Chrome for Android has just solved one of the web's most irritating problems

Chrome
(Image credit: Shutterstock)

Google has added a new experimental option to Chrome for Android, which helps make alerts about site notifications less intrusive.

The browser already has some options for customizing how these alerts appear, but the new setting aims (called 'Quieter notification permission prompts') is new for anyone using Chrome Canary on their phone or tablet.

This setting is added to the existing 'Enabled', 'Enabled (force heads-up notifications)' and 'Enabled (force mini-infobars)' options. You can choose the setting you would like to use by visiting chrome://flags in Chrome, and then searching for 'Quieter notification permission prompts'.

As Techdows reports, the new option can be found in Chrome Canary 80.0.3969.0 and newer, and as the name would suggest, 'Force quiet notifications' is far less intrusive than the other options.

Quieten things down

With 'Force heads-up notifications' selected, you'll be shown an aggressive popup informing you that notifications are available for a site, and giving you the option of blocking or allowing them. Select 'Force mini-infobars', and instead you'll see a small mini-message at the bottom of the screen. You can tap this to change settings, or just ignore it.

With the new 'Force quiet notifications' option enabled you will instead see a soft notification in Android itself which you can deal with or ignore as you see fit.

Sofia Elizabella Wyciślik-Wilson
Freelance writer

Sofia is a tech journalist who's been writing about software, hardware and the web for nearly 25 years – but still looks as youthful as ever! After years writing for magazines, her life moved online and remains fueled by technology, music and nature.

Having written for websites and magazines since 2000, producing a wide range of reviews, guides, tutorials, brochures, newsletters and more, she continues to write for diverse audiences, from computing newbies to advanced users and business clients. Always willing to try something new, she loves sharing new discoveries with others.

Sofia lives and breathes Windows, Android, iOS, macOS and just about anything with a power button, but her particular areas of interest include security, tweaking and privacy. Her other loves include walking, music, her two Malamutes and, of course, her wife and daughter.

You can find her on Twitter and Mastodon.

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