We all know the feeling of being interrupted by a notification. It could be a text from a friend, a breaking news alert, an e-mail, or a reminder to drink water. Whatever it is, it makes us look away from what we were doing and check our alerts on a computer or phone.
I have a variety of apps on my phone and computer, and the number keeps growing as the, "Internet of Things," progresses. Sometimes these notifications are a complete distraction and today was a day riddled with unwanted, "Alerts". So, I took a few minutes to address the situation on my Android Devices. I can now instantly tell if, "Mom is triggering her driveway Camera," or, "my wife let the dog out back," and more importantly, a Stock was just purchased through E*Trade!
Making this short and sweet, I'll dive right into how it was done (On each device).
1. First, from the home screen, open Settings by dragging a finger from the top of the screen downward. Then touch the, "Sprocket," located on the top of the screen (Just beneath the Power Indicator on my Devices).
2. Now you should see a list of options and be able to scroll down by swiping up. You are going to feel compelled to select, "Notifications," but don't do that! Scroll past that and touch, "Apps".
3. Select the App that should have a unique alert, an alert different than the standard notification sound. For example, I selected Wyze on my Devices.
4. After selecting Wyze from the menu, I see, "Notifications," with, "Allowed," directly below. Touch that to open the App notifications menu.
5. At the bottom of the next Screen, select, "Notification categories".
6. The following menu will have all the notifications that may come from the App, as they are categorized. For this example, I selected, "Wyze Messages" which appears twice.
7. Then I selected, "Sound," from the menu.
8. Then I selected, "Old Camera," which I thought was fitting for a Home Surveillance System!
After setting the tone of important apps you will be less frustrated, less distracted, and ultimately more productive! Eight easy steps for each app that is disturbing you too often!
