Samsung could soon have a fix for excessive notification ad spam on Galaxy phones

Samsung’s upcoming One UI 8.5 interface brings heaps of changes to Galaxy phones and tablets. The aesthetic upgrades expected of this update chiefly focus on a new glass-inspired interface, more customizable quick settings, visually demarcated menus, and a 3D effect for icons. Meanwhile, the UI is also expected to bring iOS-like notification summaries and improvements to Now Bar. In addition to those, One UI 8.5 may also help limit unwanted notifications by blocking spammy apps.

With One UI 8.5, Samsung could bring additional settings to prevent apps with excessive notifications from badgering you. Tipster Tarun Vats shared on X a couple of screenshots of an upcoming One UI 8.5 feature that would block apps that continuously display “excessive ads.”

According to the leak, these apps would be put into “deep sleep,” a state that prevents them from waking themselves up, running in the background, or sending notifications. Currently, One UI puts unused apps into deep sleep, but the upcoming update appears to extend this to spammy apps as well.

Based on the description, the feature might either block apps that send frequent notifications that appear to be ads. Alternatively, you can use the option to activate “intelligent blocking,” which analyzes the contents of notifications in the app to determine whether they’re ads. This, the description reads, will also be limited to on-device analysis.

While the addition will help limit a deluge of unnecessary notifications, One UI already lets you take manual control over notifications. To activate the options, go to Settings > Notifications > Advanced settings, and then activate the toggle next to Manage notification categories for each app. This will allow you to selectively disable marketing notifications for apps without putting them to deep sleep. The only caveat is that you’re at the developer’s mercy as they must use these notification categories.

If that’s not the case, Samsung’s approach to limiting notifications may surely mitigate spam — so long as you don’t need to use the app frequently. We’ll be able to tell more confidently once we can try out One UI 8.5 in beta, which is expected to arrive very soon.