Notification banners getting stuck in iOS 8? Here's a temporary fix!

By Allyson Kazmucha
last updated

One of the most annoying bugs I've experienced thus far with iOS 8 is an issue where notification banners don't seem to want to disappear from the top of the screen. No matter how purposefully I flick them away, they just sit there silently mocking me. From a quick web and Twitter search, I don't seem to be alone. However, I've managed to find a temporary solution that should get rid of particularly persistent notification banners.

How to make stuck notification banners in iOS 8 go away

When a banner gets stuck in iOS 8 at the top of the screen and flicking doesn't seem to rid you of it, press the Home button once instead. I've been experiencing this issue since day one of beta one and unfortunately as of iOS 8.0.2, I'm still experiencing stuck notification banners.

Hopefully this is an issue Apple addresses in an update, but until then, pressing the Home button once when a banner is stuck should make it finally roll away. If you're running iOS 8, how often are you seeing notification banners get stuck on you? Have you found a pattern to what banners are sticking and what ones aren't? Let me know in the comments!

Allyson Kazmucha
Allyson Kazmucha

iMore senior editor from 2011 to 2015.

47 Comments
  • Occurs when a WhatsApp message or any notification banner comes in when I'm watching a video in landscape mode.
  • Happens while watching videos in landscape mode for me too.
    iPhone 6, iOS 8.0.2
  • Same here.
  • That was annoying me too. Thought I was the only one. Hope that gets fixed in the next update Sent from the iMore App
  • Hasn't happened to me.
    iPhone 6 8.0.2
  • Happens to me for iMessage notifications when I am in the Facebook or Twitter app. I thought I was the only one so I am happy to see there are others!! Sent from the iMore App
  • Thanks Ally. Same problem here. Oddly enough, I was searching for a solution when I saw the Twitter post. Unfortunately, pressing the Home button isn't fixing my issue. Hoping Apple fixes this bug soon, it really irks me. It's just good to know I'm not the only one, and that I'm in good company!
  • Reset worked for me. iMessage was hanging up and getting stuck. Reset. Boom. Problem solved.
  • Hasn't happened to me. iOS 8.0.2 on a 64GB iPhone 6.
  • Only happens to me if the assistive touch "button" is at the top of the screen. And gets fixed by moving the assistive touch "button". Sent from the iMore App
  • Had this happen with Mail notifications while watching a YouTube video.
    BTW, good thing you made a graphic about that home button press :P
  • Having this problem mostly with Hangouts on my iPad Air. I'll try out the workaround. It's better than my solution - turning my screen off and on again.
  • I have same problem and I hate that the banner appears when I'm already in the app and already looked at the notification I noticed this in the mail app. Sent from the iMore App
  • I'm getting them mainly when I'm in Facebook and get an email or iMessage. The bug that's getting on my nerves is the crap Bluetooth connectivity. Getting it to connect to my trucks Bluetooth is a chore. Sent from the iMore App
  • I've only experienced this once but dont recall what I was doing or what kind of notification it was. A far more annoying bug for me has been orientation getting stuck in landscape mode or even upside down. Have many sideways videos Sent from the iMore App
  • What about the App Store app? I get a red 1 on it like there is 1 update but I have already updated and the red 1 circle doesn't go away.
  • Lots of problems since ios8 update on iPhone 5s and iPad retina....unable to access system settings, and settings app freezes. Ipad is really bad Safari problems and also an annoying pop up telling me a download has failed to load...lots of crashes and freezes....HELP !!!!
  • Ironically, this happened to me while I was reading this article on my iPhone. Hope the bug gets squashed in an update.
  • The most annoying part of this all is that I logged the bug every since the beta 8 beginnings. I understand Apple can't get to *everything* but this is an older bug at this point that should have been addressed. I'm hoping for a fix in the next update but have come to expect the bug to just be there. I've noticed that if you reset or power off/on it won't happen for awhile but eventually happens. Sent from the iMore App
  • Only happens here and there for me Sent from the iMore App
  • My notifications don't get stuck. They'll always go away when I flick them up. However, they will linger forever until I dismiss them. Really annoying. I've been looking all over trying to find a setting that sets the time for them to display then disappear, but I can't find anything like that.
  • Yea exactly mine don't get stuck either they just linger until dismissed. Sent from the iMore App
  • This has been happening with Messages since iOS 7 for me since I bought my iPhone 5. Bah.
