Route each companion-app notification by event, not by one master switch

Inventory what the app actually sends before changing settings

Open the app's notification settings and the phone's per-app settings side by side. Copy the exact labels of every available category; do not invent a category the app does not expose. Match recent harmless examples to five working rows: direct reply, activity suggestion, re-engagement, product management, and account or safety. Record the sender shown, sample wording, tap destination, whether it reveals conversation content, and whether the same event also arrives by email or another device. Android can expose per-app categories, history, snoozing, dots, alerting or silent delivery, but the available controls vary by phone. If the application offers only one system category, keep the five rows in your own matrix and mark system control as app-wide. That limitation matters because turning off promotion may otherwise also hide replies.

Assign immediate, scheduled catch-up, or off to every row

Use immediate only when you deliberately want the event to interrupt the current context. A direct reply can be immediate during chosen daytime hours, yet silent or collected at other times. Optional activity ideas and re-engagement prompts usually remain useful when reviewed later, so place them in a scheduled catch-up or turn them off according to your preference. Product-management notices should be split again: a confirmed renewal date or service change is different from an upgrade offer. Account or safety-related notices get their own row and official destination, but verify what the notice actually concerns before allowing sound or quiet-hour exceptions. On Apple devices, Scheduled Summary is a separate notification feature. Do not confuse it with Apple Intelligence notification summaries or priority notifications, which require specified hardware and software and can vary.

Choose the least intrusive surface that still completes the task

Delivery time and display surface are different decisions. A notification can arrive silently in the centre with no lock-screen preview, banner, sound, vibration, or badge. Direct replies may need a badge but not message text on a shared lock screen. Activity suggestions may need neither badge nor sound if they sit in a catch-up. Re-engagement can be fully off while in-app suggestions remain available when you choose to open the app. Android distinguishes alerting and silent behavior on some devices and can hide sensitive lock-screen content; Apple exposes per-app alert styles, sounds, badges, previews, and temporary muting. Check the actual phone because names and combinations differ. If a preview includes a companion name, private topic, place, or quoted message, reduce the preview before deciding whether the event itself should remain enabled.

Set quiet hours and make overrides narrow and temporary

Define quiet hours from existing obligations, such as the time from a household's evening wind-down until morning, a recurring work block, a class, or a face-to-face gathering. In Android Modes or Do Not Disturb, filters may control people, apps, alarms, reminders, and other interruptions; exact features depend on Android version and manufacturer. Preserve alarms, calls, accessibility functions, and other channels you truly need. Do not grant the whole companion app an override merely because one verified account notice could matter. If the operating system cannot separate categories, let the account notice use a separate official email route or review it at a chosen check time. A user override should say what changes, for how long, and how it returns—for example, allow direct replies until 20:30 today—rather than silently disabling quiet hours indefinitely.

Run negative tests on each row and record the result

Use harmless, controllable events. Ask a test account you own to send a neutral direct reply, use the app's official notification test if available, and wait for a normal product notice rather than manufacturing an account incident. During quiet hours, a re-engagement test should not make a sound, wake the display, reveal text on the lock screen, or bypass the route you selected. A catch-up item should appear only in the expected centre or scheduled summary; an off row should not leave a badge through another category. Test both locked and unlocked states and, if you use more than one device, each device separately. Record expected, observed, pass or unresolved, setting owner, and date. Repeat after a major app or operating-system update. Google PAIR recommends engagement requests that are strategic, minimal, easy to dismiss, and controlled by editable preferences; a setting passes only when observed delivery matches that explicit choice.

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