{"id":96473,"date":"2026-10-24T00:01:00","date_gmt":"2026-10-24T06:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.opinionpublica.tv\/portada\/?p=96473"},"modified":"2026-10-23T19:45:22","modified_gmt":"2026-10-24T01:45:22","slug":"your-phones-notifications-are-out-of-control-here-are-six-tips-to-fix-them-for-good","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.opinionpublica.tv\/portada\/your-phones-notifications-are-out-of-control-here-are-six-tips-to-fix-them-for-good\/","title":{"rendered":"Your phone\u2019s notifications are out of control. Here are six tips to fix them for good"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Your<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Most people rely on their phones to keep track of basically everything in their lives. That requires fielding a lot of incoming alerts and messages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But let\u2019s be honest: Most of them are unnecessary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Between the notifications that are actually important, such as those for work emails or texts from friends, you\u2019re also getting a lot of garbage, including updates about new shows on Netflix, DoorDash discount codes, and Instagram likes. All those vibrations can prompt you to pick up your phone more often than necessary. It\u2019s distracting \u2014 and, at worst, it can lead to alert fatigue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your instinct might be to put your phone on Do Not Disturb and mute all of your notifications, but you can take a more nuanced approach \u2014 and find a bit of peace in your day \u2014 just by changing some settings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whether you own an iPhone or an Android phone, these six tips will help you keep your notifications in check and get only the alerts you actually want to see.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Delete any apps you no longer need<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before diving into customizing your notifications, sort through all the apps on your phone and delete those you don\u2019t use anymore. Doing so automatically reduces the number of notifications you receive and makes it easier to adjust your settings later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can delete an app by long-pressing its icon and tapping the option to remove or uninstall, depending on your device.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Customize how your notifications appear<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unless your phone is face down or out of reach, resisting the urge to look at the screen every time it lights up is impossible. But you can limit the distractions by adjusting how alerts appear on the display.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On an iPhone, you have multiple ways to customize your notifications, including which apps you want to receive notifications from, the style in which alerts appear on your lock screen and home screen, whether previews appear, and more. For the simplest option, go to Settings > Notifications > Display As and choose Count.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instead of seeing a list of all your notifications, you\u2019ll see only the total number at the bottom of the screen. If you want to see each notification individually, you can manually scroll up on the lock screen. This approach makes your lock screen less overwhelming to look at, regardless of how many alerts you receive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Android, the steps vary depending on the phone you\u2019re using. In the Settings app, search for \u201cLock screen\u201d (on Pixel phones, it\u2019s under \u201cDisplay & touch\u201d; on Samsung phones, go to Settings > Notifications). There, you can adjust how notifications appear on the lock screen, as well as whether they show up at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Schedule your notifications<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another way to limit distractions is to schedule your notifications to be delivered as summaries. This way, you\u2019re alerted to everything at once \u2014 exactly when you want \u2014instead of piecemeal, at any moment of the day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On an iPhone, go to Settings > Notifications > Scheduled Summary and toggle on Scheduled Summary. Then, you can choose which notifications to include in the summary and when you want them delivered. (If there\u2019s an app you can\u2019t find but want to include, go to Settings > Apps, select the specific app, and toggle on Allow Notifications.) These notifications will also be organized by relevance, based on your frequently used apps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Google Pixel phones, you can turn on the Notification Organizer, which uses AI to silence and bundle low-priority alerts to minimize interruptions. You can customize which notifications to include and group, as well as which apps\u2019 notifications to exclude. On Samsung Galaxy phones, you can go to Settings > Notifications > Sort and filter > Sort notifications and select By priority.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Create a custom Focus Mode<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Do Not Disturb feature on an iPhone is great if you want to mute all of your notifications and alerts. It\u2019s one of the easiest ways, if not the easiest, to keep notifications from constantly popping up on your device.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But you can also choose from other presets, such as Work, Sleep, Reduce Interruptions, Commuting, and Driving, which each limit which notifications can get through your Do Not Disturb. Each option is automatically set to receive zero notifications, but you can customize them to allow certain apps to bypass the system, and you can schedule the modes to activate at specific times of day. For example, with Sleep mode, you can specify which contacts you\u2019ll allow phone calls from in an emergency; with Work mode, you can choose to allow notifications from apps such as Gmail and Slack, while everything else stays silent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If the presets aren\u2019t quite doing it, you can also create your own Focus Mode. Swipe down on the right shoulder of the iPhone, tap Focus Mode, and then tap the plus sign labeled New Focus. Then, you can choose which notifications to silence, set a schedule, and customize the new mode, including rules for app alerts, phone calls, text messages, emails, and more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Android phones have their own version of the mode. On Google Pixel phones, go to Settings > Digital Wellbeing. As on the iPhone, you have the option to customize the mode. Tap Focus and then choose when you want the focus mode to kick in and which apps you want to limit notifications from. On other Android phones, search for \u201cDo not disturb\u201d in Settings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Adjust notifications for certain apps<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Companies love sending push notifications, most of which are useless alerts intended to lure you into engaging with their apps. But you can pick and choose which apps you receive notifications from and silence notifications from the worst offenders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On an iPhone, go to Settings > Notifications and scroll down to Notification Style, where you\u2019ll see a list of all the apps you\u2019ve downloaded to your device. Tap the app you want to disable notifications for and toggle off Allow Notifications.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On an Android phone, go to Settings > Notifications > App notifications (if you\u2019re on a Pixel phone, tap All apps). You\u2019ll see a list of all the apps you\u2019ve downloaded, with the option to toggle off notifications on the apps of your choice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mute your notifications<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

You don\u2019t have to overhaul your notifications in one go. If you\u2019re indecisive or feeling overwhelmed about which apps to even tackle first, you can ease into it. Whenever you receive a notification, you can adjust the settings via the lock screen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Swipe to the right on the notification on an iPhone, tap Options, and choose Mute for 1 Hour or Mute for Today. That way, you\u2019re only temporarily changing the settings for each notification. To halt the notifications completely, in the same menu tap Turn Off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Google Pixel phones have a feature called Notification Cooldown, which lowers the volume and minimizes alerts for up to one minute when it sees that you\u2019re receiving a lot of notifications within a short time. You can check the alerts by pulling down the notifications menu from the top of the screen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To turn it on, go to Settings > Notifications and scroll down to find Notification Cooldown under the General tab. We hope this feature comes to more phones, because it offers an easy way to limit notifications automatically without your having to pick up your phone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n