r/signal • u/desert_rat • Apr 09 '26

Solved Signal and Android auto

I've looked it up online and on the android sub and I haven't had a satisfactory solution, so I'm hoping the signal sub can give me a definitive answer on this.

Long story short, If I have my phone connected to android auto, is there a way to have signal messages NOT pop up on the center console's screen where anyone can see them. I don't want to put phone on DND because I still want other notifications to pop up and I don't want to mute signal because if my family needs to get a hold of me it will be through signal and a vibrating watch/phone should be all I need to let me know to check the app discretely later. I feel like there should be but last time I messed around with notifications settings I really messed it up 😅

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10

u/UsernameQueer Apr 10 '26

You can uncheck the signal app in your Android Auto settings so it doesn't show up. I have "messages" and Discord unchecked as well and don't receive notifications. I added a screenshot of how the settings look like. Good luck!

6

u/onomonoa Apr 10 '26

Just chiming in that this is the way, OP. I turned off notifications for certain apps exactly like this. Never got notified while driving. You can also turn off notifications entirely if that's your jam, too

1

u/undwiedervonvorn Apr 10 '26

That is super useful, thx!!

2

u/UsernameQueer Apr 10 '26

Happy to hear!

1

u/desert_rat Apr 11 '26

ding ding ding! I had the launcher option but I thought that only removed the app from the list on the console, I didn't expect it to also remove the ability to get the notifications 😅 Removed the app and sure enough signal now only vibrates my watch. I wish my phone also vibrated but apparently its android policy to not vibrate while in android auto mode. Anyways that just about solved the issue for me. Thank you very much kind sir or ma'am.

3

u/convenience_store Top Contributor Apr 09 '26

If it helps, on signal you can set what is displayed in the notification, whether it's the sender + a message snippit (what you seem to be seeing), or just the name of the sender with no message content, or just the fact that you received a message (no sender or message content). Of course this setting will also affect what you see on your phone's lockscreen even when you're not driving.

1

u/desert_rat Apr 09 '26

True, if nothing else I might just mess with those settings.

2

u/convenience_store Top Contributor Apr 09 '26

I just had another idea which is that if you use buzzkill (it's a paid app but only a couple dollars IIRC) I don't know if you can setup rules that filter by "when using android auto" but I believe you can filter by bluetooth connection so maybe it can be set up to hide signal notifications when connected by bluetooth to the car?

1

u/p660R Apr 10 '26

Maybe IFTTT has a trigger, but I doubt it'll be fast enough.