Muting a busy group chat in Messages silences the alerts, but the red badge on the Messages icon still climbs every time someone replies. Apple appears to be working on a fix for that.
Aaron Perris spotted code in the iOS 27.2 release candidate that indicates Apple is working on a feature to exclude muted chats from the unread count in the Messages app. Apple has not announced it, and the code does not appear to be active in this build. iOS 27.2 is expected to reach the public before the end of October, so the first public version is unlikely to include it.
Muted chats still count toward the Messages unread badge today
Turning on Hide Alerts for a conversation stops notifications for that thread only, not for the whole device. Swipe left on the conversation, tap the Alerts button, and a crescent moon appears next to it.
New messages in a muted thread still add to the number on the Messages icon, which means a chat you have no plan to read can keep the badge lit all day. A busy group chat is the obvious example.
The usual workarounds are opening the thread to clear it or turning off badges for Messages in Settings, which hides the count for every conversation.
The code describes a muted chat that stops adding to the count
What Perris found is a reference in the release candidate, not a working setting. There is no menu or wording from Apple to go on yet.
The code does not say whether this would be a single switch in Settings, an option next to Hide Alerts on each conversation, or a new default for every muted thread. Whether the count inside the Messages app would change along with the badge on the Home Screen is also unknown.
Apple has been adding finer controls to Messages through the iOS 27.2 cycle. The granular Suggested Actions controls found in iOS 27.2 beta 3 are one example, and an unread-count option for muted chats would fit the same direction.
iOS 27.2 is days away and iOS 27.3 is the next update to watch
Apple seeded the iOS 27.2 release candidate (build 24B115) to developers on October 19, six days after beta 4. Apple skipped iOS 27.1 for existing iPhones because that version ships on the iPhone Duo, which launches October 23.
iOS 27.2 brings Siri AI to French, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese and Spanish, along with Apple TV profiles on iPhone and iPad and anniversary alerts in Call Context. It is also required for Apple’s new HomeView, which goes on sale November 13.
Features that first appear as code often turn up in a later beta. The iOS 27.3 beta is expected at the end of October, which makes it the first place to look for a visible version of this change.
