Forget chaos: 3 Android notification tricks to save you time
Three useful tricks with Android notifications that everyone needs to know (photo: Freepik)
Notifications on Android smartphones can become a significant source of stress when there are too many of them, constantly distracting you. However, there are simple ways to take control of them and turn your phone into a productivity tool, the independent online source Android Authority, which covers the world of Android and technology, reports.
Notification history can be lifesaver
Many users have likely encountered a situation where they accidentally delete a notification too quickly before reading it.
On Android, there's a way to recover these notifications, although this feature is disabled by default, which may cause inconvenience. When setting up a new Android phone or tablet, it's essential to enable notification history so that the device keeps a log of recent notifications.
To do this, go to Settings > Notifications > Notification History, and enable the "Use Notification History" option. That's it! You can now tap the "History" button in the bottom left corner of the notifications panel, or if there are no notifications, on the text "No notifications," which acts as an invisible shortcut.
These actions will open the notification history menu in settings, where you can scroll through the list from the last 24 hours. All notifications are fully expanded and clickable.
While quick actions like deletion, reply, or marking as read are not available here, you can still navigate to the app where the notification originated.
How to recover notifications (photo: Android Authority)
Don't dismiss, just snooze
Many assume that people working with technology spend 24/7 glued to their phones. In reality, it's quite the opposite.
Often, the phone simply lies on the table at home while the owner is busy working, cooking, or relaxing, and all important messages are received on a smartwatch. During this time, the phone is always in silent mode (except for calls), with the vibration turned off.
As a result, after a few hours, the device may accumulate over 20 new notifications from various apps and services. Such a situation can feel overwhelming, and managing them all at once can be challenging.
While some notifications require attention, it's better to handle them later. For example, while searching for dinner recipes, new emails might appear, or during the testing of a new feature, a WhatsApp message from a relative might come in. These are notifications that require a response but not urgently.
To avoid chaos and keep only the most critical notifications for the moment, there's a snooze function. However, like notification history, it is, unfortunately, not enabled by default on most devices. To activate it, go to Settings > Notifications > Allow Notification Snoozing, and enable this option.
Afterward, a new alarm clock icon will appear in the bottom right corner of each notification, allowing you to snooze the notification for an hour (or select 15, 30 minutes, or two hours).
A snoozed notification completely disappears from the list and reappears after the set time. This is ideal if you want a clean notification panel without forgetting about tasks or messages that require your attention.
How to snooze notification for later (photo: Android Authority)
Some notifications are better minimized, silenced, or disabled altogether
Years ago, Google introduced a useful feature for notifications - channels. The idea is that not all app notifications are equally important and should be handled differently.
Most Android app developers have implemented these channels and divided their notifications into various categories, making it easier for users to control which notifications to receive.
When a notification appears that you want to see less frequently, more often, or not at all, simply press and hold it to open additional settings.
For instance, you can prioritize conversation notifications, so they appear at the top, as well as silence, minimize, or completely disable notifications that you don't need.
Set your preferences for notifications you want to receive (photo: Android Authority
