I'm a alone in turning off most Android notifications?
I'm a alone in turning off most Android notifications?
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Discussion

Griffith4ever

Original Poster:

5,771 posts

52 months

Sunday 24th August
quotequote all
App developers are increasingly abusing the notification system. It used to be about notifying you of something the app did, which was generally important, but now.... pretty much every single app, after a while of running, will start to take the piss.

Last night I watched a movie on my local Plex server, as I do, on my TV. This morning, the plex app on my phone popped up a notification asking me to review the movie I watched last night. "App settings, Notifications Disable all plex notifications". And so it continues with every single app, from Ryainair, to Nectar, to banking apps suggesting loans or morgtages, to food ordering apps offering deals, to google apps suggesting stuff I can't even remember. Its endless.

Each and every one I turn off. I want notifications to be important, not adverts or asking for reviews.

Surely the devs have an idea that a lot of people are muting their apps, and thus making them less effective when a notificaion IS actually useful/important. In the notifications settings for each app I've noticed they are now making the descriptions quite vague, so you dont know if you are turning off necessary notifications, or just the annoying ones.

Andeh1

7,353 posts

223 months

Sunday 24th August
quotequote all
Yep, I'm the same! Even to the extent WhatsApp notifications are off.

I don't think there is a single app that is allowed to notify me of anything.

The ones I'm interested in I will check proactively when I want to.

My daughters or wife's phone and smart watch!? Everything is default acceptance, with so much as a sneeze and she will get multiple news, social, video, messages etc flowing in. She doesn't read any of it... But also isn't fussed at turning them off.

Whay really infuriates me.... If I try to call either of them?! What are the chances of then picking up... irked

NaePasaran

821 posts

74 months

Sunday 24th August
quotequote all
All push notifications are off here (similarly I've unsubscribed from mostly all emails) to try and get some peace.

The worst is Spotify "there's a band you listen to playing near-by soon". I'm in Central Scotland, the gig location they're trying to entice me to buy tickets from, Portsmouth!

Hoofy

78,802 posts

299 months

Sunday 24th August
quotequote all
Yep, apart from messenger apps, everything off.

ThingsBehindTheSun

2,281 posts

48 months

Sunday 24th August
quotequote all
Hoofy said:
Yep, apart from messenger apps, everything off.
Same, WhatsApp is the only one I have enabled.

MesoForm

9,559 posts

292 months

Sunday 24th August
quotequote all
When I used my Garmin watch as a smartwatch I went through and turned off all the notifications that want someone trying to get hold of me - it would be constantly buzzing on my wrist causing me to look away from what I was doing and down at my watch.

Looking at my wife’s notifications there’s always stuff advertising at her, not sure how she puts up with it.

This is Apple rather than Android but I don’t think either system is much better than the other for notifications!

Terminator X

18,070 posts

221 months

Sunday 24th August
quotequote all
NaePasaran said:
All push notifications are off here (similarly I've unsubscribed from mostly all emails) to try and get some peace.

The worst is Spotify "there's a band you listen to playing near-by soon". I'm in Central Scotland, the gig location they're trying to entice me to buy tickets from, Portsmouth!
Same. My phone doesn't beep at all other than for calls and text messages. So much more relaxing without all the beeps and pings.

TX.


twing

5,503 posts

148 months

Sunday 24th August
quotequote all
Phone's on DND all the time, no beeps or vibrations and all notifications off. My OT half has notifications set up for everything, different sounds for each app, WA group, etc....drives me round the bend. Especially as she'll have dozens of unread WAs, texts and emails.

snuffy

11,545 posts

301 months

Sunday 24th August
quotequote all
Almost all the app notifications are also off on my phone. Email (Outlook and another app), texts, some football score app (but that's only active if I tell it to follow a certain game(s), the NHS app, and that's it I think.

It's also almost always on silent, no vibration either. It sits on it's wireless charger on my desk almost all the time, so if it does ring, I can see that.

