It’s nice to be up to date about events, new products, and social media feeds, but onscreen notifications cross into the annoying category.

Classed as “push” notifications, they’re often accompanied by a sound and pop up on your computer or mobile device at random times during the day. 

They interrupt what you’re doing, obscure whatever you’re looking at, create a sense of urgency, and some of them can actually wake a mobile device from sleep mode.

During a day, you may see numerous notifications alerting you that someone just posted something on Facebook, a distant acquaintance wants to follow you on Instagram, or that apps you rarely use have “important” upgrades. Those intrusions are in addition to actual useful notifications, such as weather alerts or those indicating a new text or email has arrived. 

The good news is that you can control what notifications you get, how they display or make a sound, and turn them off entirely if you’re so inclined. 

On an Apple or Android device open Settings and in the Notifications section there are detailed........

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