Customize Notification Summary Schedule on iOS 15

Apple introduced the Scheduled Summary feature in iOS 15 to help users manage digital distractions by bundling non-urgent notifications and delivering them at predetermined times. Instead of receiving constant pings throughout the day, users gained granular control over when and how frequently their notification digests appear. This article covers the specific timing options and scheduling customizations made available in iOS 15 for managing your notification summaries.

Multiple Daily Summaries

iOS 15 allows users to schedule up to 12 distinct summary batches per day. By default, the system suggests two batches—typically a morning summary at 8:00 AM and an evening summary at 6:00 PM—but users are not locked into these defaults.

Granular Time Selection

For every scheduled summary created, users can set precise delivery times down to the minute:

  • Custom Hours and Minutes: Each summary slot features an independent time picker, allowing users to align deliveries with specific routines, such as a morning commute, a lunch break, or post-work relaxation.
  • Adding or Removing Slots: Users can tap the Add Summary button to create additional delivery windows throughout the day, or tap the red minus icon next to an existing summary to remove that scheduled delivery time.

"Show Next Summary" Option

Alongside specific delivery times, iOS 15 added a toggle titled Show Next Summary. When enabled, this feature displays upcoming notifications in the Notification Center before the next scheduled delivery time arrives, allowing users to check in early without waiting for the scheduled alert.

How to Access and Adjust Summary Timing

  1. Open the Settings app on an iPhone running iOS 15 or later.
  2. Select Notifications.
  3. Tap Scheduled Summary and ensure the feature is toggled on.
  4. Under the Schedule section, tap the time adjacent to any summary to adjust its delivery time, or tap Add Summary to set an additional delivery window.