iOS: The push notification number is not disappearing on my app icon after I open my app again

Question

iOS: The push notification number is not disappearing on my app icon after I open my app again

Kim Strasser 2,366

I have tried to send push notifications to my app. I always receive the push notifications on my iPad Air and a red circle with the number 1 is displayed on my app icon. But this number never disappears. I have tried to tap again on my app icon to open it and I have even tried to quit the app and then open it again but the number doesn´t disappear. Why does the number not disappear? Is it necessary to do something in my code to make the number disappear?

I have installed my app in debug mode on my iPad Air, then I closed Visual Studio and I have tried to send push notifications to my app.

I found this example image on the internet. My app has the same red circle with the number 1 after I received a push notification:

https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/626933b7a67a8b11729163f8/63174b8d1e298188ba7f6f0b_vhSP3695xkEmARLPbyKB_1t31VTEqz4Td-k0txOJymajJnbkXhOPcWD3eqGipBZMS6kYh416nn3ehQ2r82r2MDccji3dpeSjjyM2h-rMEOogmyiE6KUaRvDy7izlBqY49o4Shd1wgfgURIfh8-mfUw.png

Nancy Vo (WICLOUD CORPORATION) 2,225 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-04-07T11:00:49.1466667+00:00

Hi @Kim Strasser ,

I will check on this and keep you updated as soon as possible.

Kim Strasser 2,366

I use this code in my iOS project:

In Program.cs:

private UserNotificationCenterDelegate _notificationDelegate;

   public override void FinishedLaunching(UIApplication app)
   {

    // Create and store the delegate
    _notificationDelegate = new UserNotificationCenterDelegate();

    // Request notification permissions from the user  
    UNUserNotificationCenter.Current.RequestAuthorization(UNAuthorizationOptions.Badge | UNAuthorizationOptions.Sound | UNAuthorizationOptions.Alert, (approved, err) => {
        // Handle approval
        if (approved == false)
        {
            // REQUEST_P0STNOTIFICATIONS Permission Denied
        }

    });

    // Use the stored reference
    UNUserNotificationCenter.Current.Delegate = _notificationDelegate;

//    UNUserNotificationCenter.Current.Delegate = new UserNotificationCenterDelegate(); //set delegate

    UNUserNotificationCenter.Current.GetNotificationSettings((settings) =>
    {
        if (settings.AuthorizationStatus == UNAuthorizationStatus.NotDetermined || settings.AuthorizationStatus == UNAuthorizationStatus.Denied)
        {
            InvokeOnMainThread(() =>// in UI thread
            {
                var okAlertController = UIAlertController.Create("Title", "go to setting", UIAlertControllerStyle.Alert);

                //Add Action
                okAlertController.AddAction(UIAlertAction.Create("Ok", UIAlertActionStyle.Default, (e) =>
                {
                    var nurl = NSUrl.FromString(UIApplication.OpenNotificationSettingsUrl);
                    UIApplication.SharedApplication.OpenUrl(nurl!, new NSDictionary(), null); // This line of code will make app go to Notification page. If you test on simulator, the app will jump to Settings page.
                }));

                okAlertController.AddAction(UIAlertAction.Create("Cancel", UIAlertActionStyle.Cancel, null));

                try
                {
               //     UIApplication.SharedApplication.Delegate.GetWindow().RootViewController!.PresentViewController(okAlertController, true, null); //window.RootViewController might be null
                    var rootVC = UIApplication.SharedApplication.Delegate?.GetWindow()?.RootViewController;
                }
                catch(Exception ex)
                {
                }

            });
        }
        else
        {
        }
    });
  
    UIApplication.SharedApplication.RegisterForRemoteNotifications();

 }

     public string DeviceToken { get; set; }
     public override void RegisteredForRemoteNotifications(UIApplication application, NSData deviceToken)
     {
         byte[] result = new byte[deviceToken.Length];
         Marshal.Copy(deviceToken.Bytes, result, 0, (int)deviceToken.Length);
         DeviceToken = BitConverter.ToString(result).Replace("-", "");

         // Get previous device token
         var oldDeviceToken = NSUserDefaults.StandardUserDefaults.StringForKey("PushDeviceToken");
         // Has the token changed?
         if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(oldDeviceToken) || !oldDeviceToken.Equals(DeviceToken))
         {
         
         }
         // Save new device token
         NSUserDefaults.StandardUserDefaults.SetString(DeviceToken, "PushDeviceToken");
     }

     public override void FailedToRegisterForRemoteNotifications(UIApplication application, NSError error)
     {         
         var window = UIApplication.SharedApplication.KeyWindow;
         if (window != null)
         {
         var vc = window.RootViewController;
         while (vc.PresentedViewController != null)
         {
             vc = vc.PresentedViewController;
         }

         //Create Alert
         var okAlertController = UIAlertController.Create("Remote Notifications", "Failed to register.", UIAlertControllerStyle.Alert);

         //Add Action
         okAlertController.AddAction(UIAlertAction.Create("Ok", UIAlertActionStyle.Default, null));

         // Present Alert
         vc.PresentViewController(okAlertController, true, null);
         }
         else
         {
   
