Do you want to effectively silence your phone and get some peace and quiet? See how to turn off unnecessary notifications on Android and iPhone in an advanced way.

How to turn off unnecessary notifications to regain control of your day?

Notifications were supposed to help us “stay up to date.” In practice, it often ends with the phone displaying something, ringing or vibrating every now and then, and you have the impression that it is managing your day, and not the other way around.

Below you will find specific tips that will help you master the art of cleverly muting your smartphone.

Android: how to silence unnecessary notifications step by step

The names may vary slightly depending on the manufacturer and Android version, but the logic is very similar everywhere. Below, I’m sticking to the naming conventions of pure Android and Pixel phones.

Panel Digital Wellbeing and Parental Control you will find here:

  1. Open Settings phone.
  2. Tap Digital Wellbeing and Parental Control.

Here you will see, among others:

  • Device usage time – how much time you spend in applications,
  • Number of opens – how many times you unlock your phone,
  • Received notifications – how many notifications you receive and from which applications.

This is a good place to start: you can immediately see which applications generate the most “noise”.

Use full concentration mode

Google describes Full concentration mode as a function that allows you to temporarily pause selected applications – when the mode is turned on, you cannot use them and you do not receive notifications from them.

  1. Open Settings.
  2. Enter in Digital Wellbeing and Parental Control.
  3. Tap Full concentration mode.
  4. Select the applications that you want to “extinguish” while working (e.g. social media, news, games).
  5. Turn on the mode manually from the switch or configure an automatic turn-on schedule (e.g. weekdays 9:00-12:00 and 14:00-17:00).

When Full concentration mode is active:

  • icons of selected applications are grayed out,
  • an attempt to run them is blocked,
  • notifications from these applications do not appear during the session.

This tool is useful when you don’t want to permanently turn off notifications, but you need a hard lock while working or studying.

Completely disable notifications for a specific application

If you know that you don’t need notifications from a given application at all, Google allows you to use the system panel Notifications. On Pixels (and most newer Androids) it looks like this:

Option 1 – via “Settings”

  1. Open Settings.
  2. Tap Notifications.
  3. Choose App notifications.
  4. In section “Latest” you’ll see apps that have recently sent notifications. In the menu you can switch to “All Apps”to see the full list.
  5. Tap the app you want to silence.
  6. Turn off notifications – depending on the system version: toggle the main slider “Notifications”or deselect the option “All notifications” for this application.

In many applications, you can also disable only selected ones notification categoriesinstead of muting everything.

Option 2 – directly from the notification

  1. Swipe down from the top edge to open the notification bar.
  2. Press and hold the notification you want to silence.
  3. Tap Settings (gear icon).
  4. Uncheck “All notifications”to disable them completely, or set the delivery method: “Alerts” (with sound) or “Without Sound” (quiet).

This is the fastest method to silence a persistent application exactly when it sends us something again.

Notification filtering

Google has introduced a panel on newer phones Modeswhich includes, among others, classic mode Do not disturb and other modes (e.g. Bedtime, Driving a carown modes). Each mode has its own Notification filters – you can decide separately who and what applications can get through the filter. In Pixel it looks like this:

  1. Open Settings.
  2. Tap Modes.
  3. Select a mode, e.g. Do not disturb, Bedtime, Driving a car or custom mode.
  4. Enter the section “Notification Filters”.
  5. Configure: People (from whom calls, messages and conversations should go through (, Applications (which apps can send notifications) and Alarms and other notifications (whether to allow, among others, alarms, multimedia, touch sounds, reminders and calendar events).

Additionally, you can set how long the mode should run Do not disturb: :

  1. Enter in Settings → Modes → Do not disturb → Duration in Quick Settings.
  2. Select one of the options: “Until You Turn It Off”, “For a Limited Time” (e.g. 2 hours) or “Always Ask”.

Thanks to this, instead of one button that cuts out absolutely everything, you can leave exceptions only for selected ones people, application and alarms and other notificationsand filter out the rest of the noise.

iPhone: how to silence unnecessary notifications and use focus mode

Apple also offers a fairly extensive notification system, but key things can be set in a few simple steps.

