How to Use Priority Notifications to Keep Your Android Phone from Disturbing You
Our smartphones and tablets are great tools for staying connected wherever we are, but chances are there are times when your device's constant notifications and alerts aren't necessary--or, worse, interrupt your productivity. The good news is you can turn off those notifications on Android so you can work distraction-free, while still allowing important calls and messages through. Here's how. ~ April 6, 2015
Among the many different notifications that can disrupt a meeting, work sprints when you really need to focus, and other times when you don't want to hear your phone's alerts (like when you're sleeping): calendar reminders, calls, text messages, and app notifications. You can turn the volume off or put your phone into airplane mode to prevent all notifications, but if you still want to get some messages, you can do so with Priority Notifications.
How to Set Up Priority Notifications on Android
Priority Notifications (or priority interruptions), available with Android 5.0, Lollipop and above, added notification controls so you'll only be interrupted by the most important messages. (In addition to the new priority notifications, Android 5.0 and above devices also added: The ability to view and respond to messages from the lock screen, control over specific apps' notifications, and one place at the top of the screen to see all notifications.)
To turn on Priority mode, press your device's volume button to raise or lower the sound, You'll see three options beneath the volume bar: None, Priority, and All.
None turns all notification sounds off and All (the default) allows them all.
If you select Priority, you'll get the option to only allow priority interruptions for a specific amount of time (e.g., the next hour or two) or indefinitely until you change the mode again.
To customize Priority Notifications:
Click on the settings gear in the priority options pane and can choose which types of calls and notifications will create a sound on your phone or tablet: events and reminders, calls, and/or messages. There's also an option to allow calls or messages only from your contacts list or starred contacts. (Head to your contacts list to star people whose calls and messages you always want to come through, if you haven't already.) Finally, you can also set a schedule for priority interruptions only.
Alarms will always come in as priority interruptions, and when your phone is in priority mode, you'll see a star next to the network signal in your phone's status bar.
How to Customize App Notifications on Android
If you don't want apps to interrupt you with their status updates and notifications:
- Head to your phone's settings and the "Sound & notification" section.
- Scroll down to "App notifications"
- Select the app you want to customize
- Choose either to never show notifications from the app or allow the app's notifications to still come up when you've set your phone to priority interruptions.
This is a good setting to head to when you install and an app and later find it's sending you notifications that you really don't need (e.g., distracting and annoying game notifications).
How to Customize Notifications on Older Android Devices
If your phone or tablet doesn't run Android 5.0 or above, you'll probably need a third-party app to fine-tune your Android notifications. Do Not Disturb, from Cabooze Software, is free and allows you to customize notifications on a schedule. It's rated over 4 stars by more than 4,500 users. (The premium version adds more features.)