How to configure conversations as Priority in Android (and why you should)
I can’t lie… I missed conversations in Android. It happens. Most of the time, I fall victim to this because I either accidentally deleted all notifications, not realizing there was a message I hadn’t seen, or because it just got buried under the barrage of messages and messenger chats.
Luckily, starting with Android 11, Google added a feature to make sure you don’t miss those more important conversations.
The feature in question is called Priority Conversations. Once you’ve prioritized a conversation, it gets its own section within the notification window, making it easier to catch it.
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In some cases (like Facebook Messenger), these conversations are placed in speech bubbles that appear on your home screen until you delete them.
Since then, by using priority calls, I haven’t missed a single important message.
Before you dig into that, think carefully about which conversations you want to add as a priority. If you add too many conversations to the feature, you’ll end up swamped anyway and likely end up missing out. To that end, choose wisely.
requirements
As I mentioned, this feature was introduced in Android 11, so you’ll need a device running at least that version of the operating system. You also need to add some conversations which can be taken from Android Messages app, Facebook Messenger, Slack, WhatsApp and more. That’s all you need. Let’s make this a priority.
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How to add conversations as priority in Android
First, enable Bubble Conversations. While not a requirement, it means that the conversations you add from apps that support Bubbles will then show any conversations added as a priority as floating bubbles on your home screen. To enable Bubbles, go to Settings > Notifications > Bubbles. On the resulting screen, tap the ON/OFF slider until it is in the ON position.
Enabling Bubble feature in Android 13. Image: Jack Wallen
Now let’s add conversations to the list. To do this, go to Settings > Notifications > Conversations. In the resulting window you will find three sections:
- Priority Conversations: The conversations that you have set as a priority.
- Non-priority conversations: The conversations that you’ve made changes to (e.g. moving them to “priority” or “out”).
- Recent Conversations: Recent conversations that have never been prioritized.
Here you will find three conversation sections: Priority, Non-Priority, and Recent. Image: Jack Wallen
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To add a conversation to priority, find it in either the non-priority or recent conversations list and tap on it to see the options. You should see Priority, Default, and Silent. You will also see options to bubble this conversation, pop on screen, sound configuration, show notification dot and vibration. Make sure you at least tap Priority for the conversation, then adjust it as needed.
Adding a conversation to the priority list in Android is easy. Image: Jack Wallen
At this point, the conversations you added to the priority list will now appear (at least) in the priority area of the notification window, or as bubbles on your home screen. This is a great way to make sure you don’t miss out on those contacts that should be prioritized.