         }
     }

     public override void WillTerminate(UIApplication application)
     {
         if (_notificationDelegate != null)
         {
             UNUserNotificationCenter.Current.Delegate = null;
             _notificationDelegate = null;
         }
     }

using System;
using Foundation;
using UserNotifications;  

namespace MyProjectios
{
    public class UserNotificationCenterDelegate : UNUserNotificationCenterDelegate
    {
        [Export("userNotificationCenter:willPresentNotification:withCompletionHandler:")]
        public override void WillPresentNotification(UNUserNotificationCenter center, UNNotification notification, Action<UNNotificationPresentationOptions> completionHandler)
        {
            completionHandler(UNNotificationPresentationOptions.Sound | UNNotificationPresentationOptions.Badge | UNNotificationPresentationOptions.Banner | UNNotificationPresentationOptions.List);
        }
    }
}

using System;
using UserNotifications;

namespace SharedCode
{
    public partial class PushNotificationService
    {
        public partial void PushLocalNotification()
        {
            var content = new UNMutableNotificationContent();
            content.Title = "Notification Title";
            content.Subtitle = "Notification Subtitle";
            content.Body = "This is the message body of the notification.";
            content.Badge = 1;
            content.Sound = UNNotificationSound.DefaultCriticalSound;
            var trigger = UNTimeIntervalNotificationTrigger.CreateTrigger(5, false);

            var requestID = "123";
            var request = UNNotificationRequest.FromIdentifier(requestID, content, trigger);

            UNUserNotificationCenter.Current.AddNotificationRequest(request, (err) => {
                if (err != null)
                {
                    
                }
            });
        }

        public partial void CheckNotificationPermission(Action action)
        {

            UNUserNotificationCenter.Current.GetNotificationSettings((settings) => {
                if (settings.AuthorizationStatus == UNAuthorizationStatus.NotDetermined || settings.AuthorizationStatus == UNAuthorizationStatus.Denied)
                {
                    action();
                }
                else
                {
                }             
});         
}    
} 
}

using System;
namespace SharedCode
{
#if __IOS__
    public partial class PushNotificationService
    {
        public partial void PushLocalNotification();//Define the cross-platform API, which includes a partial method named PushLocalNotification.
         public partial void CheckNotificationPermission(Action action);   
    } 
#endif 
}

Answer accepted by question author

1 additional answer

Your answer

Nancy Vo (WICLOUD CORPORATION) 2,225 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-04-07T11:00:49.1466667+00:00

Hi @Kim Strasser ,

I will check on this and keep you updated as soon as possible.

Answer 1

Nancy Vo (WICLOUD CORPORATION) 2,225 Microsoft External Staff Moderator

Hi @Kim Strasser ,

Thank you for your inquiry.

You do not clear the badge when the app becomes active again, so the badge will always show until you clear it. I suggest clearing the badge in the OnActivated method of your main activity (in Program.cs):

public override void OnActivated(UIApplication application)
{
    base.OnActivated(application);  

    // Modern way - recommended by Apple (iOS 16+)
    if (UIDevice.CurrentDevice.CheckSystemVersion(16, 0))
    {
        UNUserNotificationCenter.Current.SetBadgeCount(0, (error) =>
        {
            if (error != null)
            {
                System.Diagnostics.Debug.WriteLine("Failed to clear badge: " + error.LocalizedDescription);
            }
        });
    }
    else
    {
        // Old way for older iOS
        UIApplication.SharedApplication.ApplicationIconBadgeNumber = 0;
    }
    UNUserNotificationCenter.Current.RemoveAllDeliveredNotifications();
}

After adding the code, please clean and rebuild your project. Then, uninstall the app -> reinstall and test again.

I hope this addresses your question. If this response was helpful, please consider following the guidance to provide feedback.

Kim Strasser 2,366 Reputation points

2026-04-08T11:13:51.24+00:00
My game crashes after the line base.OnActivated(application); is executed.

I get the exception Foundation.You_Should_Not_Call_base_In_This_Method in the line UIApplication.Main(args, null, typeof(MyProjectiOS.Program));.

static void Main(string[] args) { UIApplication.Main(args, null, typeof(MyProjectiOS.Program)); }
Kim Strasser 2,366 Reputation points

2026-04-08T11:26:45.85+00:00

It works now. I removed the line base.OnActivated(application); and now the badge gets cleared.

Answer 2

On iOS, the badge number on the app icon is not cleared automatically when the app is opened. The app (or the server sending the push) must explicitly set or reset the badge count.

For a .NET MAUI/iOS app this is done via the iOS APIs that control the application icon badge number:

UIApplication.ApplicationIconBadgeNumber
Or, when scheduling local notifications, UILocalNotification.ApplicationIconBadgeNumber

To clear the badge when the app is opened, set the badge number to 0 in the iOS-specific startup code (for example in FinishedLaunching or when the app becomes active):

using UIKit;

public override bool FinishedLaunching(UIApplication app, NSDictionary options)
{
    // ... existing setup code ...

    UIApplication.SharedApplication.ApplicationIconBadgeNumber = 0;
    return base.FinishedLaunching(app, options);
}

public override void OnActivated(UIApplication uiApplication)
{
    base.OnActivated(uiApplication);

    // Clear badge whenever the app becomes active
    UIApplication.SharedApplication.ApplicationIconBadgeNumber = 0;
}

If using local notifications, ensure that any UILocalNotification created does not keep incrementing the badge unintentionally, or that the server-side push payload sets the correct badge value.

Without this explicit reset, iOS will keep showing the last badge number that was set.

References:

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iOS: The push notification number is not disappearing on my app icon after I open my app again

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