Disabling notifications for a specific application (System Settings)

The easiest way is to use the “Notifications” screen in the Settings app:

  1. Open the application Settings.
  2. Tap Notifications.
  3. On the list Notification style select an application.
  4. Turn off the switch Turn on notifications.

From now on, the selected application will not send any notifications – neither on the lock screen, nor as banners, nor in the Notification Center (unless you personalize it differently, within the available options).

Quickly mute from Notification Center

You can also mute notifications straight from an incoming alert:

  1. On the lock screen or in Notification Center swipe left on notification (single or group).
  2. Tap Options.
  3. Select one of the items: Mute for 1 hour (temporarily silences notifications from this app for one hour), Mute today (silences notifications from this application until the end of the day), Display settings (takes you to full notification settings for this app) or Turn off (completely disables notifications from this app).

This is useful when you want to “silence” something right away, without looking for the application in the list in Settings.

Focus mode and Do not disturb

Focus mode allows you to determine which people and applications can reach you depending on the context: work, home, sleep, etc. One of the default modes is Do not disturb.

Configuring notifications in focus mode (e.g. “Do not disturb”):

  1. Open Settings.
  2. Tap Focus mode.
  3. Select a mode, e.g. Do not disturb, Time for me, Dream or Work.

Then:

  • People – you determine who can break through:
    • tap Allow notificationsto indicate the contacts from which notifications are to be allowed,
    • or Mute notificationsif you want to mute specific people.
  • Applications – you define which applications can send notifications when a given mode is running. In section Applications choose Allow notifications or Mute notificationsthen select specific applications.

Additionally, you can use options Create a scheduleto enable a given mode (e.g. Do not disturb) automatically at specific times,

These solutions will work well when you want to keep notifications, e.g. from work and from loved ones, but cut out the rest when you are focused.

Additional options: how, where and how loud

A few additional places in iOS that help you “tame” notifications:

  • IN Settings → Notifications you can choose in the section View aswhether notifications should be presented as on the lock screen Meter, Stack Whether List.
  • For each application (in area Notification style) you can decide whether it should have a sound, whether it should appear on the lock screen, in the Notification Center and as a banner.
  • IN Settings → Sounds and haptics you can adjust the alert volume and whether your iPhone uses vibration for notifications.

These are not strictly “mute” functions, but they help reduce both audio noise and visual chaos on the screen.

5 simple rules of notification hygiene

The functions themselves are only half the battle. The other half is consistent use of them. In practice, a few simple rules work well:

  1. Turn off notifications for everything that is not criticalE-shops, games, most social media, promotions – you don’t really need to see it immediately. Android and iOS allow you to completely turn off notifications for a specific app in just a few clicks.
  2. Set two filter levels
    • level 1: for specific applications (does not send notifications at all or only sends silent ones),
    • level 2: Focus mode / Do not disturb etc.where you leave access only to a narrow group of people and applications.
  3. Set automatic schedulesBoth Digital Wellbeing and Focus can turn on themselves in the evening, during working hours, while sleeping – use this instead of remembering to switch it on manually every time.
  4. Check “major spammers” from time to timeThe Digital Wellbeing panel shows the apps that send the most notifications; in iOS you also get suggestions to turn them off if you don’t use them for a long time.
  5. Start smallYou don’t have to turn your phone into an ascetic, soundless rectangle in one day. First try this:
    • 1 Focus mode (work) + disabling notifications for 2-3 most intrusive applications.
    • After a week, see what else is annoying – and only then optimize the settings for yourself.
Alex Chen
Alex Chen

Alex Chen serves as the chief editor of Asia Tech Journal, bringing over a decade of experience in technology journalism. Previously writing for several globally renowned publications, Alex is celebrated for his insightful analyses and in-depth reporting on tech trends across Asia. Passionate about innovation, Alex specializes in the dynamic technology ecosystem of China and its global impacts.