Summary
For better or worse, notifications are a core component of the smartphone experience. When it’s on the “worse” end, they can quickly become overwhelming. Android’s Notification Cooldown is the answer, and it’s incredibly easy to use.
This is a feature that’s been on the horizon for what feels like a very long time. In February 2024, thefirst Android 15 Developer Previewarrived, and it included a very basic version of Notification Cooldown. In the first beta release, it wasfleshed out a bit more, but thenthe feature disappearedand wasn’t included in the final version of Android 15.
Thankfully, Notification Cooldown made its triumphant return a few months ago with the March Feature Drop for Pixel phones. The feature is also available in theAndroid 16 beta builds, which leads me to believe it will make its way to non-Pixel devices as well. Anyway, let’s talk about what it actually does.
What is Notification Cooldown?
As the name implies, Notification Cooldown is about being chill. For most of us, notifications usually trickle in one at a time throughout the day. Occasionally, though, notifications flood our inboxes in bunches, and our phones light up like Christmas trees. Those are the situations this feature is intended for.
Here’s the full description Google lists in the Settings:
When you receive many notifications within a short time, your device will lower its volume and minimize alerts for up to 1 minute. Calls, alarms, and priority conversations are not affected.
Notifications received during the cooldown can be found by pulling down from the top of the screen.
Simply put, if your phone is blowing up with notifications, Cooldown will give you a break. It doesn’t block notifications or prevent them from appearing on your phone—it only stops thealerts. That includes both sound and vibration. Important things, like phone calls, alarms, and messages from your priority contacts, will still make alerts.
How Does it Work?
In my testing, Notification Cooldown goes into action pretty quickly. When I recieved two notifications within a few seconds, the volume was already lowered for the second notification, and it gets increasingly quiet as more come in.
As mentioned in the description, it doesn’t stay quiet for too long, either. If the outburst of notifications only last 15 seconds, Cooldown returns your alerts to normal immedietly afterwards. Interestingly, Android 16 says it will only last for up to one minute, but Android 15 said two minutes.
Notification Cooldown has the advantage of essentially being a mute switch that’s automatically toggled on and off without your input. It makes perfect sense, too. If I already heard or felt the vibration for one notification, another one lighting up my phone barely two seconds later is just going to annoy me more than get my attention.
The feature is not enabled by default, but you won’t be digging deep in the Settings menu to find Notification Cooldown. Open the Settings app and go to the “Notifications” section. There, you’ll find “Notification Cooldown.” Simply toggle it on and you’re good to go.
One thing you’ll notice while you’re there is the lack of options. Google has decided how Notification Cooldown should work, and you can either use it as is or not. That being said, I can’t really think of anything I’d want to adjust. This is a nice little quality-of-life feature that won’t be needed very often, but I’ll appreciate it when it works.
