter versions that highlight the most important information. It's enabled by default for compatible apps after completing the initial setup process in iOS 18.1.
While Apple’s AI summaries offer convenience, they’ve also produced some unexpectedly funny results. The system’s struggle with emotional context and tone recognition has led to some particularly funny summaries failing. As documented in places like the r/AppleIntelligenceFail subreddit, when the algorithm misinterprets sarcasm, lumps together unrelated notifications, or fails to understand logic, the results can be surprisingly funny (or not, depending on your sense of humor).
Customize or Disable Notification Summaries
Whether you’ve been confused or baffled by the summaries, or they just don’t fit your workflow, luckily you can disable the feature entirely or customize which apps use it. This gives you complete control over how your notifications appear on the Lock screen and in Notification Center on your iPhone.
- Open Settings on your iPhone.
- Scroll down and tap Notifications.
- Tap Summarize Previews.
- Turn off the switch at the top to turn off Summarize Previews completely. Alternatively, turn off the switches for just individual apps.
What you need to know about notification summaries
- Turning off summaries doesn’t affect other notification settings, like grouping or focus modes.
- This feature only works on devices that support Apple Intelligence (iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 models, iPad M series, iPad mini 7, and Mac computers with Apple Silicon).
- Turning off summaries immediately reverts notifications to their standard format.
- You can turn summaries back on at any time in Settings.
Remember that notification summaries are separate from the Notification Summary feature, which delivers scheduled batches of notifications at specific times. While they may seem similar, they serve different purposes in helping you manage notifications more effectively.
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