iPhone X hides notification previews by default

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iPhone X lock screen notifications
Lock screen notifications on iPhone X.
Photo: Apple

iPhone X will help keep sensitive messages under wraps by hiding lock screen notification previews by default. To reveal the previews, all you have to do is unlock the device with Face ID.

We learned earlier that iPhone X won’t show your lock screen notifications to anyone else. This is thanks to a change in iOS 11 that allows them to be hidden until your device is unlocked, but we figured it would be disabled by default, like on other iPhones.

iPhone X hides notifications by default

But it turns out Apple ships iPhone X with it enabled, according to Wired, which has already published its first impressions of the device. That means your notification previews stay hidden until you look at your device and unlock it with Face ID.

And because Face ID only supports one user, no one else will be able to use it to view your messages and alerts; they would need your passcode to get in.

You can enable this on other iPhones

The same setting can be enabled on other iOS devices — so long as they’re running iOS 11.

But, of course, without Face ID, you’ll need to use Touch ID to display the notification previews instead. That adds an additional step, but it still keeps your data hidden until you want to see it. Here’s what you need to do:

  1. Open the Settings app
  2. Tap the Notifications option
  3. Tap Show Previews
  4. Select When Unlocked

iPhone X lands this Friday

iPhone X will make its official debut this Friday. If you were lucky enough to pre-order one within minutes of availability, you should get yours on launch day. If not, Apple’s online store is currently showing a wait of 5-6 weeks.

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