Starting with iOS 5 in 2011, iPhones and iPads include Notification Center, a central place to find alerts from different apps over time.
Starting with iOS 27, Apple is making major changes to how users open Notification Center on iPhone and iPad. iOS 27 is currently in beta and its behavior has changed slightly between the first two releases.
Siri AI takes over many swipe gestures on the top edge of iPhone and iPad
Opening Notification Center by default remains unchanged in iOS 27 and iPadOS 27. However, enabling Siri AI changes key swipe gestures on both iPhone and iPad.
Once you’ve enabled Siri AI, there are a number of ways to invoke Siri AI, one of which is to swipe down from the top center of your iPhone or iPad’s display. This used to open Notification Center.
After Siri AI is enabled, you can still access Notification Center by swiping down from the top left corner. Alerts now animate from the top left corner. This is a way to direct users to a small surface area of Notification Center.
Apple is prioritizing Siri AI access significantly in iOS 27. Most of the top edge is devoted to invoking the new Siri experience.
The last time Apple changed access to Notification Center was on iPhone X when Control Center moved from a swipe up gesture from the bottom to a swipe down gesture in the top right corner. Apple has since unified this experience across devices.
Notifications now appear in the top left corner
Now it’s the notification center’s turn to sit in a corner. Especially in iPadOS 27 Beta 1, the area above the app icons on the home screen was mostly devoted to invoking Siri AI. Disabling AM/PM and date display actually reduces the area in which you can open Notification Center.
Apple improved this in iPadOS 27 Beta 2, creating a more even area on either side. This is about the same size as the two columns of apps with Notification Center on the left and Control Center on the right. The rest is for calling Siri.
After 15 years of muscle memory, it will take some time to decide if this change is worth it or if I should reconsider. Meanwhile, early feedback about Apple’s new Siri AI system sounds overwhelmingly positive. Even though I hear that Siri is great, I think it will take some time to get used to it.
