Facebook introduced an all-new “quiet mode” for its main mobile app that will mute “most” push notifications and alerts. When you try to open the app on your phone, while the mode is still on, you will be informed that “quiet mode” is turned on.
It’s not clear what notifications will be exempted from the new mode; the company says some, like privacy updates, it is legally required to send out. This new Quiet Mode is also not to be confused with the existing “mute push notifications” setting that helps you to stop only push notifications, but not those within the app, for a designated amount of time.
Instead, this latest Quiet Mode can be found under the Facebook dashboard “Your Time on Facebook,” which it launched in November 2018 to encourage digital wellness apps, following a push for different platforms and smartphone makers such as Apple and Google
It’s part of an important dashboard update that Facebook says will incorporate week-over-week statistics, daytime versus night use tracking, and a counter for a total number of visits. It’s coming out to iOS users now and will be available in May for Android devices.
If you so choose, the new Quiet Mode will function both manually and on a fixed schedule. It will interrupt alerts from inside the app, such as those irritating Facebook Watch badges, even on a machine level so that you won’t see enumerated symbols on iOS either.
“As we all adjust to new routines and staying home, setting boundaries for how you spend your time online can be helpful. Whether it’s to help you focus on your family and friends, sleep without distraction or manage how you spend your time at home, we have tools that can help you find the right balance for how you use Facebook,” Facebook published in an ongoing COVID-19 information blog post.
Regarding the Quiet Mode, the company says the notification settings and news feed preferences panel have been introduced with new shortcuts, so “you can make the most of your time on Facebook by controlling the type of posts you see in your News Feed as well as the updates you receive.”