Badges on an iPhone are small numbered icons that appear on app icons. They are designed to give you a quick glance at how many unread messages, missed calls, or other notifications you have waiting for you. Each app with new unread information has a white number with a red background in the upper right-hand corner of the app icon. Badges can appear on the app icons of your home screen, in the App Library, or on both or neither. By default, notification counters do not appear in the App Library, but you can enable this option in the settings.

There are different types of notifications on an iPhone, including badges, banners, and alerts. Badges are usually accompanied by a sound or vibration, but they don’t necessarily require your immediate attention. Banners are more intrusive than badges, but less disruptive than alerts. When a banner notification appears, it temporarily covers part of your screen and displays a preview of the notification content. Alerts are the most attention-grabbing type of notification. They appear in the center of your screen and require your immediate attention. Alerts are accompanied by a sound or vibration and usually require some kind of action.

You can control notification badges on your iPhone by modifying settings. For example, you can enable or disable badges for specific apps, or turn off notification badges for messages. You can also choose to not have any type of alerts on your iPhone by modifying settings.