Push notifications allow apps on your iPad to send you alerts and updates even when you aren’t using the app. Enabling push notifications allows you to stay up-to-date with new messages, emails, and other app activity without having to constantly open and check each app.
What are the benefits of push notifications?
There are several key benefits to enabling push notifications on your iPad:
- Get updates in real time – As soon as there is new activity in an app, you’ll be notified without having to open the app and check.
- Stay informed – Important or timely alerts and reminders can reach you even when you aren’t using your iPad.
- Convenience – Push notifications eliminate the need to constantly open apps and manually check for new messages or updates.
- Customization – You can typically configure notification settings to control which types of updates you receive.
The ability to get real-time updates and notifications without constantly having to check your iPad makes push notifications highly useful for staying on top of incoming messages, activity in apps, and timely reminders or alerts.
How to enable push notifications
Enabling push notifications is easy and can be done in just a few steps:
- Open the Settings app on your iPad.
- Scroll down and tap on Notifications.
- Locate the app you want to enable notifications for and tap on it.
- Toggle the Allow Notifications switch to the ON position.
That’s all there is to it! The app is now enabled to send push notifications to your iPad. A few other things to keep in mind:
- You can customize notification options by tapping on the app and selecting how alerts are delivered, whether to show previews, etc.
- To disable notifications for an app, simply toggle the Allow Notifications switch to OFF.
- You can change global notification settings by scrolling to the top of the Notifications screen and customizing options like allowing notification previews on the lock screen.
Managing notification preferences
Once you’ve enabled push notifications for an app, you can customize how and when you receive alerts by adjusting the app’s notification settings:
- Notification style – Choose between banners, alerts, or no notifications.
- Show previews – Toggle message preview text on/off for the lock screen.
- Sounds – Select a sound to play for notifications.
- Badge app icon – Toggle on/off to show a number on the app icon when alerts are pending.
- Notification grouping – You can group notifications by app or thread.
- Allow notifications – The master switch to disable/enable notifications.
Taking a few moments to set your preferences can help you receive the most useful alerts while also reducing notification fatigue.
Critical alerts
Even if you have disabled all notifications for an app, there is a special category called “critical alerts” that will still go through. These include notifications for:
- Incoming phone calls and messages
- Alarms and reminders
- Maps navigation guidance
So you don’t need to worry about missing truly urgent or timely alerts when limiting notifications.
Notification examples
Here are some examples of common notifications you may receive with different apps and what types of information they deliver:
| App | Notification Types |
|---|---|
| New message alerts, inbox updates | |
| Calendar | Upcoming appointment reminders |
| New comments, messages, likes, friend requests | |
| New followers, mentions, direct messages | |
| News Apps | Breaking news alerts |
| Smart Home | Home automation triggers like motion detection |
Troubleshooting tips
If you’ve enabled notifications for an app but aren’t receiving them, here are some troubleshooting steps:
- Check that the Allow Notifications switch is toggled on for the app in Settings > Notifications.
- Open the app and verify notification settings are enabled within the app.
- Check Do Not Disturb settings and make sure the app isn’t silenced during certain hours.
- Restart your iPad and check for notifications again.
- Update the problematic app(s) in case a bug is preventing proper notifications.
- As a last resort, delete and re-install the app completely.
Following these tips should help get notifications working properly again if you mysteriously stop receiving alerts from a particular app.
Conclusion
Push notifications provide a convenient way to stay on top of important or timely updates from your apps, even when you aren’t actively using your iPad. Take a moment to enable notifications for the apps most important to you. Customizing notification settings for each app can help filter out noise and allows you to focus on the alerts you really need.
