January 5, 2026
Mute buttons, loud opinions
Show HN: DoNotNotify – log and intelligently block notifications on Android
Peace at last? DoNotNotify sparks cheers, gripes, and a crusade against noisy apps
TLDR: DoNotNotify promises a privacy-first way to block junk notifications and keep only what matters on Android. Commenters loved the control but clashed over limits (can’t silence some system alerts), rival tools, and whether Google should punish noisy apps; minimalists say skip it all and go full-time silent.
DoNotNotify hit Show HN waving a big promise: tame your buzzing phone with offline, privacy-first rules that block junk and let urgent alerts through. The crowd? Split. One camp is cheering the “finally, peace” vibe, swapping tips on pattern-matching rules (think word filters) to smoke out promos while whitelisting train delays and delivery pings. iOS folks chimed in too: same pain, same dream—alerts, not ads.
Then came the spice. A tester tried to hide Android’s ever-present VPN/DNS badge (with Cloudflare’s 1.1.1.1) and reported a hard nope, reminding everyone that some system notifications are basically immortal. Another user flexed their loyalty to paid rival FilterBox, crowning any noise-killer that lets them keep necessary-but-annoying apps installed. And a crusader took it further: the Play Store should nuke apps that dodge Android’s notification controls—cue side-eye at Facebook.
Meanwhile, the minimalists dunked on the whole genre: just put your phone on permanent silent, monk mode unlocked. Others confessed to notification withdrawal like a mini digital detox. Drama level: medium-hot, with debate over DIY control versus platform policing. Bottom line: DoNotNotify’s promise of zero noise is catnip, but the community wants it to slay ads, respect privacy, and, if possible, muzzle the un-muzzleable.
Key Points
- •DoNotNotify is an Android app that functions as a notification firewall.
- •All processing occurs offline with no servers or tracking, emphasizing privacy.
- •Users can create rules based on app names, message content, and regex.
- •The app supports whitelisting urgent alerts and blacklisting promotional noise.
- •Interfaces include notification history, details, rule creation, active rules, and blocked logs.