How to tame notifications on your Android phone

Quiet, please. | Illustration by Samar Haddad / The Verge

Notifications are the soundtrack to modern digital life. When they're out of control, they make it hard to hear anything else going on. But if you manage them well, you can turn them into a subtle background noise. App developers want you to opt in to every notification possible, but thankfully, Android provides a lot of tools to help you tune in to the helpful stuff and tune out the distractions. It takes a little work upfront, but the payoff is worth it.

I used a Google Pixel 8 Pro running Android 14 and a Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 running One UI 6.1 to write the following guide - steps may be slightly different on other Android phones.

Notifications in the settings menu

On either a Pixel or Galaxy phone, a good place to start is by...

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