Allow full screen notifications: what the Android switch means
“Allow full screen notifications” is the Android switch that lets an app take over the whole screen of a locked phone, the way an alarm clock or an incoming call does. Since Android 14 you can turn it on or off app by app, and Google Play leaves it on by default only for apps whose core function is alarms or calls. With it off, an app’s urgent alerts still arrive, but as a banner instead of a full screen.
Android only for now. An iPhone version is in development.
What the switch does
A full-screen notification is what you see when a call comes in or an alarm clock goes off on a locked phone: the app fills the display instead of adding a line to the notification shade. Android’s own settings describe the switch like this: “Allow this app to show notifications that take up the full screen when the device is locked. Apps may use these to highlight alarms, incoming calls, or other urgent notifications.”
Developers know it as the USE_FULL_SCREEN_INTENT permission, which Android’s developer
reference says an app needs if it wants “to use notification full screen intents” (since Android 10).
In an app’s notification settings, Android shows the switch only for apps that ask for that permission.
Even with the switch on, the full screen is kept for a phone that is locked or asleep. While you are using the phone, Google’s developer guide says, “the system UI displays a heads-up notification instead”: a banner across the top of whatever you are doing.
What changed in Android 14, and which apps keep it on
Before Android 14, an app received the permission just by declaring it. Android 14 turned it into a special app access that you control, and Google tied the default to what the app is for:
- Android 14’s rule: full-screen notifications are “designed for extremely high-priority notifications demanding the user’s immediate attention, such as an incoming phone call or alarm clock settings configured by the user”, so the apps allowed to use them are “limited to those that provide calling and alarms only”.
- Google Play’s policy: since 22 January 2025, for apps targeting Android 14 and later, “only apps that have calling or alarm functionalities will have this permission enabled by default”. The qualifying apps are those whose core function is “setting an alarm” or “receiving phone or video calls”. Any other app has to ask you.
- Apps you already had: “This permission remains enabled for apps installed on the phone before the user updates to Android 14.”
- Android 13 and earlier: the permission stays on by default, and Android has no switch for it.
Whatever the default, the choice ends with you: “Users can turn this permission on and off.”
Sources, checked 28 October 2026: Android 14 behaviour changes, Play Console Help, Google Play’s permissions policy and the Android Open Source Project.
Where the switch is on Pixel and Samsung phones
Menus differ by phone model and Android version. These routes come from Google’s and Samsung’s own pages and from Android’s settings text, checked 28 October 2026.
On a Pixel, and other phones with Google’s version of Android 14 or later, two routes lead to the same switch (from Android 15, its labels are spelled full-screen):
- Settings › Apps › Special app access › Full screen notifications. Tap the app and turn on “Allow full screen notifications from this app”.
- Settings › Notifications › App notifications › the app. For an app that uses full-screen alerts, its notification settings include a switch called “Allow full screen notifications”.
On a Samsung Galaxy, Samsung’s help puts special permissions under Settings › Apps › More options (the three dots) › Special access. The Samsung pages we found do not name the full-screen entry itself, so look for it in that list, or use the search in Settings and type “full screen”.
On Android 13 and earlier there is nothing to turn on: an app that declares the permission has it.
Sources: Pixel Help (Settings › Apps › Special app access), Pixel Help (Notifications › App notifications), Android’s settings strings for the labels, and Samsung support for Special access.
What you see with the switch off
The Android Open Source Project’s test steps for this permission spell out what should happen in each case. This is Android’s reference behaviour; phone makers can change it.
| The phone is | Switch on | Switch off |
|---|---|---|
| Unlocked and in use | A banner with the app’s buttons, which stays up | The same banner, for 60 seconds |
| Locked | The app’s full screen opens | A banner at the top of the lock screen’s list, for 60 seconds |
| Screen off | The app’s full screen opens | The always-on display lights up with the banner, for 60 seconds |
So the alert is not lost. What goes is the screen taking over a locked phone, which is the part of an alarm or a call that is hard to sleep through.
Phones that add a permission of their own
Some phone makers add controls on top of Android’s. Xiaomi’s MIUI has a pop-up permission that the Crypto Alerts & Alarms changelog calls “Display pop-up windows while running in the background”, and Android gives apps no standard way to read it. If an alarm rings on a Xiaomi phone but does not cover the lock screen, check that permission for the app as well as Android’s switch.
How Crypto Alerts & Alarms checks the switch
Crypto Alerts & Alarms is an Android app for crypto price alerts, and its alarm is the kind of alert this switch exists for: on a locked phone it fills the screen with the alert and a Stop button while it rings on the alarm volume. What the app does about the switch, from its code:
- On Android 14 and later it reads the switch, without changing anything, each time you open its checklist, “Make sure alarms ring”. The “Full-screen alarm” row says “Allowed”, or “Off · lets it cover the lock screen” with an Allow button that opens Android’s switch for the app.
- When you choose the alarm for an alert on a phone where the switch is off, the alert screen warns that the alarm “won’t cover the lock screen yet”.
- On Android 13 and earlier the row does not appear, because there is nothing to check.
- No result is kept as a pass. The phone is read again every time, because an Android update can undo a setting.
- With the switch off, the alarm still rings and its notification still carries Stop. It just does not cover the lock screen.
Whether the switch starts on for an app depends on the store it came from and on the phone, so the app does not assume either way: it checks. You can run the checklist again from Settings › Alarm Management › Alarm reliability. The other phone settings an alarm depends on are in the price alarm guide, and Do Not Disturb has its own guide.
Android only for now. An iPhone version is in development.
Common questions
What does “allow full screen notifications” mean?
It lets an app show a notification that fills the whole screen when the phone is locked, the way an alarm clock or an incoming call does. In Android’s own words, apps “may use these to highlight alarms, incoming calls, or other urgent notifications.”
Should I allow full screen notifications for an app?
Allow it for apps that have to get your attention on a locked phone, such as an alarm clock, a calling app or a price alarm you rely on at night. Without it, their urgent alerts still arrive, but as a banner.
Where is the full screen notifications setting on Android?
On a Pixel: Settings › Apps › Special app access › Full screen notifications (spelled Full-screen from Android 15), then the app. The same switch is also in the app’s own notification settings. Samsung lists special permissions under Settings › Apps › More options › Special access, and menus differ by phone and Android version.
Why don’t apps get full screen notifications on Android 14?
Since Android 14 it is a switch you control, and Google Play turns it on by default only for apps whose core function is alarms or calls. Apps that were installed before the phone updated to Android 14 kept it.
What happens if I turn off full screen notifications?
The app’s urgent alerts still arrive, as a banner that Android’s reference behaviour keeps up for 60 seconds, instead of a screen that takes over the locked phone.
Does the Crypto Alerts & Alarms alarm need it?
To cover the lock screen on Android 14 and later, yes. The alarm still rings without it, and the app’s checklist “Make sure alarms ring” shows whether the switch is on and opens it for you.
Last updated: 28 October 2026. Android menus change between versions and phone makers. If anything here is out of date, email support@appsfromzero.com and we will correct it.