Why Do Users Ignore Most App Notifications?

Most people disable app notifications within days of downloading a new app. It's a bit mad really—we spend months building these apps, crafting the perfect user experience, getting everything just right... and then users turn off one of our most powerful tools for staying connected with them. But here's the thing: they're not wrong to do it.

I've built apps across healthcare, fintech, e-commerce, you name it—and the notification problem is universal. Every client wants to send them. Every user wants fewer of them. The gap between what businesses think users want to hear and what users actually want to hear? Its massive. And expensive too, because once someone disables your notifications or worse, deletes your app because of them, getting them back is nearly impossible.

The average person receives between 60-80 push notifications per day, but only interacts with a handful of them

What fascinates me about this problem is that notifications themselves aren't bad—some apps do them brilliantly and users genuinely appreciate them. Think about your messaging apps or your food delivery updates. You want those notifications. You need them even. So why do users ignore most app notifications whilst actively seeking out others? The answer isn't as simple as "don't send too many" although that's certainly part of it. It comes down to understanding mobile app psychology, respecting user attention, and building a proper notification strategy that treats notifications like the valuable resource they actually are. Because make no mistake, every notification you send is either building trust with your users or destroying it; there isn't really a middle ground here.

The Psychology Behind Notification Fatigue

Right, so here's the thing—our brains weren't designed to handle 50+ notifications a day. I mean, think about it; every time your phone buzzes or pings, your brain has to stop what its doing and assess whether this new information is important or not. That mental switching costs energy, and after a while, people just tune out completely.

When I first started building apps, notifications were this shiny new toy that everyone wanted to use. But here's what we've learned over the years—every notification you send is basically asking for a piece of someone's attention, and attention is the most valuable thing people have these days. Once you've annoyed someone enough times, they'll either turn off your notifications or (worse) delete your app entirely.

The science behind this is actually quite straightforward. Our brains have something called a "novelty bias" which means we're naturally drawn to new information. That worked great when we got maybe 5 notifications a day...but now? People are drowning in them. What happens is your brain starts to categorise notifications into important and not important, and most apps end up in the "not important" pile pretty quickly.

What Happens in the Brain

When you receive a notification, here's what your brain does:

• Stops its current task (even if you dont consciously notice)
• Processes the new information to determine importance
• Decides whether to act on it or ignore it
• Tries to return to what you were doing before
• Often struggles to fully re-engage with the original task

And this cycle happens every single time. Its exhausting, honestly. That's why people develop what we call "notification blindness"—they just stop caring altogether. I've seen apps send 10 notifications a day thinking it'll increase engagement, but it has the opposite effect; people just switch them off within a week.

When Notifications Actually Work

Right, so we've talked about why notifications fail—but what about when they actually succeed? Because some apps get it so right that users genuinely look forward to their messages. I mean, think about it: there are probably one or two apps on your phone where you'd never dream of turning off notifications. That's not an accident.

The notifications that work share a few common traits, and honestly, its not rocket science. They're timely, they're personal, and most importantly they provide actual value to the person receiving them. A delivery app telling you your food is five minutes away? Brilliant. You needed that information at that exact moment. A banking app alerting you to a suspicious transaction? Absolutely necessary. These notifications justify their existence by being useful—not just by being there.

What Makes People Actually Tap

Here's what I've learned from years of tracking notification performance across dozens of apps: the ones that get opened typically fall into specific categories. They're either transactional (confirming something the user initiated), time-sensitive (limited offers or reminders), or deeply personal (based on specific user behaviour). Generic "we miss you" messages? They get ignored. A notification saying "your usual coffee order is ready for pickup" because the app knows you always order at 8am on weekdays? That's the kind of personalisation that actually works.

Test your notification copy like you'd test ad copy—because that's essentially what it is. Small changes in wording can double your open rates; I've seen it happen.

The Key Characteristics

• They solve an immediate problem or answer a question
• They're triggered by user actions or predictable patterns
• They contain specific, actionable information
• They arrive when the user actually needs them
• They don't repeat the same message multiple times
• They can be customised or controlled by the user

One thing that surprises clients is how much difference the actual wording makes. You see, a notification saying "New message" performs completely differently to one saying "Sarah replied to your question about the meeting." The second one tells you exactly why you should care and who its from—it gives context. And context is everything when you're competing with 50 other apps for someone's attention. The apps that understand this get engagement rates that are three or four times higher than those that don't bother with personalisation.

The Problem with Generic Messages

Here's what kills most notification strategies—sending the same boring message to everyone. I mean, we've all seen them right? "Come back and check out what's new!" or "We miss you!" or the absolute worst one "You have a notification." Like, no kidding mate, that's why my phone just buzzed at me.

