Disable Notification Summaries on iOS 12 Lock Screen

Apple introduced notification grouping in iOS 12 to organize alerts into stacked summaries on the Lock screen and Notification Center. While there is no universal master switch to disable these summaries system-wide, you can easily turn them off on an app-by-app basis. This guide explains how to disable notification grouping so that your alerts appear individually in chronological order.

Steps to Turn Off Notification Grouping

1. Open the Settings app on your iPhone or iPad running iOS 12.
2. Tap Notifications.
3. Scroll through the list and select the specific app whose notification grouping you want to disable (for example, Messages or Mail).
4. Scroll to the bottom of the app's notification settings and tap Notification Grouping.
5. Select Off.

Understanding the Grouping Options

When you open the Notification Grouping menu, iOS 12 provides three distinct choices:

• Automatic: The default setting. iOS groups notifications based on app, thread, or context (such as conversation threads in Messages).
• By App: Groups all alerts from that specific app into a single expandable stack regardless of thread or subject.
• Off: Disables grouping entirely. Every notification from that app appears as a separate, individual banner on your Lock screen and Notification Center.

Applying Changes Across Apps

Because iOS 12 handles notification management individually, you must repeat these steps for each app you wish to unstack. Once set to Off, new alerts from those apps will display as classic individual notifications rather than collapsed summaries.