Since iOS 5 in 2011, iPhone and iPad have included Notification Center as a central place for alerts. Starting with iOS 27, Apple is changing how users open Notification Center on iPhone and iPad. iOS 27 launches September 14 after a summer of beta releases. Enabling Siri AI changes the swipe gesture: swiping down from the center of the top edge now invokes Siri AI instead of Notification Center.

Users can still access Notification Center by swiping down from the top-left corner when Siri AI is enabled. Alerts now animate in from the top left corner to guide users toward Notification Center’s smaller surface area. Apple is prioritizing Siri AI access, devoting most of the top edge to invoking the new Siri experience.

This follows a similar shift when Control Center moved to the top-right corner on iPhone X. On iPadOS 27 beta 1, the area above Home screen icons was largely for Siri AI, shrinking Notification Center access unless AM/PM or date display is enabled. Beta 2 improved this with a more uniform region: Notification Center on the left, Control Center on the right, each roughly two app columns wide, with the rest for Siri.

After 15 years of muscle memory, users must adapt. Early feedback on Siri AI is positive, but the lack of a toggle to disable center-swipe Siri invocation means users must build new habits to avoid accidental triggers.