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How to disable icon notification badges on the Samsung Galaxy S8
Love it or hate it, the launcher on the Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus features unread notification badges on app icons. In case you’re unfamiliar, we’re referring to the little numbered bubbles next to app icons that designate how many unread notifications that app currently has. If you’re not a fan of these badges (which many people aren’t), luckily there are a couple different ways to remove them from your app icons.
Below you’ll find two ways to remove these badges from your icons. The first is a temporary fix, meant only to clear the badge from the icon until another notification shows up. The second method is permanent and will require you to download a third-party app to turn this feature off.
Without any further delay, here’s how to disable notification badges on your Galaxy S8:
How to clear notification badges from app icons on the Galaxy S8 (temporary)
To temporarily clear a notification badge from an app icon, find the icon (either on your phone’s home screen or in the app drawer), then perform these simple steps:
- Long-press (press and hold) the app icon.
- Select Clear badge from the menu.
That’s it! The notification badge will be removed from the app icon until you receive another notification for that particular app.
Of course, that’s only the temporary fix. If you no longer want to see any notification badges on your app icons, you’ll need to download a separate app for that. Unfortunately Samsung doesn’t provide an easy way to do this in the settings menu.
How to disable notification badges on the Galaxy S8 (permanent)
First, download Package Disabler Pro from the Google Play Store link below. It costs $1.49, but we’d say the low price is worth it.
Not so fast! After Package Disabler Pro is installed on your Galaxy S8, you’ll need to make sure to make sure all icon badges are cleared from all your apps using the instructions attached above. If any are left over, the notification badges will be stuck until you redo this process. So to save yourself some time and effort, clear them out now so you don’t have to start over.
Once you’ve cleared all icon badges from your apps, follow these steps:
- Open Package Disabler Pro.
- Create and enter a password in the text field, then tap Enable Admin.
- Tap Activate on the next screen.
- Scroll down until you find the BadgeProvider entry, then check the box next to it.
- Warning: Do not check any additional boxes on this screen. Checking the wrong box could disable key functions on your Galaxy S8.
- Exit the app.
And that’s all! As long as you have this application installed on your device, notification badges won’t show up. If you need to bring them back for some reason, either uninstall the app or uncheck the box next to the BadgeProvider entry.
Have any questions? Feel free to leave them in the comment section below and we’ll do our best to help you out!
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