Welcome! Here you'll find answers to common questions about the Need To Know app. Can't find what you're looking for? Just type a keyword in the search bar below.
Need To Know acts like a smart inbox for your phone's notifications. It learns what's important to you over time to help cut down on noise and distractions. Instead of a messy notification tray, you get a clean, prioritised list so you can focus on what you truly need to know.
This is the core permission the app needs to work. Granting "Notification Access" allows Need To Know to read your incoming notifications so it can sort and score them for you. This is a sensitive permission, which is why we guarantee that all your data stays on your device and is never shared.
The app displays a single, persistent notification in your system tray. This isn't for showing you ads or spam! It serves two important purposes:
The first time you open the app, a simple welcome guide will walk you through the essential steps to get started. This includes granting permissions and giving the app a few hints about what you find important. You can restart this guide anytime from the Settings screen.
By telling the app which apps usually send you important notifications (like your work email or messaging apps), you give its learning system a massive head start! It immediately knows to give notifications from these sources a higher score, so you won't miss important alerts right from the beginning.
Keywords (or "Tags") are another way to teach the app what matters. If a notification contains one of your keywords, its score gets a boost. You should add words that signify importance to you, such as:
The higher a keyword is on your list, the bigger the score boost it provides.
On most screens (like New, History, Apps, and Tags), there's a hidden search and sort bar at the very top. To access it, simply place your finger on the list and swipe down. The bar will appear, allowing you to type in a search or change the sorting options.
These are your primary tools for teaching the app what's important!
To prevent you from seeing every notification twice (once in the app, and once in the system tray), Need To Know automatically hides the original notification by default. This keeps your system tray clean! You can change this behaviour for any specific app in the "Apps" screen by tapping the settings icon next to the app's name.
The History screen is a complete, searchable log of every notification the app has processed for you, including what action you took on it (Nope, Noted, etc.) and when. It's a great way to find something you might have dismissed by mistake.
The app learns by observing your actions. Every time you tap 👎 Nope, 👍 Noted, or ❤️ Show Me, the app adjusts the scores associated with that notification's source app and the keywords (Tags) within it. Over time, it builds a profile of what you find important.
You have a lot of control! Go to the Apps screen and tap the settings icon (⚙️) next to any app to access its options. You can:
Yes. By default, notifications on the "New" screen are grouped by the app that sent them. If you'd prefer a single, chronological list, go to the Settings screen and turn off the "Group New Notifications by App" switch.
Your privacy is our top priority. All of your notification data, history, and learned scores are stored securely only on your device.
Absolutely not. Your data never leaves your phone. All processing, scoring, and learning happens locally on your device. We do not have access to your notifications.