How to customize notifications?

[6thSense]

Forgive me if there is a sticky somewhere I missed. I'm trying to figure out how to customize my notifications. I guess my question is two fold...

1. I want to be able to see if I missed a call, have a vm, and/or have a text. I've dove into the settings but cannot find out how to do so. I have the default email and gmail installed, and text wise I have Textra. How do I go about getting that notification?

2. When I log into my phone and swipe down, not sure what that screen is called? It has all my notifications such as email, apps (e.g. NBA Game Time) texts, sometimes music apps...then has "S Finder" and "Quick Connect" at the top of the list. How do I customize what shows here? Say for instance my email. I don't need notifications from BOTH the stock and gmail. But sometimes (depending on my mood) I may choose one over the other.

I feel like I need a S6 101 Course.

 

[smooth4lyfe]

If you go to Settings -> Device -> Sound and Notifications -> App Notifications
You can customize what notifications for which apps show or doesn't show. You can also set apps as priority so they will always show first

 

[6thSense]

If you go to Settings -> Device -> Sound and Notifications -> App Notifications
You can customize what notifications for which apps show or doesn't show. You can also set apps as priority so they will always show first

Thanks Smooth! Not sure how I missed that as i was right there. I think I needed to dig in one more level.

So many freaken apps that it prompted two more questions...

1. This the only way to do it? Or is there a way to do it as they occur? Like when one pops up I don't like, is there a way to hold down on something and remove it from the notifications?

2. I see how to get notifications via a lock screen. I tried it, got it to work. But it gives too much info. I just want an icon notification (if that makes sense). On my old phone I could press the button, and while it was still locked at the top task bar I could see an icon for missed call, text or email. That's all i want to be honest. I don't want the contents of an email or text to show as sometimes it's dealing with sensitive/confidential info.

Any ideas?

 

[smooth4lyfe]

Thanks Smooth! Not sure how I missed that as i was right there. I think I needed to dig in one more level.

So many freaken apps that it prompted two more questions...

1. This the only way to do it? Or is there a way to do it as they occur? Like when one pops up I don't like, is there a way to hold down on something and remove it from the notifications?

2. I see how to get notifications via a lock screen. I tried it, got it to work. But it gives too much info. I just want an icon notification (if that makes sense). On my old phone I could press the button, and while it was still locked at the top task bar I could see an icon for missed call, text or email. That's all i want to be honest. I don't want the contents of an email or text to show as sometimes it's dealing with sensitive/confidential info.

Any ideas?

Sure man!

1. Well in addition, you can customize notifications within the app settings itself. I know if you go to the settings within the app, they have their own settings for notifications, which you would be able to customize.
Also, if a notification pops up, you can just swipe to remove that notification, either from the lock screen or the home screen

2. I'm sure if you go to the Sound and Notification settings and make sure "Do Not Show Notifications", I think it will still show the icon at the top of the notification bar, but will not show the box notification on the lock screen.
You can also select "Do Not Show Content", which I do for messages, which will not show the content of messages on the lock screen, but still has the box notification

 

[VidJunky]

OK you're looking at several things here with similar and different answers.

Let's start by getting rid of what you don't want. To pick an app when you have 2 that do the same thing and stop notifications, go into the app's settings and manage the notifications from there. Almost all of them have an option to disable notifications. This is almost always the first option under notifications in the app settings. Of course you could always disable the app in your App Manager if it's something you really just don't want at all. For instance let's use your Stock Gmail and Stock Mail apps. You really don't need both, and I'll get into some downfalls of having two in just a bit, but you can go in to either and remove your account, which would effectively stop it from running, or you can go into your device settings and use the App Manager to disable one.

As for notifications I'm assuming you mean you would like to know which is which either audibly or tactically or both. Again this is done by going into the app's settings. Under notifications there should be options for how the notification is delivered. Most default to the default notification sound, but usually offer custom options. So you can change the sound the device makes when an email comes to something different than when a text comes in or a game update. These options sometimes include vibrating functions with options like long pulses, short pulses, single long, single short, and occasionally custom where you could set it up to do SOS if you wanted to do so. There may also be options to change the LED color, or wake the phone so that the notification is displayed without unlocking or pressing the power button. The options are only limited by the app its self.

I mentioned there being a downfall to having two apps, particularly mail apps, running simultaneously. The downfall is data usage. If you have two apps telling you the same information one becomes redundant and not needed. Therefore you are likely to only use the one that you like and forget about the other. Disabling the app will stop it from sending data to web and retrieving data, thus reducing your data usage. Which may not be a big deal if you have unlimited data or have a huge plan. They may also look for data at different refresh rates, so if you were attempting to save a little data by only having your mail app look for new mail a couple of times a day and set up only the one you liked to do this the other may be looking every 15 minutes defeating your goal. Or even if you don't care about the frequency they are double dipping for the same information, and costing you twice as much, data wise. This is why I always recommend that redundant apps be disabled if they are stock or uninstalled if they are third party apps. You can effectively replace all of the stock email and text apps with third party apps and disable them without affecting performance.

 

[6thSense]

OK you're looking at several things here with similar and different answers.

