Google Chrome is fixing its ‘notification overload’ problem with this handy new feature – here’s how it works

Google Chrome is adding a new notification management feature
Notifications will be disabled for sites you haven’t used recently
The tweak is being pushed out to Google Chrome on desktop and Android

Google Chrome is taking steps to reduce the number of notifications you see in your browser: starting on the desktop and on Android, the app will start to turn off notification permissions for websites you “haven’t interacted with recently”.

As per the Chromium Blog, the idea is that you get a quieter browsing experience that’s disrupted less often, but still see notifications that matter – from websites you are using regularly. The blog states that “this feature will only revoke permissions for sites when there is very low user engagement and a high volume of notifications being sent”.

This is actually something Chrome already does for camera and location permissions. If you’ve given a site these access privileges and then stop visiting it, it’s best to revoke the privileges in the interests of security.

According to the blog post, less than 1% of notifications get any interaction, but there’s also an acknowledgement that “notifications can be genuinely valuable and helpful” – and nothing will happen to the alerts from sites you’re visiting often.

Notification settings

There’s no exact timeframe given for what actually counts as a site you haven’t interacted with recently, but you will see a message pop up from Chrome whenever it decides to unsubscribe you from notifications from a particular website.

At that point (or at any other time) you can review the list of sites allowed to send you alerts: In the desktop browser, click the three dots (top right), then Settings > Privacy and security > Site settings > Notifications. On Android, tap the three dots (top right), then Settings > Notifications.

It’s also possible to turn this new feature off entirely, if you don’t want Google Chrome messing with your notifications settings for any site – though it seems to be a useful and convenient tweak that doesn’t need much in the way of management.

Tests by the Google Chrome team “show a significant reduction in notification overload with only a minimal change in total notification clicks” apparently, and sites that send fewer notifications actually end up getting more clicks on them.

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