Ask HN: What are your thoughts on turning all notifications off?

4 points·kashnote··5 comments

I’ve become a big fan of iOS’s latest update which puts a big emphasis on using Focus mode. I use it sparingly throughout the week, but haven't fully committed to the romantic idea of always having it on — I’m worried I’ll miss an important call or text.

Has anyone gone all in on the Notifications Off lifestyle?

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I've been syncing all notifications to my watch and then tucking the phone away. My watch will vibrate on important things like a call or when the spaghetti is done.

But everything else is silenced because otherwise my watch will be vibrating all the time. Once an app loses that trust, it's hard to get back.

I turned all my notifications off years ago. With the exceptions of calls and texts, which almost nobody sends me so are not bothersome. I think it depends on individual circumstances, if you are getting lots of nuisance calls but want to know if there is an important one, it may be tougher.

For me anyway, there is no email or message from an app that I care enough about for it to appear as a notification

Similar to others here, I disable all interruptible notifications except for family sms and calls.

Apps that I allow to notify me (there are a few), do so by sticking the notification in the system tray - this way, I dictate when I receive them.

The only notifications I have on are SMS, missed calls, WhatsApp (mostly from my children), Canterbury Cathedral youtube for morning prayer, and my own reminders in TickTick.

Keep all non-essential notifications off. All social network, app notifications, messenger notifications are non-essential. It's a blessing.

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