How to Disable Heads Up Notifications on the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge

If you don’t like the pop-up preview notifications, aka heads up notifications on the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge then let me show you how to disable them.

In Android 5.0 Lollipop, Google introduced a new feature they were internally calling heads up notifications. Before this feature(in KitKat and before), notifications would scroll across the status bar so you could get an idea as to what it was from. With the new notification card system, a preview of the notification will drop down from the top of the screen in a card. It will sit there for a little bit and will go away on its own if you don’t swipe it away manually. In my opinion, I really like this system but I can understand the reason behind those who do not.

This feature was later renamed as ‘peeking’ in Android 6.0 Marshmallow when users were given the option to disable it manually.

The Android community still seems to call it heads up notifications though as it just seems to describe the feature accurately. In typical Samsung fashion though, they brought this feature over to the Galaxy S7 but gave it a new name. You’ll find it in the Settings called Preview in Pop-ups. I really dislike this as it confuses the average smartphone user, but it is what it is.

As I mentioned, some people do not like having a card swipe down from the top of the screen just to show you a notification. Some feel it is a distraction from the current work they are doing. Sometimes it can mess you up when you’re in the middle of a game. And others just never liked the new system in the first place. Whatever the reason, you can follow these directions below to disable the heads up pop-up preview notifications for any application that you’d like.

Galaxy S7 Disable Heads Up Notifications

1. Launch the Settings Application
2. Scroll Down and Tap on the ‘Notifications’ Option
3. Then Tap on the ‘Advanced’ Option at the Top Right
4. Locate and Tap on the Application You Want to Disable Heads Up Notifications for
5. Toggle the ‘Previews in Pop-Ups’ Option Off

Explanation

Sadly, there isn’t a way to disable the heads up notifications on the Galaxy S7 at a system-wide level. I’m not sure why Samsung didn’t create a way for users to do this. Samsung has actually done it in a similar to how Google does it in their stock Android OS(which is surprising). This can only be disabled at a per-app level so you can either do it one of two different ways. You could go through every single app in the Advanced Notifications section of the Settings and turn them all off. Or you can simply disable the heads up notifications on the apps that are the most active and send you the most notifications.

Either way, the choice is up to you but to start, you’ll need to launch the Settings application. From here, scroll down a little bit and then tap on the Notification option. In this sub menu, you’ll see an option at the top right with the word Advanced. Tap on that word and you’ll be taken to the Advanced Notification section of Android’s Settings. This will be similar to the regular Notification section of the Settings, except instead of just seeing a toggle for each application you have installed, you’ll be able to tap into that app and then see a number of settings that you can customize.

It’s in this set of options that you’ll see a toggle called Previews in Pop-Ups. This is the setting for the heads up notifications and you’ll just need to toggle it off to no longer receive a notification card coming in from the top of the screen. This won’t revert back to the KitKat style of notifications either, but you can use this application if you want to do that. Instead, you’ll just see the notification icon appear in the status bar of the Galaxy S7 or S7 Edge. Then, you can either press the home button and go back to the home screen or you can press the back button and then pick another application to toggle the heads up notifications off.