Want to mute notifications from specific numbers, or prioritize certain chats? Here’s how to configure alerts for conversations in the Messages app.
You’re about to settle in to watch a movie. You would really rather not be disturbed by that one pesky group chat, so you go to turn your phone volume off. But then you remember that one of your family members is having a hard time and might call. If only you could turn off notifications for individual conversations.
On Android, you can change individual text conversations, including group chats, from “Default” to “Priority” or “Silent.” Here, we’ll talk about how to make that change and what the different settings mean.
How to Adjust Notification Settings for Specific Conversations
With a text conversation open, select the three-dots icon from the upper right corner. Then, select the top item in the resulting menu. If the conversation is with one other person, this option will say Details but if the conversation is with two or more people, the option will say Group details.
Next, select Notifications under the Options section in the middle of the screen. From here, you can set the notifications for the specific conversation to Priority, Default, or Silent.
What Different Settings Do (and Don’t) Mean
When a conversation is set to Silent, you will still get a graphic notification on your screen to let you know that you have a new message. However, getting a message from this conversation won’t make your phone vibrate or ring, though any other text conversation will act according to your general settings.
Default is the basic setting for all conversations. When a text comes into a conversation on this setting, the notification will be in accordance with whatever the general notification settings on your phone are.
When a conversation is set to Priority it has a whole different set of rules as far as the display goes. The icon for the group or single contact will appear with your general phone notifications.
Unfortunately, this setting doesn’t work as a “reverse mute.” Setting a conversation to Priority does not mean that the conversation will ring even if the rest of your phone is silent.
Silence All Notifications, if You Want To
This setting is very easy to use after you’ve found it the first time. So, it’s easy to toggle these notifications on and off. Or, just silence all of your most annoying conversations safe in the knowledge that, even though your phone isn’t ringing, all of those texts will be waiting for you. When you feel like getting around to them, that is.
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