So here's the scenario: you take hold of your phone and don't run into annihilation in the notification bar. Simply you lot pull the shade down, and in that location one is. It's a mysterious petty guy with no icon in the bar.

This, in a nutshell, is a silent notification—a notification that shows up with no audible or visual alert to let you lot know information technology'due south there. Why? Because information technology'south notthat important. Information technology's passive information; something that you tin can check on at whatsoever point. It isn't necessarily time sensitive, nor does it require whatever interaction. It's just at that place to let you lot know something yous may want to know.

Permit'due south have Maps for example. I'grand sure nigh of u.s.a. have seen Maps' traffic notifications—the affair that lets you know how congested the roads are in your expanse. That'southward the perfect example of a silent notification. It'south there, only you actually don't know when it got there, because it didn't alert you lot in whatsoever way.

RELATED: How to Disable Android's Traffic Notifications

Now, I get why a lot of people don't similar that with Maps (which is exactly why we covered how to disable the notification), just that's just one example. There are other types of silent notifications available on Android, many of which are generated past the Google App itself.

For example, allow's say you listen to an artist a lot on Google Play Music. Occasionally, a silent notification may let y'all know when that creative person releases a new anthology. I love that.

The same goes for searches—if you've researched an upcoming movie or something like, at that place's a adventure you could get a silent notification to let you know when said movie is released. Or if y'all've searched for information on certain sports teams, you may go a silent notification of game scores when those teams are playing.

Silent notifications represent passive, non-important information that just might be something yous want to know, simply non something yous need to know.

And hither'southward the best part: with Android Oreo, you can plow nearly any notification into a silent notification—every bit long every bit the app has been updated with full Oreo support.

RELATED: How to Use Android Oreo's New Notification Channels for Ultra-Granular Notification Customization

This is thank you to Android's new Notification Channels in Oreo. Substantially, these allow you to completely customize compatible apps' notification settings. For example, I completely disabled the visual notification when taking screenshots by settings the notification priority to low. Android however notifies me when I've taken a screenshot, only I don't get any visual or audible cues about it. Since I take so many screenshots, I've longed for the day when I didn't have to dismiss the stupid notification from the bar after every single one. Thank you, Google.

Unfortunately, at that place isn't a blanket way to disable silent notifications, since they're generated past unlike apps. The best thing you lot can do is long-press the notification and edit the app's settings, after learning which i is generating the notification in the first place.