Our phones are constantly buzzing, dinging, and lighting up with notifications. Some are important, but many of them aren’t. We polled a group of people and realized there are some notifications that almost everyone just ignores, over and over again. So here are 12 of the most common notifications most people probably delete or swipe away without even reading.
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App update reminders
People see these and swipe them away with a mental promise to themselves that they’ll take care of it later. Weeks or months later, they’re still using an old, glitchy, insecure version.
Low storage warnings
Phones are constantly nagging us about how we’re about to run out of space, but we just minimize and ignore them. Then the camera app refuses when we try to snap another selfie, and we finally take note.
Software update prompts
Everyone knows updating the phone is important, but the long install times are a hassle. So most will leave that notification on the screen for days or even months.
Calendar reminders they didn’t set
Apps sometimes put mysterious events in calendars. When the event reminder comes up, people don’t recognize it and swipe it away.
Old group chat notifications
Muted group chats sometimes come back to life with dozens of unread messages. Most people glance at the banner and completely ignore it, knowing it’s not worth the catch-up.
News alerts they never asked for
Some apps send news updates that no one remembers subscribing to. The headline appears, gets a quick glance, and then disappears with a swipe.
Random app promo notifications
An old game or app downloaded ages ago suddenly tries to lure users back with “special offers.” These notifications are almost always ignored.
Over-the-top weather alerts
Unless it’s an actual emergency, these get ignored. Most of them don’t even say the weather is about to get really bad. “Rain coming tomorrow” just isn’t enough.
Fitness app guilt trips
Step counters and other fitness apps love to send snarky guilt-trip messages like “you’ve only walked 300 steps today!” Most people roll their eyes and swipe them away.
Spammy text notifications from services
No one likes to see “exclusive deals” from delivery apps and random stores in their notifications. Users see the numbers and messages, recognize spam, and bin it without opening.
App rating requests
Apps always want users to give them five stars. But most people just hit “not now” without reading.
Email app badge counts
Badge numbers on email apps are mostly meaningless when someone’s at thousands of unread emails. Badges just sit there, getting higher and higher.
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