BIG Notifications makes Android notifications easier to read and use, with large text and big buttons for their available actions. When a messaging notification offers Reply, you can write your answer in a large text box inside BIG Notifications instead of opening the messaging app. It works on its own, without BIG Launcher.
A small notification can be difficult at every step: noticing it, reading the message, finding Reply and seeing what you type. BIG Notifications brings those steps into a larger interface. You can open notifications when you want to read them, or have new ones appear automatically.
Give each action room in BIG Notifications
Tap a notification in BIG Notifications to see its large preview and available actions. Buttons and menu items grow with the selected text size and sit one below another, not side by side, so the choices stay readable instead of squeezing into a narrow row.
If a messaging notification includes a Reply button, tapping it opens a large text box with large type inside BIG Notifications. You can write the answer and see what you are typing without switching into the messaging app’s own interface. A media notification may provide buttons to pause playback or skip a track.
The original app decides which notification actions are available. BIG Notifications enlarges those actions; it does not add a Reply button to a notification that has none. If you choose to open the original app, you return to that app’s own interface.
Open a notification in the larger view
- Install BIG Notifications and follow its first-run permission wizard. Return to the app after completing each requested step in Android Settings.
- Pull down the Android notification shade and tap Enlarge notifications.
- Tap a notification in the list to open its details and available actions.
- Use the gear icon at the upper right to open settings and choose a theme. The paid version also lets you adjust text size.
Let new notifications appear automatically
You do not have to pull down the notification shade each time. In BIG Notifications settings, you can enable automatic display of incoming notifications in a large, full-screen view.
You can also allow an incoming notification to wake the screen when it is off. Choose whether the enlarged notification stays visible or disappears after a set number of seconds. When a timed preview disappears, the notification remains available in the main BIG Notifications list.
This lets you choose between checking notifications yourself and having new notifications appear where you can read them.
Leave distracting apps out
Automatic display is more useful when it shows the notifications you care about. If an app sends too many distracting alerts, you can exclude it from BIG Notifications:
- Open BIG Notifications settings and enable Allow disabling notifications of a particular app.
- Open a notification from the app you want to exclude.
- Choose Never show this and confirm.
That app’s notifications will no longer appear in BIG Notifications. This does not switch off its Android notifications everywhere. To show blocked apps again, use Re-enable notifications of blocked apps in settings.
When Android’s text settings are enough
If you only need a modest size adjustment, try your phone’s font and display-size controls and check a real notification. Android’s magnification can also help with an occasional small alert. These options may be enough if you can read the notification and comfortably use its actions.
Choose BIG Notifications when you want a dedicated large view, a large text box for replies, or new notifications appearing automatically across the screen. You can try the enlarged view first; variable text size is an additional paid-version option.
Try the whole task, not just the text
Start with a familiar notification whose action is harmless, such as a media notification offering Pause. Open it through Enlarge notifications, read it and use the action. For messaging, try the Reply text box on a notification that provides it and check that you can comfortably see what you write.
If you enable automatic display and allow it to wake the screen, check the next incoming notification with the screen off as well. Adjust the display duration and exclude noisy apps until the view shows what you actually want to read.
Read and reply without the tiny controls
Try BIG Notifications for a larger notification view, big action buttons and a readable reply box when Reply is available.
