We live in an age where we can be connected and informed at any time through our smartphones. This can be great, but it can also be a problem, especially when we want to disconnect from our work, social networks and online life in general, and when we don't want to feel overwhelmed by notifications that we constantly receive on our devices.
Fortunately, Android is a very versatile operating system which allows us to adjust exactly how and when we want to receive notifications on the device. Some functions are a little hidden, but they can be very useful. In my case, there are three settings that I make or do on my smartphone to never miss the notifications that really interest me, and to prevent notifications from driving me crazy when I don't want to receive them.
The definitive setting to not miss anything and read deleted WhatsApp messages
Android has a very useful function hidden in the settings menu, available on most devices of different brands. It's about “Notification history” and can be used on mobile phones from Samsung, Google, Motorola and other manufacturers.
The “Notification History” allows us to see in list form all the notifications we recently receivedin the last 24 hours. This means that if you accidentally dismissed a notification that seemed important but you don't even remember which app it came from, you can check it here.
Additionally, notification history is also a super power that allows us to read deleted WhatsApp messages. If someone sent you a message and deleted it, you can read it here. Of course, with a few exceptions: if he sent you a photo and deleted it, you won't be able to see it or listen to a deleted voicemail. This only works with text, since that's what you would see in the notification.
Notification history is disabled by default. To enable it, follow these steps:
- Go to the Settings menu of your mobile
- Go to the section Notifications
- Then access the option “Notification history” and activate it
On some mobiles the location of this setting may vary. For example, on Samsung Galaxy, it is necessary to access the “Advanced settings” option in the notification settings menu. If you can't find this feature on your device, you can search for it using the search tool in the settings menu (the magnifying glass button).
Snooze instead of dismissing important notifications
Many of us have the habit of dismissing the notifications we receive to prevent them from piling up in the notification panel. The problem is that this can cause We forgot that we received an important notificationif we throw it away when we receive it and don't pay attention to it. This has happened to me countless times.
Now I no longer dismiss notifications, I repeat them. This way, I avoid having too many accumulated in the notification panel, and my phone will remind me later to respond to this notificationwhen you are free and can reply to this message or read this email, for example.
The “Snooze notifications” function is active by default on Xiaomi phones. However, on mobile phones from other brands we have to activate it ourselves.
To activate “Snooze notifications”, we follow these steps:
- Let's go to the Settings menu
- Next we access the notifications section and then the option “Advanced settings“
- Finally, we activate the option called “Allow snooze notifications” or “Show snooze button”
Once we activate this function, notifications will start showing a bell-shaped button on the notification screen. By pressing on it we can choose when we want the mobile to show us this notification again, the options range from 15 minutes to 2 hours later.
Schedule “Do not disturb” mode: during these hours, I don’t want notifications
As we mentioned at the beginning of this article, today we are more connected than ever, so We constantly receive countless notifications WhatsApp messages, social networks, new YouTube videos, calendar alerts and much more.
This makes it difficult to disconnect from our online lives and we can feel overwhelmed. Personally, and like many people, I have decided that at certain times I don't want to receive notificationsof all kinds. I won't turn off my phone, because I always use it for entertainment or sending a message, but my rule is: after a certain time, no notifications.
To do this, I take advantage of my phone’s “Do not disturb” mode. I set it to turn on and off automaticallyand this way I avoid forgetting to do it and having a YouTube notification interrupt my family or my time of rest.
To program Do Not Disturb mode, simply go to the Settings menu, then to the Notifications section and, finally, access the “Do Not Disturb” option. In this section we will configure the time we want it to be activated automatically. You can even add several configurations, for example: every day from 9:00 p.m. until the next morning at 8:00 a.m., and all day on Sunday.
Bonus: turn off notifications for “loudest” apps
One additional recommendation I can make to avoid feeling overwhelmed by constant notifications is: disable completely notifications from the apps you need the least.
For example, maybe you constantly log into X (Twitter) throughout the day to entertain yourself and post a comment on your favorite topics. But do you really need to know instantly when you receive a like or a reply? If you feel that social media notifications tend to overwhelm you, you can turn them off and find out what happened only when you access the app.
From the notifications section in settings menu We can completely disable notifications for applications that you do not consider necessary to have notifications of their news in real time.
Cover photo | Xataka (with edition)
In Xataka Android | I pulled down Chrome's address bar and there's no going back. So you can do it too
In Xataka Android | This simple trick makes music sound better on Spotify for Android
Table of Contents