Generic notifications are basically digital spam;they treat every user like they're the same person with the same needs and interests. But here's the thing—they're not. The person who uses your fitness app three times a day has completely different needs from someone who hasn't opened it in two weeks. Sending them both the same message? That's just lazy honestly.

I've worked on apps where the client wanted to send push notifications to their entire user base with messages like "Check out our new features!" The problem was, most of their users hadn't even explored the existing features yet. It made no sense for them, so they just ignored it or worse, turned off notifications completely. And once someone disables your notifications, getting them to turn them back on is nearly impossible—we're talking single-digit conversion rates in most cases.

The data backs this up too. Generic notifications have click-through rates of around 2-3%, whilst personalised ones can see rates of 10% or higher. That's not just a small difference, thats the difference between a notification strategy that works and one that doesn't. Users want messages that feel relevant to them, not broadcast announcements that could apply to literally anyone. If your notification doesn't speak directly to what that specific user cares about, you've already lost them.

Timing Is Everything

You know what kills a good notification faster than anything else? Sending it at the wrong time. I mean, you could craft the most perfect message in the world, but if it arrives when someone's asleep or in the middle of an important meeting—it's getting ignored or worse, it's training them to disable your notifications completely.

Here's the thing about timing: its not just about what time zone someone's in (though honestly that's a good place to start). It's about understanding their behaviour patterns and their daily routines. When I'm working with clients on notification strategy, we spend ages looking at the data to figure out when users are actually active in the app. Because that tells us when they're likely to be receptive to hearing from us.

A fitness app sending you a workout reminder at 11pm? Bloody useless. That same reminder at 6am when you're deciding whether to hit the gym? Much better. An e-commerce app notifying you about a flash sale at 3am? You've just guaranteed that notification is getting swiped away without a second thought. The same message at lunchtime when people are naturally taking a break and checking their phones? Completely different response rate.

The best notification is the one that arrives exactly when the user needs it, not when you want to send it

Most apps get this wrong because they batch-send notifications to everyone at once. It's easier from a technical standpoint, sure, but it completely ignores individual user behaviour. The apps that succeed with notifications are the ones that track when each user typically opens the app and schedule their messages accordingly. It takes more work to set up but the difference in engagement is massive—we're talking about 2-3x better open rates just by getting the timing right.

Permission and Trust Issues

Here's something most developers get wrong—they treat notification permissions like a formality. Just another popup to click through during onboarding. But that single "Allow Notifications" prompt is actually one of the most important moments in your entire user relationship, and if you blow it, you're basically done.

I've seen so many apps ask for notification permission the second someone opens the app for the first time. Before they've even seen what the app does. Before they understand the value. Before theres any reason to trust you with that kind of access to their phone. And then developers wonder why their opt-in rates are so low? Its mad really.

The thing is, users have been burned by notifications before. They've installed apps that promised helpful updates and instead bombarded them with promotional rubbish three times a day. They've had their dinner interrupted by apps they barely remember downloading. So when your app asks for notification permission, you're not starting from zero—you're starting from negative trust.

Building Permission the Right Way

The best approach? Wait. Let users experience your app first, understand what it does, see the value its providing. Then explain why notifications will make their experience better before you even trigger that system permission prompt. This is called a pre-permission prompt, and it can double your opt-in rates because people actually understand what they're agreeing to.

What Kills Trust Fast

Once someone does grant you permission, that trust is fragile. Send irrelevant notifications and they'll revoke it quickly. Here's what breaks trust fastest:

• Sending notifications within the first 24 hours of granting permission (feels pushy)
• Promotional messages disguised as important updates
• Notifications that require users to open the app for no good reason
• Frequency that feels relentless—more than one notification per day without clear value
• Messages that feel like they were meant for someone else

Remember, getting permission is just the start; keeping that trust requires you to respect it every single day. One bad notification can undo months of careful relationship building, and users won't give you a second chance.

Different Types of Notifications Explained

Right, lets break down the main types of notifications you'll encounter—because they're not all created equal and each one serves a different purpose. The most common type is the push notification, which appears on your users lock screen or notification centre even when they're not using your app. These are powerful but also the most likely to annoy people if you get them wrong. I mean, theres a reason why so many users disable them entirely.

Then you've got in-app notifications, which only appear when someone is actually using your app. These are less intrusive because users are already engaged with your product; they're in the right mindset to receive information. Think of those little banners that slide down from the top of the screen or those badges that appear on menu items. Much safer territory, honestly.

Silent and Badge Notifications

Silent notifications work in the background without making any noise or showing a visible alert—they update content so its ready when users open your app. Badges are those little red circles with numbers that appear on your app icon. They're subtle but effective at creating that "you've got something waiting" feeling without being pushy about it.