And at 11PM until 7AM, it's set to turn the AOD off.


bigpriest

2,138 posts

147 months

Sunday 24th August
quotequote all
I bought some bathrooms scales and decided the App would be good for monitoring weight, fat, heartrate trends etc. Then it started sending Push Notifications through at 3AM stating "Congratulations, 5 in a row" and "You've gained a new badge".

Apparently, if you can use a small part of your brain for one minute a day and remember to weigh yourself, you earn a badge. Drives me mad, it's like everyone is 7 years old and collecting stickers.

snuffy

11,545 posts

301 months

Sunday 24th August
quotequote all
bigpriest said:
I bought some bathrooms scales and decided the App would be good for monitoring weight, fat, heartrate trends etc. Then it started sending Push Notifications through at 3AM stating "Congratulations, 5 in a row" and "You've gained a new badge".

Apparently, if you can use a small part of your brain for one minute a day and remember to weigh yourself, you earn a badge. Drives me mad, it's like everyone is 7 years old and collecting stickers.
I tried the samsung sleep app - after monitoring me for 7 nights, it said I was a penguin. If you get a god score, the penguin dances and if you do really well, the dancing penguin has stars all round it !

So you get a badge for going to sleep.

davek_964

10,336 posts

192 months

Sunday 24th August
quotequote all
My banking apps generally don't bother me with notifications and I'd rather have them enabled.
I keep notifications on for my house alarm app but that also doesn't give random notifications.

WhatsApp is enabled although any groups on it are muted.

Most others are disabled.

Wdc_22

39 posts

79 months

Sunday 24th August
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Not on android, but my notifications are set to a ‘summary’ at certain points during the day, and even then I usually just hit ‘clear all’. The constant notifications used to piss me off, I genuinely don’t know how it doesn’t drive everyone else crazy! Maybe I’m just miserable..

Sporky

8,792 posts

81 months

Sunday 24th August
quotequote all
Mine are almost all off. Calendar and SMS stay on. It's a work phone, but Outlook and Teams notifications are off.

Turtle Shed

2,195 posts

43 months

Sunday 24th August
quotequote all
All off except for WhatsApp and SMS.

MB140

4,688 posts

120 months

Sunday 24th August
quotequote all
Terminator X said:
NaePasaran said:
All push notifications are off here (similarly I've unsubscribed from mostly all emails) to try and get some peace.

The worst is Spotify "there's a band you listen to playing near-by soon". I'm in Central Scotland, the gig location they're trying to entice me to buy tickets from, Portsmouth!
Same. My phone doesn't beep at all other than for calls and text messages. So much more relaxing without all the beeps and pings.

TX.
Calls, messages, reminders and calendar are the only notifications I have turned on. Watch set to mirror my phone so the same.

OP, you’re not kidding, it’s all ads now.


I do wonder if we will get to a point where there is no content, just advertisements. I must be an advertising nightmare as I now avoid things with supper aggressive advertising as it pisses me off

Griffith4ever

Original Poster:

5,771 posts

52 months

Monday 25th August
quotequote all
Seems I'm not alone!

Skyedriver

20,896 posts

299 months

Monday 25th August
quotequote all
MB140 said:
I must be an advertising nightmare as I now avoid things with supper aggressive advertising as it pisses me off
Aggressive suppers, you won't sleep at night.

(Sorry, I'm in one of those moods)

My phone pings, warbles and burps. Wife/son will say "what's that", my reply, "no idea" and just leave the phone where I last lost it.

the-norseman

14,508 posts

188 months

Monday 25th August
quotequote all
I grew up in the generation of having a new ringtone every week on my phone etc and also them little logos that replaced the network symbol.

My Android (personal) and iPhone (work) now have everything on silent apart from phone calls.

James_N

3,188 posts

251 months

Tuesday 26th August
quotequote all
I thought it was just me that turns notifications off for everything but banking and whatsapp!

My mrs phone on the other hand, by 11am, she has a whole screen full and she can scroll and scroll and still has loads! its forever going off. Drives me mad but she doesn't seem to mind!