Within an hour of waking up, I got seven notifications from different apps, none of which were informing me of anything I cared to know.

These alerts have become less of a tap on the shoulder and more of a megaphone in your face, not stopping until you turn and interact. The little dings that used to signal something important within a platform have completely taken a different form.

Apps are getting bold with their notifications, becoming attention-seeking, performative, and over the top. They’re practically begging for you to interact, spamming you like your ex after a night out or your parents when you don’t answer only one of their calls. The question is, are you giving in to these platforms’ attention hacking tricks, or do you find them as annoying as I do?

There are so many apps that send push alerts relentlessly, but the one that inspired me to talk about this in the first place is Facebook. I eventually had to turn off notifications for it entirely.

“Did you know? (Complete Stranger) is also on Facebook.”

No, I didn’t know. And more importantly, I don’t care.

Or my personal favorite: “Madison posted new photos and updated her profile.” And that's the literal fifteenth time it sent me this message. I promise you, if I wanted to see Madison’s beach photos from 2018 that she just reuploaded with a new filter, I would go look.

Hearing it once is fine. Twice, maybe. But when the same alert keeps resurfacing, it stops feeling like a helpful reminder and starts feeling like pure desperation.

That’s really the issue; It’s repetitive and unnecessary. It can really become annoying.

At some point, I find myself hovering over the delete button wondering whether the app is
adding anything to my life besides noise. The notifications don’t feel informative anymore. They feel like they’re vying for attention in the most obvious way possible.

Then there’s the Flo app, which tracks your period.

If you’re a guy, you might not fully relate, but you can at least appreciate how absurd this sounds. I’ll be in the middle of showing someone a funny video on my phone when a notification pops up saying, “Today you may be feeling friskier. Let’s talk about your sex drive.” Suddenly my private health app has decided to make a public announcement on my lock screen.

Other times it will list off a dramatic lineup of symptoms I’m supposedly experiencing that day: sore back, nausea, headaches, random sadness, low energy, cravings. Half the time I’m not even close to my period, yet I’m getting these alerts multiple times a day.

And if I am a few days late for my cycle? “You’re 3 days late for your cycle… PREGNANT??” The theatrics are unmatched. It feels less like helpful tracking and more like scare tactics delivered straight to my pocket.

There are entire TikTok threads dedicated to making fun of these notifications, which
says a lot about how they’re landing with users..

Food delivery apps are no better. Uber Eats and DoorDash seem personally invested in whether I’ve eaten in the last twenty minutes.

I’ll check my phone thinking someone texted me, only to see a bright, eager suggestion to try a nearby restaurant I’ve never liked.

If I open the app, browse, see the total, and close it because I’d rather not spend $40 on a mediocre meal, the follow-up begins: “You left items in your cart.” “Your food is waiting.” “Complete your order now.” Yes, I decided to leave it there intentionally. That burger is currently out of my tax bracket.

They definitely get my attention, but not in a way that makes me want to engage. The constant nudging starts to feel pushy, like the app is trying to force interaction instead of letting me choose when I want to use it. There’s a difference between convenience and pressure, and a lot of these notifications have crossed that line.

Which brings me to the bigger question: is being this pushy with alerts actually necessary to get our attention? Does it genuinely drive our engagement, or does it slowly make us resent the platforms that won’t stop buzzing in our pockets?

Personally, some apps make me want to throw my phone across the room, while others manage to capture my attention without overwhelming me. Notifications that lead with relevant and quality information without spamming my line are the ones that I find the most helpful. It’s about content, not constant interruption.

So I’m curious- What other app notifications do you find annoying? And which apps (if any) have figured out how to keep your attention without spamming you to get it?