Google Drive for Android getting a more prominent notifications feed

Abner Li | Mar 15 2021 - 3:12 pm PT

Google is introducing a “new way to view and manage notifications” related to your Drive files. The hope is that users with this new notifications feed will spend less time switching between Google Drive for Android and an email app.

From the Home or Priority (available for Workspace users) bottom bar tab, users will be able to switch between “Suggested” and the new “Notifications” center:

See all your notifications in one place, even without device notifications enabled
Choose filters to control the types of notifications you get
Delete and dismiss notifications you don’t want
Take actions like share files directly from notifications
Show more file information directly from the notification

The Google Drive notifications feed is designed to show your most important alerts and tasks. It’s more prominent than the previous option — as seen above — housed in the navigation drawer. There’s a high-level filter, while each item offers actions for quicker resolutions. It’s meant to save time compared to people’s existing email-reliant workflow:

Today, many people rely on email to keep track of important activity on their files in Google Workspace. At times, this may include searching your inbox, setting up filters, or addressing unrelated and urgent emails

Google notes how the new tab will be available even if users don’t opt-in to app notifications. It will be available for both personal and enterprise account with version 2021.8 of Drive for Android installed, though it’s not yet widely rolled out.