Stop Promotional Notifications on Android

Check the app's marketing settings

Press and hold the promotion to identify the app that posted it and open its notification controls, where available. An alert from a browser needs different settings from a shopping app or a message inside a chat.

In the sending app, look for settings named Promotions, Offers, Marketing, or similar. Disable those updates while leaving delivery, booking, and account notifications enabled if you need them. The exact options depend on the app.

Turn off the promotional category

In Android Settings, open Notifications → App notifications, choose the sending app, and look for its notification categories. You can also reach the relevant controls by pressing and holding an alert. If promotions have their own category, disable that category and keep the useful ones on. See Android's notification settings.

On Samsung, enable category controls if they are hidden

1. Open Settings → Notifications → Advanced settings.
2. Turn on Manage notification categories for each app.
3. Return to Notifications → App notifications and choose the app.
4. Open Notification categories and disable only the promotional category, if one exists.

These steps follow Samsung's notification category instructions. Names vary by software version, and some apps do not provide separate categories. If offers and delivery updates share a category, switching it off affects both.

Use a narrow Quietly keyword rule

Quietly can match a selected app and wording in a notification's title or text. Start with a phrase that is distinctive to the repeated promotion. It does not automatically recognize every advertisement or decide which messages are important.

For example, imagine a fictional app named Shopping that keeps repeating the phrase flash sale:

This is an illustrative example, not a rule tested against your shopping app. Another active rule could still match the delivery alert. Check the wording your app actually sends before saving a rule.

Create the rule and check it

1. Read Quietly's processing explanation, give consent if you agree, and enable Android notification access.
2. Let a new promotion appear in History, open its detail, and choose Block.
3. Review the selected app and text condition. In the example above, that is Shopping and flash sale; for your app, use its own distinctive phrase.
4. Save the rule and check subsequent promotions and useful updates. Disable or narrow the rule if it removes an alert you need.

The free version allows 5 saved rules, including schedules. Read the keyword rule guide for more examples, or the notification access guide if processing is not working.

Check results and limits

Quietly acts after Android posts a notification. A matching alert may already have made a sound or briefly shown a banner. Use the app's own controls, category settings, or Android interruption settings when you need to prevent those interruptions.

For this task, start with a specific Block rule. Important notifications only is a separate mode that blocks notifications outside permitted patterns; a matching Block rule still takes priority. An important-pattern rule is not an override for a block.

Block records are optional, and saving their content is a separate choice. An absent record does not prove an alert never arrived. Recheck your rules when an app changes its wording, and keep the original category switches when they solve the problem.

Explore Quietly's notification blocker, see setup help, or check Quietly on Google Play.