Well, gang, it occurred. Again.I, an alleged human who lives and breathes all issues Android, simply realized I’d gone months with out activating one of many platform’s strongest and nice personalization choices.This time, although, I noticed a sample.Late final yr, y’see, I moved into a brand new Android machine — the perky and praiseworthy Pixel 7 Pro. And as a part of that migration into a special digital dwelling, I inadvertently left this little bit of superior customization behind.It is not the primary time, I now understand. Virtually each time I’ve moved into a brand new cellphone over the previous few years, this similar maddening slip has transpired. And just about each time, it takes me wherever from a number of weeks to the higher a part of a yr to note after which gently plop me palm in opposition to me noggin in frustration.[Get useful advice in your inbox with my Android Intelligence newsletter. Three new things to try every Friday!] I’d be keen to wager the identical has occurred to you — and, in truth, you could be within the midst of the forgetting a part of this cycle this very minute with out even realizing it.Android’s back-and-forth personalization progressBefore we get into the specifics of this case, let me again up only a smidgeon right here — approach again to the traditional digital period of 2020. That yr, Google launched Android 11 into the world, and with it, our Android-caressing overlords gave us a beefy increase to the platform’s notification group. Android 11 launched a extremely touted new “Conversations” part into the Android notification panel. It was a part of a much wider and bold plan to rework the expertise of messaging on Android and produce all of the completely different messaging apps most of us use collectively right into a single streamlined setup.No matter which app despatched ’em, the considering went, all of our incoming communication-related notifications would present up collectively — in that one constant part atop the Android notification panel — and that’d make messaging on Android really feel much less like juggling conversations from a dozen completely different apps and extra like interacting with a single consolidated communication hub on the working system stage.It was a noble ambition. But then — nicely, Google…y’know, Googled. At some level alongside the best way, the concept of that separated “Conversations” part inside Android’s notification panel quietly light away, with none fanfare or fancy sendoff. So a lot for that, eh?But whereas the part itself could have evaporated for no obvious purpose, one small piece of that puzzle has remained in place all this time — and that is the piece I continuously neglect to activate on each freakin’ new cellphone I exploit. It’s an choice to designate any particular thread from a supported messaging app as a “priority” dialog — and, in doing so, to provide that thread its personal customized notification icon that stands out from all others in your cellphone’s standing bar.Here, for instance, are two icons exhibiting new messages from conversations I’ve set as “priority” alongside some extra generic Google Messages notifications: JRAs you may see, these icons really present the related individual’s beak ‘n’ peepers — or no matter you resolve to make use of as their profile picture — because the notification icon. It’s a much more distinctive and attention-grabbing method than the usual new message icon, which merely reveals a generic Messages image for any new messages you obtain.Now here is the bizarre half: Unlike the unique Android-11-era imaginative and prescient, setting a dialog to “priority” would not really do something completely different in your notification panel anymore. As of present Android variations, conversations set that approach present up roughly the identical as another incoming messages — with the separated part and better rating of yesteryear now nowhere to be discovered. JRThat makes it even simpler to neglect this feature exists — ‘trigger at a look, it actually would not appear to do a lot. But lemme inform ya, that customized notification icon could make a large distinction in your means to see what essential missives you have received pending and enable you stay aware of when somebody vital has despatched you a message.But the dangerous information: As I’ve simply been reminded — once more — your settings on this space do not stick whenever you transfer from one cellphone to a different. That means it is as much as you to think about this and set it up anew each time you begin over with a brand new Android machine and even only a manufacturing facility reset in your present cellphone.And that, my fellow Android-appreciating organism, is precisely what I neglect. Every. Freakin’. Time.3 steps to Android notification personalizationNow, for some excellent news: Activating Android’s precedence dialog system is definitely extremely straightforward. The hardest half is simply remembering.But hey, you are fascinated about it proper now, proper? So take 20 seconds to do that:
Press and maintain your finger onto the messaging notification from any individual and/or porpoise you need.
Tap “Priority” on the panel that pops up.
Tap the phrase “Done” inside that very same panel to save lots of your choice.
JRTold ya it was straightforward, did not I? Now, to make clear: You will have to be working 2020’s Android 11 software program or greater for this to work (however in the event you’re working something older than Android 11 at this level, my amigo, we have got greater fish to fry). That apart, the characteristic could or is probably not supported by all messaging apps, nevertheless it completely is obtainable with Google Messages (and in the event you’re utilizing one thing just like the fully superfluous Samsung-made Messages app as an alternative, you’d most likely be higher off switching, anyway).One extra saucy step to contemplate earlier than we name it a day with this: If you feel particularly impressed, you may march your approach over to the Google Contacts app subsequent (and, once more, in the event you’re nonetheless utilizing the subpar different your non-Pixel cellphone’s producer gave you, for Goog’s sake, change over already). Find the entry for the contact whose notifications you simply prioritized and be sure to’re pleased with the profile image that individual/porpoise possesses — ‘trigger you will be seeing an terrible lot of it from right here on out.Last however not least, the really difficult half — and the half I clearly maintain failing to grasp: Set your self a psychological word to carry out this similar step once more each time you both reset your cellphone or transfer into a brand new Android machine. For no matter purpose, regardless of all of the progress we have seen with syncing and new Android cellphone setup over time, this one little bit of personalization by no means carries over by itself.But now you realize. And now you will get this splendid characteristic up and working by yourself cellphone this minute — after which be a part of me in realizing you have forgotten about it over again 4 months after you progress into your subsequent machine.Hungry for extra Googley goodness? Sign up for my Android Intelligence publication to get next-level data delivered on to your inbox.
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