Managing High Priority Notifications Preferences Within The WhatsApp Messaging Application

This document outlines various approaches for managing notification preferences within the WhatsApp messaging application. While WhatsApp currently working on more features , here are some  methods that can be employed to achieve a good outcome and optimize your notification experience.

1. Tuning Off High Priority Notifications. 

These are the annoying notifications that pops up at the top of your screen when ever you receive a Whatsapp chat or group message, that turns to interrupt sometimes.

• Open your Whatsapp 
• Click on the three vertical dots at the top right conner.
• Click on settings,  scroll down and click on notifications. 
• Click on the toggle switch that says "use high priority notifications" , either for chats or groups.

2. Selective Notification Muting:

• For targeted control over notifications, WhatsApp offers the functionality to mute notifications for individual chats or groups. This approach silences all notifications for the muted contact or group, potentially encompassing any messages categorized as high-priority.

• To mute notifications for a specific chat or group:

1. Open the desired chat or group conversation.
2. Tap on the contact or group name located at the top of the screen.
3. Select "Mute Notifications" from the available options.
4. Choose your preferred muting duration (8 hours, 1 week, or 1 year).

3. Disabling Notification Sounds:

• A broader approach involves disabling notification sounds for the entire WhatsApp application. This will eliminate all notification sounds, including those potentially associated with high-priority messages.

• To deactivate notification sounds for WhatsApp:

  1. Launch the WhatsApp application and navigate to its Settings menu.
  2. Locate and select the "Notifications" section within the Settings menu.
  3. Under "Message notifications" or a similar setting depending on your phone model, you will find an option to toggle "Sounds" off.

4. Managing Notification Importance on Android (Android 7.1 and above):

• For users with Android devices running version 7.1 (Nougat) or later, the operating system offers notification channels. These channels provide a degree of control over notification behavior within apps. While they cannot directly target high-priority notifications in WhatsApp, you can set WhatsApp notifications as low priority. This might lessen the intrusiveness of notifications you receive.

• To manage notification importance for WhatsApp on Android 7.1 and above:

  1. Long-press on a WhatsApp notification you've received.
  2. Select "App info" or "Settings" depending on the options presented by your device.
  3. Locate and navigate to the "Notifications" section within the app settings.
  4. Look for an option labeled "Notification channels" (this might be located under advanced settings depending on your device).
  5. Select "Messages" (or a similar option) for WhatsApp notifications.
  6. Change the notification importance to "Low."

Please note: These outlined methods provide alternative solutions for managing notifications within WhatsApp and do not directly address the absence of a specific high-priority notification management feature. We anticipate that future WhatsApp updates might introduce a dedicated functionality for controlling high-priority notifications within the application.