Most of us are used to keeping phones on the desk while working. It's easier to check notifications when the phone is within reach all the time, and you can check notifications right from the lock screen. But then they can sometimes make you uncomfortable. Imagine how you would feel if a promotional message from Jockey popped up when one of your colleagues was standing next to your desk? Or rather your wife texting you to come home with milk and groceries!
No one wants these things made public and the best way would be to hide lock screen notifications and make your smartphone private.
Hiding sensitive notification content option was introduced with Android Lollipop and was much needed after Android adopted the iPhone-like feature to show these notifications directly on the lock screen. The phone asks you if you want to hide the notification content during the initial setup of your device. But if you missed the settings, you can find them under Sounds and notifications settings.
Here, scroll down to Notification section and you will find an option that When device is locked . Simply tap on it and select the option to Hide sensitive notification content . That's all. Next time you will get a notification from apps, but the content will be hidden on the lock screen.
If you tap the App Notification options , you will see a list of all the apps installed on the device. Here you can stop one of the apps from notifying you or even make it a priority that puts it ahead of other notifications and makes sure you don't miss them.
Note: The location of these settings may vary depending on the user interface you are using on your phone. The one I showed you works on the majority of devices. But things may be a bit different for EUI, MIUI and you may find separate settings named like Notification where you will find these settings. If you're not able to spot these settings, I recommend you post a question in their help forum and wait for them to tell you where these settings are hidden.
There are two ways to control the notification content on an iPhone and the first is through the settings of each individual app. For example, apps like WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger give you the option to hide sensitive content from the lock screen. There are many apps that support this feature and you just need to search for the option. For messaging, you can simply enable Do Not Disturb option for the particular yarn.
You can also disable notifications from iPhone settings. Simply find the app for which you want to disable the notification and disable the Show on lock screen option. The only downside is that if the option is disabled from here, you won't get any lock screen warnings. You will only get the notification sound and everything including the app name will be hidden on the lock screen.
Therefore, always look for the first option to turn off notification content before choosing the built-in settings.
This is how you can hide app notification content on an Android and iPhone lock screen and save yourself the embarrassment. The option won't work on Android if you're using a third-party lock screen app, but there should be settings available in the app to manage this. If you need help, always remember that we are only a comment away.
SEE ALSO: How to Disable Lollipop Warning Notification and Recover Ticker Notifications
