Ask Dave Taylor
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Linkedin
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Home
  • Videos
  • Most Popular
  • Top Categories
  • Books
  • About Dave
  • Ask Me
  • > Donate <
  • Home
  • iPad Help
  • How can I Disable Amber Alerts on my iPhone?

How can I Disable Amber Alerts on my iPhone?

June 25, 2018 / Dave Taylor / iPad Help, iPhone Help / No Comments

After yet another “Amber Alert” interrupted my viewing of Westworld last night, I’m fed up. How can I disable amber alerts on my iPhone and iPad?

Emergencies happen independent of TV schedule, sporting events and other broadcast and activities, and it can definitely be annoying when it gets in the way of something like a favorite TV show. Part of me wants to say “isn’t a kidnapped child more important than your TV show?” but that’s not really fair because we all get to make the decision about what’s important to us or not. The amber alert system tends to be a bit sloppy too, with huge alerts to hundreds of thousands or even millions of people even though almost all are far, far away from the affected area.

Apple recognized the problem and makes both Amber Alerts and general Emergency Alerts something you can turn off with the tap of a button. If you can find it, that is! So let’s have a look at exactly how it’s done…

To start, here’s an Amber Alert I received a few days ago:

sample iphone amber alert

Now I’ve lived in Colorado for over 15 years now, and I still have no idea where Saguache County actually is. I had to look it up: the county courthouse is over 200 miles away from me. That’s a long way and really, this is an example of an Amber Alert that can cause anxiety about the lack of safety in the world but isn’t really something I’m likely to be able to assist with.

Unfortunately, you can’t filter the alerts, because I would be fine receiving alerts for my own county and those adjacent to my current location or home. It’s kind of an all or nothing deal. So let me show you how to switch to “nothing”.

Go into your “Settings” app on your iPhone or iPad and search for “notifications”:

iphone ios search notifications settings

It’s the first match you want, system Notifications. Before you tap on it, however, notice that there’s a cool accessibility feature that will have the phone or tablet speak all notifications as they pop up. Good for people who aren’t looking at their screen very much or have accessibility challenges.

Okay, so tap on “Notifications”. You’ll see every app on your iOS 11 device that can push out notification messages listed:

ios 11 notifications settings preferences

Any individual app’s notifications offer a variety of choices – see How to customize iOS / iPhone Notifications for details – but what you seek is actually below all of this. Swipe up and keep going until you get to the very bottom of the list where you’ll see this:

ios 11 iphone disable emergency alerts amber alerts

There are the controls you seek: Disable AMBER Alerts by tapping to switch the control. The “Emergency Alerts” you might want to keep on, however; they’re to do with inclement weather and other emergency situations that you likely do want to receive. I’ve seen tornado warnings, flood alerts and similar weather related events: I don’t want to be too unplugged!

So that’s how you do it if you want to disable Amber Alerts. Hope that helps out.

Pro Tip: Looking for more iPhone help? We have tons. Please spend some time to check it out.

Let’s Stay In Touch!

Never miss a single article, review or tutorial here on AskDaveTaylor, sign up for my fun weekly newsletter!
Name: 
Your email address:*
Please enter all required fields
Correct invalid entries
No spam, ever. Promise. Powered by FeedBlitz
Please choose a color:
Starbucks coffee cup I do have a lot to say, and questions of my own for that matter, but first I'd like to say thank you, Dave, for all your helpful information by buying you a cup of coffee!
amber alert, disable amber alert, emergency alert, ios 11, ios alerts, iphone alerts, notifications, weather alert

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Search

Recent Posts

  • How to Customize Quick Access Toolbar in Microsoft Word?
  • Can I Have Microsoft Edge Suggest Strong Passwords?
  • How Can I Password Protect Tax Forms Sent Via Email?
  • Easy Way to Add Emoji to Tweets from a Web Browser?
  • How Do You Post Multiple Photos in Instagram?

On Our YouTube Channel

Andobil Cup Holder Phone Mount -- DEMO & REVIEW

DIGDIY BUDGET ANC TWS Earbuds [D10WH] -- REVIEW

Categories

  • AdSense, AdWords and PPC Help (106)
  • Amazon Echo & Kindle Help (79)
  • Amazon, eBay and Online Shopping Help (157)
  • Android Help (158)
  • Apple Watch Help (49)
  • Articles, Tutorials and Reviews (326)
  • Business Advice (191)
  • Computer and Internet Basics (714)
  • d) None of the Above (160)
  • Facebook Help (364)
  • Google & Gmail Help (154)
  • HTML and Web Design (243)
  • Instagram Help (43)
  • iPad Help (136)
  • iPhone Help (570)
  • LinkedIn Help (79)
  • Linux Help (147)
  • Linux Shell Script Programming (86)
  • Mac & MacOS Help (831)
  • Most Popular (10)
  • MP3 Player Help (181)
  • Outlook & Office 365 Help (9)
  • PayPal Help (68)
  • Pinterest Help (53)
  • Reddit Help (11)
  • SEO & Marketing (80)
  • Spam, Scams & Security (82)
  • Trade Show Updates (23)
  • Twitter Help (212)
  • Video Game Tips (66)
  • Web Site Traffic Tips (62)
  • Windows 10 Help (825)
  • Wordpress Help (201)
  • Writing and Publishing (72)
  • YouTube Help (43)
  • YouTube Video Reviews (159)
  • Zoom, Skype & Video Chat Help (40)

Archives

Social Connections:

Ask Dave Taylor


Follow Me on Pinterest
Follow me on Twitter
Follow me on LinkedIn
Follow me on Instagram


AskDaveTaylor on Facebook



microsoft insider mvp


This web site is for the purpose of disseminating information for educational purposes, free of charge, for the benefit of all visitors. We take great care to provide quality information. However, we do not guarantee, and accept no legal liability whatsoever arising from or connected to, the accuracy, reliability, currency or completeness of any material contained on this site or on any linked site. Further, please note that by submitting a question or comment you're agreeing to our terms of service, which are: you relinquish any subsequent rights of ownership to your material by submitting it on this site. Our lawyer says "Thanks for your cooperation."
© 2020 by Dave Taylor. "Ask Dave Taylor®" is a registered trademark of Intuitive Systems, LLC.
Privacy Policy - Terms and Conditions - Accessibility Policy