How to Customize iOS 15 Notification Summary Schedules

Apple introduced Scheduled Summary in iOS 15 to help users minimize digital distractions by grouping non-urgent notifications into consolidated daily digests. Instead of interrupting your day constantly, selected alerts are held and delivered at designated times of your choosing. This guide details the specific customization options Apple added for configuring notification summary schedules on iOS 15, from timing adjustments to app-level filtering.

Setting Up Multiple Delivery Times

iOS 15 allows you to create multiple delivery windows throughout the day to suit your routine:

  • Configurable Schedule Counts: You can establish multiple distinct summaries—such as a morning brief, an afternoon check-in, and an evening recap. iOS allows up to 12 scheduled delivery slots in a single 24-hour period.
  • Exact Delivery Timing: Each summary slot features an independent clock picker, allowing you to set the precise time (down to the minute) when the bundled notifications will arrive on your screen.
  • Adding and Removing Schedules: You can add a new delivery window by tapping Add Summary or remove any unnecessary delivery slot by tapping the red minus button adjacent to the scheduled time.

Selecting Apps and Sorting by Volume

When customizing your schedule, iOS 15 provides granular controls over which apps enter the digest:

  • Apps in Summary List: You can toggle specific apps on or off to dictate whether their alerts appear immediately or hold until the next scheduled digest.
  • Daily Notification Averages: The configuration screen sorts your installed apps by average daily notification count. This data-driven view helps you easily identify the most disruptive apps and assign them to a summary with a single tap.

Lock Screen Visibility and "Show Next Summary"

iOS 15 added a specific display toggle to manage how upcoming alerts are handled between scheduled drops:

  • Show Next Summary Toggle: When enabled, this feature places the upcoming summary bundle directly on your Lock Screen before its actual delivery time. It keeps notifications organized in a compact stack that you can view at your convenience without waiting for the scheduled alert to trigger.

Time-Sensitive Notification Exceptions

To ensure critical alerts are not missed while managing the schedule, iOS 15 introduced a bypass mechanism:

  • Time-Sensitive Alerts: Even when an app is relegated to a scheduled delivery slot, you can allow "Time Sensitive Notifications" in the individual app settings. When enabled, urgent alerts (such as food deliveries, ride-share updates, or security warnings) bypass the schedule and appear immediately, while standard alerts from the same app remain bundled for the digest.

Accessing the Customization Menu

To access and configure all of these scheduling options, open the Settings app on your iOS 15 device, select Notifications, and tap Scheduled Summary.