Phone Notifications Badge Empty In iOS 16? Red Dot? (Fix!)

iPhone Tricks > Errors and Issues

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?

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.