  • I get this randomly AND also no notification sometimes and just a chime or if on silent, a vibration with zero visual notification. When the notification doesn't appear, I swipe down (from up top) and there it is. It's annoying and happens probably twice a day or so. It's new to me on iOS 8 on iPhone 5. While just finishing up typing this...I got a notification with no banner. Sent from the iMore App
  • That happened to be on one occasion with iMessage/SMS and a reboot solved it...very annoying but I'm sure Apple is working through these bugs!
  • I've noticed this a couple of times, but I don't beleive I have the issue anymore on the iPhone 6. However, I rarely have notifications turned on for any of my apps, in any way. I'm on my phone too much. I can say the issue was more noticeable before a master reset, on my iPhone 5s(on iOS 8.0.2).
  • Hasn't happened to me on 64gb iPhone 6 8.0.2 or 64gb 5s 8.0.2 or 16gb iPad mini w/retina on 8.0.2, but my 6 has been crashing randomly a lot all of a sudden as of a day or two ago. No pattern to it that I can tell, and even happened after force quitting all apps and hard reboot of phone. Sent from the iMore App
  • Lucky! It might be dependent on the app because I'm seeing this in my iPhone 6, 64gb on occasion.
  • This issue is too annoying
    hope apple will release the iOS 8.1 soon
  • You're using it wrong.
  • Lol Sent from the iMore App
  • Has happened on iPhone 6 with 8.0.2, but it seems to be fixed in 8.1 beta. So hold on everyone, it will be addressed soon.
  • I'm still finding a lot of bugs with the recent iOS update, they need to fix this soon. Sent from the iMore App
  • Have a 5s and I have experienced the stuck banner many many times and it's still an annoying problem.
  • It happens very often especially with BBM on my 5s. Very annoying, thanks for the tip though.
  • I have encountered this issue and quickly learned this little trick. Very annoying but this makes it tolerable for sure. I can usually find a usage pattern for little bugs like this occurring but I haven't found that pattern yet. Thanks for the tip!
  • All the time, I thought this was just by device, apparently not!
  • Only happens when I receive FB notifications.
  • They should hurry up and make it bug free like it is on BlackBerry 10. My wife moans about it constantly on her iPhone.
  • For me this happens everytime I receive any type of notification whenever I'm watching a movie that I own, or video on YouTube, even when playing games. I've found that instead of pressing the home button, you can tilt your phone from landscape to portrait or the other way around & the notification will go away. I guess it's fairly obvious you would have needed to attempt to swipe it away first otherwise it'll go away on its own.
    I'm running iOS 8.0.2 on a 64 gig iPhone 6.
    Hopefully this helps somebody else as well.
  • Happens to me in random apps when I get an iMessage banner notification. Running iOS 8.0.2 on iPhone 6 but I saw this with 8.0. Thanks for the post - it's good to see it's not just me. I had searched for this issue shortly after the public release of 8.0 and didn't see anything. I've tried restoring and still no dice. You can swipe up to clear it but I agree, this is an annoying bug I hope is fixed.
  • Ugh so annoying!! It happens to me however almost exclusively to Snapchat! I tried deleting it and it still doesn't fix it! Apple please fix this soon!!
  • Another quick fix is to tilt your phone into landscape for moment then back to portrait (or from portrait to landscape and back).
  • THANK GOD! I though something was wrong with my phone. I went to the Apple Store and they told me it could be because of some apps I recently downloaded so i reset my phone. It is by far the most irritating problem. Hope they fix it.
  • Im not getting any notifications at all and they are all on in the setings expecially the smart notifications. I need help is this ios 8 or the apps not compatible???
  • Happens to me all the time while in different apps and notifications from various apps... Another issue is that I'll get a vibration or sound from messages with no banner or sometimes a message banner with no sound or vibration. Annoying!
  • Here's an idea. Buy a land line.
    I have an old rotary dial land line which is hooked up to a 1960's reel to reel answering machine.
    The phone I got from eBay for $8.00 and the reel to reel answering machine was free. It had been sitting in an abandoned house on my grandfathers estate for some 30 years. Luckily it had been in a large kitchen drawer.... He has a bunch of houses on his property so I need to explore more.
    Anyhow...
    My monthly bill is $15.00 and I don't have the opportunity to get a tumor from cellular use.
    People have purchased iPhones, iPads and the like and have become addicted to things that are wasting their time and energy.
    I think it's a sad world we live in when a person can't even look up from their phone to view humanity walking by.