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Android could extend its lead on notification management over iOS with Notification Rules
- Android 17 Beta 3 includes strings for a new “Notification rules” feature that provides granular control over notifications from certain apps and people.
- Users can assign from five specific actions to notifications from certain apps and people: Silence, Block, Silence & Bundle, Highlight, and Highlight & Alert.
- The feature has also been spotted in One UI 9 leaked builds, indicating it will likely be available on Samsung devices as well and may not be Pixel-exclusive.
One of the things Android does objectively better than iOS is notifications. App notifications are handled much better, with features like Notification Channels, Notification Cooldown, Modes, and the recently introduced Notification Organizer making it a breeze to sort through the constant barrage of notifications on our phones. Google is not done yet, as we’ve now spotted clues on a new “Notification rules” feature that could give you even more power over notifications from specific apps and people.
Within Android 17 Beta 3, we’ve spotted strings for a new “Notification Rules” feature:
<string name="notification_rules_activity_title">Notification Rules</string>
<string name="notification_rules_create_new_rule">Create new rule</string>Rules can be created for specific apps and specific people:
<string name="notification_rules_field_app">App</string>
<string name="notification_rules_field_people">People</string>Users will be able to search for contacts (and possibly apps), quickly select all or none for these rules:
<string name="notification_rules_deselect_all">Deselect all</string>
<string name="notification_rules_edit">Edit</string>
<string name="notification_rules_nothing_selected">Nothing selected</string>
<string name="notification_rules_number_selected">%1$d selected</string>
<string name="notification_rules_save_number_selected">Save %1$d selected</string>
<string name="notification_rules_search">Search</string>
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Once you’ve created a rule, you can specify the action the system will take for notifications that match it. We’ve spotted five types of applicable actions:
- Silence
- Block
- Silence & Bundle
- Highlight
- Highlight & Alert
While the ability to silence and even block notifications from apps has been around for ages on Android, the ability to do so for calls and texts (and potentially more) from specific contacts would be new. There are instances where you’d want specific callers silenced, or better yet, not show up as a notification at all (without actually blocking their call or silencing all phone calls completely), and Notification Rules could potentially fill that gap.
We’re not clear on what “Highlight” means in this context. It could be that notifications from certain apps and people could be shown in an expanded form at the top of the queue, like a Priority notification, or perhaps some cosmetic highlighting could be applied to them. The “Highlight & Alert” option could presumably send out a sound or vibration alert for the specific contact or app.
We’ll have to wait for more clues to emerge to get a better picture of this upcoming Notification Rules feature. We’ve also spotted the strings in One UI 9 leaked builds, so it’s likely the feature may not be Pixel-specific. Google hasn’t confirmed the feature for Android 17, so there’s a possibility that this may be slated for future Android versions. We’ll keep you updated when we learn more.
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