The Best Way to Organize Notification Tray in Android

What’s the first thing that comes up to your mind when someone mentions phone notification? Information … scores of information about anything — upcoming discounts, traffic updates, incoming messages, screenshot options, photo backup choices. Now, imagine a situation where these notifications haven’t been cleared for quite some time.

It’s a frightening affair where notifications eat up the whole screen. And to make matters worse, the status bar runs out of space in its bid to accommodate the app icons. And hey, you can’t clear them up in a single go, what if you miss out on an important one?

So, wouldn’t it be a delight to have all the messages neatly lined up in just a single card?

Notification Hub is the app that rises to the challenge of keeping the notification tray clean and organized and makes sure that not a single one is missed out.

Read More: This tiny dot might be the future

Overview

Notification Hub is a robust and easy-to-use app that does a terrific job of bundling notifications together. The bundling is done app-wise, which not only is visually appealing but also helps in saving screen space. And to top it all, you have all the notifications at your fingertips.

What’s more, the same card is also mirrored on the lock screen. If that’s not a reason enough for ditching the native Android notification widget, then let me tell you that you also get to select the apps.

Setup and Usage

Initially, you will be given a list of apps for which Notification Hub needs to be enabled. If a neat notification drawer is what you are looking for, we suggest checking all the boxes.

Notification Hub needs two sets of permissions to work — Notification access and Usage Access.

Now that all the necessary setup has been done and permissions were given, get ready to bid farewell to clutter. From now on, all the notifications will be seen on a single card with the app icon and a number signifying the number of messages.

UI & Design

The app interface is seemingly easy to navigate. A tap on a notification will take you to the app home page. Here, the notifications are neatly arranged as per the time.

As the app stores all the notifications, the read/unread markers play a great deal in separating them.

Un-Hide Notifications

Surely, it’s an advantage to have all the notifications in a common ground but there is always one app that holds a special place. So, for those apps, for which you’d like to receive notifications the conventional way, the hide notification from hub featureholds the key.

If you want to go a notch above and ban all notifications from the drawer, uncheck the Notification summary widget. All the notifications will make their way straight to the app.

Pro Version

Nova Launcher has set a great example in providing some exciting features for free. And it seems Notification Hub has followed that example to a T. The core intention of the app is fulfilled well by the free version and only a few are hidden behind the paywall.

The Pro features include Notification Analytics and Places which provide an analysis based on the location or number of messages received per app.

Are you a Nova user? Check out these tips and tricks.

Limitations

Notification Hub does a brilliant job of sweeping all the notifications under one card. But when it comes to displaying the already read notifications, there’s a slight twist to the tale.

The notifications will stay on the card as long as they aren’t manually cleared or you open the concerned app through Notification Hub.

In other words, once you finish the task make a mental note to tap on the check sign. Otherwise, it may leave you confused.

Go For It!

Notification Hub is a smart approach to keep all the notifications under one roof. Plus, you get to assess the scene in the notification area in just one go in the cost of just one app. Try it out and let us know how well it worked out for you.

Also Read: How to personalize notifications on any Android device