Lumia Housekeeping: Managing Your Notifications

Beep beep! Do you have lots of notifications on your Lumia? Do you really need all those alerts and reminders?

Your Lumia with Windows Phone 8.1 lets you control everything that shows up in Action Center. (Access by swiping down from the top of your Lumia screen to reveal your latest updates and alerts.)

Whether you have missed a call, added a follower on Twitter or have a new Skype contact request, it’s there for you to see at a glance. Some of the most popular alerts include: phone, IM, email, Facebook and other social media, news, fitness, weather, Skype, Windows Store and financial transactions like from your bank, or credit card statement etc.

All of this keeps you on top of things, but can also distract you when you’re busy and need to focus on things like work or driving. An average person needs only a few notifications to keep him updated about what’s happening. For other things in life, there’s always Cortana to alert you.

So be in charge of your beeps and whistles and turn off those non-essential updates and banner alerts. Here’s how.

Notifications 

If you wish to check or alter individual app notifications, tap Settings. Next tap, “notifications + actions.” Here you will find which notifications appear in Action Center, and whether each notification includes a banner alert, sound, vibration or nothing at all. By tapping individual apps like “Phone,” you can choose whether you wish to get an alert for it, by selecting “show in action center.”

Lock Screen

Make full use of other notifications that you can set via the “Lock Screen” feature. If you want email as the first you see when you get your Lumia in hand, tap Settings. Next tap, “lock screen”and select your choice.

What are the must have apps you want to have notifications turned on for?

Photo Credit: JD Hancock via Compfight cc