Rich and Interactive Options

Rich notifications include images, videos, or even interactive elements like buttons that let users take action without opening the app. These perform really well because they provide context and value right there in the notification itself. But here's the thing—they require more development work and careful design consideration. You cant just slap any image on there and call it done.

Start with basic push and in-app notifications before experimenting with richer formats; master the fundamentals first because getting the message and timing right matters way more than having fancy features.

Each notification type has its place in your strategy. The key is understanding when to use which type based on what you're trying to achieve and how engaged your user already is with your app.

Building a Notification Strategy That Works

Right, so you understand the problems—now lets talk about fixing them. Building a proper notification strategy isn't rocket science, but it does require actually thinking about your users rather than just what you want to tell them. I mean, it sounds obvious when I say it like that, but you'd be surprised how many apps get this completely wrong.

The first thing you need to do is map out every notification your app could possibly send. Write them all down. Every single one. Then—and this is the hard part—cut at least half of them. Be ruthless. Does your user really need to know that? Or do you just want them to open the app? Theres a big difference between those two things, and users can tell when you're being pushy.

Create User Segments

Not every user wants the same thing at the same time. Someone whos just downloaded your app has completely different needs to someone who's been using it for six months. This is where segmentation becomes absolutely critical; you need to group users based on their behaviour, preferences, and how they actually use your app.

Here's what you should be segmenting by:

• New users (first 7 days)—focus on onboarding and education
• Active users—give them value-based updates only
• Lapsing users (haven't opened in 14+ days)—gentle reminders about what they're missing
• Power users—more frequent updates because they've shown they want them
• Time zone and location—send notifications at sensible hours
• Interaction history—if they never click certain types of notifications, stop sending them

Set Clear Rules

You need internal guidelines about when its okay to send a notification and when it isnt. I always tell clients to establish a "notification threshold"—basically, how important does something need to be before it warrants interrupting someone's day? If its not something the user asked for or something they genuinely need to know right now, don't send it. Your notification strategy should include frequency caps too; no one should be getting multiple notifications from your app in a single hour unless it's something urgent like a banking alert or delivery update.

And please, make it dead easy for users to customise what they receive. Give them granular control in your settings—let them choose exactly which types of notifications they want and which ones they dont. This actually increases the likelihood they'll keep some notifications enabled rather than turning them all off in frustration.

Testing and Measuring Your Results

Right, so you've built this brilliant notification strategy and sent it out into the world—but how do you actually know if its working? I mean, really working? Too many app teams just look at open rates and call it a day, but that's only telling you part of the story. You need to dig deeper.

The metrics that actually matter are pretty straightforward. Open rate is the obvious one—what percentage of people who receive your notification actually tap on it. But here's where it gets interesting; you also need to track conversion rate (did they do the thing you wanted them to do?), dismissal rate (how many people just swipe it away?), and opt-out rate (the dreaded unsubscribe from notifications entirely). If you're seeing high dismissal rates or people turning off notifications altogether, that's your app screaming at you that something's wrong.

The best notification strategy is one that constantly evolves based on what your users are actually doing, not what you think they should be doing.

A/B testing is your best friend here. Test different message copy, different send times, different notification types—basically everything. I usually run tests with at least a few thousand users in each group to get reliable data. And don't just test one thing at a time if you can help it; multivariate testing lets you see how different elements work together. But be careful not to over-test either, you need enough volume to make decisions without annoying your entire user base. Track your results over at least a week or two because patterns emerge over time that you'll miss if you're too quick to judge. The data doesn't lie, even when it tells you things you don't want to hear about your carefully crafted messages!

Conclusion

Look—notifications are powerful when you use them right, but they're also the fastest way to lose users if you get it wrong. I've seen apps with brilliant functionality get uninstalled simply because they sent one too many irrelevant messages at the wrong time. Its a waste really, all that work building something great only to ruin it with poor notification strategy.

The key takeaway here is that every notification you send should earn its place on someone's screen. Ask yourself: does this actually help the user right now? Would I want to receive this message? If the answer is no, don't send it. Simple as that. Users aren't ignoring notifications because they don't want to hear from you;they're ignoring them because most apps haven't given them a good reason to pay attention. Your job is to be different.

Start small and be patient. Test different approaches, measure what actually works (not what you think works), and don't be afraid to send fewer notifications than you planned. I know it feels counterintuitive—surely more notifications means more engagement? But here's the thing—quality beats quantity every single time. One perfectly timed, personalised notification will do more for your app than twenty generic ones.

And remember that permission is a privilege. When someone allows your app to send notifications, they're trusting you not to abuse that access. Treat it with respect and you'll build lasting relationships with your users. Abuse it and...well, you've read this guide. You know exactly what happens next. The uninstall button is only one tap away, and users won't hesitate to use it if you give them a reason.