Source: Apple Inc. Canonical content at https://developer.apple.com/design/human-interface-guidelines/notifications. This file is a structured index of that content, snapshot 2025-02-02. Apple HIG text and imagery are © Apple Inc.; this repository provides organization and cross-referencing for AI agent consumption only.
Notifications
Anatomy
A banner or view on a Lock Screen, Home Screen, Home View, or desktop
A badge on an app icon
An item in Notification Center
Best practices
Provide concise, informative notifications.
Avoid sending multiple notifications for the same thing, even if someone hasn’t responded.
Avoid sending a notification that tells people to perform specific tasks within your app.
Use an alert — not a notification — to display an error message.
Handle notifications gracefully when your app is in the foreground.
Avoid including sensitive, personal, or confidential information in a notification.
Content
Create a short title if it provides context for the notification content.
Write succinct, easy-to-read notification content.
Provide generically descriptive text to display when notification previews aren’t available.
Avoid including your app name or icon.
Consider providing a sound to supplement your notifications.
Notification actions
Provide beneficial actions that make sense in the context of your notification.
Avoid providing an action that merely opens your app.
Prefer nondestructive actions.
Provide a simple, recognizable interface icon for each notification action.
Badging
Use a badge only to show people how many unread notifications they have.
Make sure badging isn’t the only method you use to communicate essential information.
Keep badges up to date.
Avoid creating a custom image or component that mimics the appearance or behavior of a badge.
Platform considerations
watchOS
Short looks
Avoid using a short look as the only way to communicate important information.
Keep privacy in mind.
Long looks
Consider using a rich, custom long-look notification to let people get the information they need without launching your app.
At the minimum, provide a static interface; prefer providing a dynamic interface too.
Choose a background appearance for the sash.
Choose a background color for the content area.
Provide up to four custom actions below the content area.
Double tap
Keep double tap in mind when choosing the order of custom actions you present as responses to a notification.
<!-- hig-doctor:canonical-footer -->
For the complete guidance, including worked examples and illustrations, see the canonical page: https://developer.apple.com/design/human-interface-guidelines/notifications