Hey guys, I see a lot of people on the forum dislike having to constantly look at the little red notification on their settings app whenever an iOS update has downloaded in the background on the iPhone / iPad. It's a little annoying, looks out of place on a clean homescreen, and theres no way to remove it (besides updating) once it's there 
Heres a simply technique how I prevent the notification badge from ever coming up in the first place:
Hope this helps
* there's no way to remove the update notification (outside of updating or 'erase all content and settings') once it's there, this technique only works if you don't have one yet
** sometimes the iOS update won't start to download right away (i.e. if Apple servers are getting hammered for it) when you first plug in your phone, if so simply unplug your phone or turn off WiFi and try again later.
*** you will need to do this technique each time there is a new iOS version released. If you've already done this technique to prevent a notification badge from iOS 9.2, then you'll need to do it again when Apple releases iOS 9.3, etc. Thankfully it only takes a few seconds to do.
Heres a simply technique how I prevent the notification badge from ever coming up in the first place:
- Start with a clean iPhone that doesn't have a notification badge yet
- Turn on WiFi
- Plug in your iPhone (the combination of WiFi on + Plugged in should start the download process)
- Go to "Settings"
- Go to "Storage & iCloud Usage"
- Go to "Manage Storage"
- Keep going back and fourth between "Storage & iCloud Usage" and "Manage Storage" until you see whatever iOS update is downloading in the list of things taking up storage on your iPhone.
- As soon as you see the iOS update downloading... delete it!
Hope this helps
* there's no way to remove the update notification (outside of updating or 'erase all content and settings') once it's there, this technique only works if you don't have one yet
** sometimes the iOS update won't start to download right away (i.e. if Apple servers are getting hammered for it) when you first plug in your phone, if so simply unplug your phone or turn off WiFi and try again later.
*** you will need to do this technique each time there is a new iOS version released. If you've already done this technique to prevent a notification badge from iOS 9.2, then you'll need to do it again when Apple releases iOS 9.3, etc. Thankfully it only takes a few seconds to do.