According to Android Police, Samsung has disabled the notification categories feature by default with One UI 6.1, making it harder to access per-app alert controls in the current build.
This feature allows users to block or allow specific types of notifications within an app. It’s still available in One UI 8.5 on existing Galaxy devices, but it must be found via search and enabled manually.
This feature is equivalent to the notification channel system on Samsung’s Pixel and stock Android.
Notification Categories: Functionality and Accessibility Challenges
Notification categories allow users to filter specific alert types within an app, rather than enabling or disabling all notifications. For example, Android Police notes that users can keep forecast updates and breaking news from Samsung News and Google while blocking sports scores or Gemini Live prompts.
This feature also works with third-party apps. Android Police explains that it can be used to allow direct messages and essential alerts from apps like TikTok or Instagram, while blocking spam and video recommendations. Notification Categories is separate from the new Notification Highlights tool, as it is an older, separate utility for managing alerts.
Samsung has disabled notification categories by default starting with One UI 6.1, and the setting is now located several submenu layers down.
Android Police reports that finding it requires using the AI-powered search in the Settings app, which returns two results: an integrated toggle within Galaxy Themes and a separate “Manage notification categories for each app” option. The correct setting is found in Advanced Settings along with other notification toggles.
Android Police notes that accessing the setting is only easy if users know the exact search terms; Otherwise, it is difficult to detect.
How to Enable Notification Categories, and What to Look for
How to enable notification categories and main views in Recent One UI:
- Open the Settings app.
- Find “Notification categories” and select “Manage notification categories for each app” instead of the Galaxy Themes option.
- Enable the feature in Advanced Settings under Notification Toggle.
- Configure each app individually, as the feature requires per-app setup rather than a centralized page.
- Access the app’s categories directly from the notification panel when an alert appears. Android Police notes that this is faster than navigating through the app list in Settings.
On Pixel and stock Android devices, the equivalent feature is Notification Organizer, which is accessible through Settings, then Notifications, then App Notifications, then Notification Organizer.
The main drawback is that each app’s notification toggles must be configured individually, which Android Police says is time-consuming.
Samsung does not offer cross-device syncing for notification preferences, so this process must be repeated on each Galaxy phone or tablet.
Android Police notes that using notification categories with Notification Highlights, which uses AI to summarize and prioritize notifications, reduces the number of apps that require manual configuration.
However, full AI filtering through notification highlights is only available on recent flagship models, so older and mid-range Galaxy devices don’t have this option.
Samsung has not announced plans to re-enable notification categories by default in future One UI builds or add cross-device syncing for notification preferences.
Users setting up multiple Galaxy devices should expect to repeat the per-app configuration on each device until Samsung changes this behavior. This feature is available in current One UI versions, so users can continue to manually enable it after each device setup.
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