Let's start by getting rid of what you don't want. To pick an app when you have 2 that do the same thing and stop notifications, go into the app's settings and manage the notifications from there. Almost all of them have an option to disable notifications. This is almost always the first option under notifications in the app settings. Of course you could always disable the app in your App Manager if it's something you really just don't want at all. For instance let's use your Stock Gmail and Stock Mail apps. You really don't need both, and I'll get into some downfalls of having two in just a bit, but you can go in to either and remove your account, which would effectively stop it from running, or you can go into your device settings and use the App Manager to disable one.

As for notifications I'm assuming you mean you would like to know which is which either audibly or tactically or both. Again this is done by going into the app's settings. Under notifications there should be options for how the notification is delivered. Most default to the default notification sound, but usually offer custom options. So you can change the sound the device makes when an email comes to something different than when a text comes in or a game update. These options sometimes include vibrating functions with options like long pulses, short pulses, single long, single short, and occasionally custom where you could set it up to do SOS if you wanted to do so. There may also be options to change the LED color, or wake the phone so that the notification is displayed without unlocking or pressing the power button. The options are only limited by the app its self.

I mentioned there being a downfall to having two apps, particularly mail apps, running simultaneously. The downfall is data usage. If you have two apps telling you the same information one becomes redundant and not needed. Therefore you are likely to only use the one that you like and forget about the other. Disabling the app will stop it from sending data to web and retrieving data, thus reducing your data usage. Which may not be a big deal if you have unlimited data or have a huge plan. They may also look for data at different refresh rates, so if you were attempting to save a little data by only having your mail app look for new mail a couple of times a day and set up only the one you liked to do this the other may be looking every 15 minutes defeating your goal. Or even if you don't care about the frequency they are double dipping for the same information, and costing you twice as much, data wise. This is why I always recommend that redundant apps be disabled if they are stock or uninstalled if they are third party apps. You can effectively replace all of the stock email and text apps with third party apps and disable them without affecting performance.

VidJunky,

Thank you for your response. Appreciate it. I'm not so much big on sound. I'm one of those guys that pretty much keeps the phone on mute or vibrate always. I pretty much never turn the volume up other than to listen to music. But I do like those options to change LED lights.

Yeah data usage is not so much of a concern as just bogging the phone down and it eventually becoming slow. I concur...there really is no need for both and I need to make a decision. The gmail app I think looks better aesthically so its easier to browse through messages to me. I also have multiple gmail accounts with tons of folders, so navigating through and moving things to folders is much easier on the gmail app. The only two things I like about the stock email app are (1) drafting an email is easier, and (2) you don't get those pesky promo ads.

I know, I'm weird and that's probably something stupid to sit and ponder over, but I do a TON of communication via email. So I just want to get set in one and be done.

 

[6thSense]

Sure man!

1. Well in addition, you can customize notifications within the app settings itself. I know if you go to the settings within the app, they have their own settings for notifications, which you would be able to customize.
Also, if a notification pops up, you can just swipe to remove that notification, either from the lock screen or the home screen

2. I'm sure if you go to the Sound and Notification settings and make sure "Do Not Show Notifications", I think it will still show the icon at the top of the notification bar, but will not show the box notification on the lock screen.
You can also select "Do Not Show Content", which I do for messages, which will not show the content of messages on the lock screen, but still has the box notification

Hey smooth4lyfe,

I went through and found mostly everything you said. Noticed some texting apps (e.g. Hello SMS) didn't give you an option for not showing the content. It was either show all or nothing. Guess I have to use Textra. That worked.

Also...dumb question, but where would I find that for missed calls? I know I can probably find something for voicemail, but I'm a little dumbfounded when it comes to missed calls.

 

[VidJunky]

Well I hope you were able to get something useful out of all of that. Funny when I started replying I was the first but by the time I had finished you had already had a couple of back and forths. Meanwhile, I like MailDroid for email. I know there are tons out there with pretty good ratings. When I picked it up it was probably the best one so I've had it for quite awhile. It does offer a subscription version, if you are one that spends money on apps, which I try to avoid myself, that doesn't have ads. The free version offers almost everything the paid one does just a couple of extra bells and whistles with the paid app, plus no ads. It will handle all of your accounts allow you to give them nicknames and let you see them all in chronological order in one list, or you can go into each account individually. If you’re looking for one app to like, this one gets my vote.

 

[6thSense]

Well I hope you were able to get something useful out of all of that. Funny when I started replying I was the first but by the time I had finished you had already had a couple of back and forths. Meanwhile, I like MailDroid for email. I know there are tons out there with pretty good ratings. When I picked it up it was probably the best one so I've had it for quite awhile. It does offer a subscription version, if you are one that spends money on apps, which I try to avoid myself, that doesn't have ads. The free version offers almost everything the paid one does just a couple of extra bells and whistles with the paid app, plus no ads. It will handle all of your accounts allow you to give them nicknames and let you see them all in chronological order in one list, or you can go into each account individually. If you’re looking for one app to like, this one gets my vote.

Yes I did. Appreciate you guys! I'll check out that MailDroid. I'm not stuck on one vs the other. I actually just posted something yesterday about trying to decide between the stock app and Gmail. Have pros and cons to each. So I'm definitely open to finding something that fits my needs