Phone Notifications Badge Empty In iOS 16? Red Dot? (Fix!)
Last updated on November 21st, 2022 at 06:53 pm
Posted in Errors and Issues, TILs by Mary on October 31, 2022
Phone notifications badge empty in iOS 16?
Phone notifications badge empty in iOS 16? It’s only showing a red dot? The bubble has no number that tells the count of missed calls that have been registered on your device? You’re not alone!
Phone Notifications Badge Empty?
This issue has been reported to us by Lou, in the comments iOS 16.1 review page:
“…the Phone notification shows a red dot only. No number of calls, etc. When I go to Recents then back out, it still shows a blank red dot on the Phone app on the Home Screen.”
We’ve found similar complaints on Reddit:
“Why no number in missed calls?”
How To Fix Red Dot Instead Of Missed Calls In iOS 16
Apparently, in this case the Phone notifications badge is generated by calls that end up in your Voicemail.
If you open Recents and can’t find any missed calls, or the the empty notification badge continues to display proceed as follows:
- 1. Open the Phone app.
- 2. Tap on Voicemail, available in the bottom-right corner of the screen.
- 3. Return to Home Screen. Has the empty phone notification badge disappeared?
Workaround For iOS 16 Phone App Red Dot Issue
- Call yourself from another phone and leave a voicemail message.
- On your iPhone, listen to the voicemail that you’ve just recorded.
- This should clear the red dot hovering above the Phone app icon!
Credits: Thanks Michelle for this fix!
Have you managed to fix phone notifications red dot problem in iOS 16? Do you have a better solution or more info about this strange behavior? Share your feedback in the comments.
Important: We will use this thread to report the problem to Apple. So please mention your iPhone model, exact iOS version and carrier if possible.
Related: For more iOS 16.1 bugs and their available workarounds please check our extended review available here.
It did not fix it for me.
Sorry to hear this. Can you ask Siri: ‘Hey Siri how many missed calls do I have?’
Try this:
1. Go to settings.
2. Go to Phone
Bugs like this are why I ditched Android.
It didn’t work, not even asking Siri about missing calls .
iPhone 16
Sorry to hear this. Have you updated to iOS 16.1.1?
This worked for me:
I went to voicemails and deleted all new messages then returned to the home screen. This removed the empty red dot from the phone icon.
Thanks for confirming.
Id did not fix for me. Also, I don’t have the Voicemail service.
I have an Iphone 8 and just updated to iOS16.
Hmm. Not sure what else to suggest. Everything points to Voicemail.
As a temporary workaround you could disable the badge altogether in Settings -> Phone -> Notificaitons -> Badges.
It worked for me and My friend, IPhone 11 and 12. Thanks!
You’re welcome. Glad it did!
Deleted all messages still did not clear red dot. Using iPhone 8 Plus and had updated to IOS 16.1.1 overnight. No issues prior to this update.
Thanks for reporting. You’ve updated from 15.x or from another 16.x version?
I think it was from a 15. Version
Ok. Try to force restart your iPhone.
Next, ask Siri to read out your missed calls: Hey Siri, do I have any missed calls?
Does the bubble still show up?
Hi still have the empty bubble.
Thanks for the follow up. Not sure what else to suggest at the moment.
Tried forced restart and ask Siri. Still not successful. I m using XS Max
Thanks for reporting. I’ve researched this further and everything points out that it’s a Voicemail related issue. As a last resort you can disable the badge altogether in Settings -> Phone -> Notifications -> Badges.
Nothing described here fixed it for me (I have iOS 16.1.1). However, rebooting the phone DID finally fix it.
Thanks for the feedback Graham. Glad that you managed to fix it.
I tried rebooting my phone this didn’t work so I called voicemail to listen to my voicemails. The problem was I didn’t have any..
In the end I had to get my husband to call me and leave a voicemail so that I could listen to a voicemail which cleared the irritating red dot 🔴!
Thanks for the feedback Michelle. That’s a great contribution. We will update your tip in the main content of the article. It should help others!
Thank for you both!!!
After update today, 16.1.2, I received this red dot on my Phone app.
Tried many time to reinstall my phone, Iphone 13, but the dot stays.
Tried to turn on/off the notification’s badge on Phone app, but with no success.
Then tried this trick and VOALLA it helps!!
Thank you!!!
p
Btw. the new update comes with awful text font on screen, blahhhh
Thanks for your feedback. Happy to help. You updated to 16.1.2 from 15.x? You don’t like the clock font on the Lock Screen? Here is what you can do about it:
https://www.iphonetricks.org/clock-too-big-ios-16-lock-screen-fix/
Cleared a voicemail and after a minute the blank badge went.
Glad it did. Thanks for confirming.