Google has been trying to push the native notifications feature to its Mac version of Chrome, and you now have a way to enable the feature. While the feature is not enabled by default, you can have it enabled by using a Chrome flag from within the browser.
Since Chrome has been sending you notifications in its own environment all this time, it had some limitations. For instance, it can’t send you a notification when the browser is not running. Also, you can’t see the Chrome notifications in the Notifications Centre where all other notifications are located.
These notifications also do not follow the “Do Not Disturb” rules, so you will get a notification even when you have enabled “Do Not Disturb.”
Note: we have a guide on how you can disable all the alerts on your Mac.
With native notifications you can have all the Chrome notifications follow the standard notification rules set by the OS.
Enabling Chrome’s Native Notifications
As I said earlier you only need to enable a flag in your browser, and the feature will be turned on for you.
1. Launch Chrome on your Mac.
2. Enter the following address in the address bar of the browser and press Enter.
chrome://flags/#enable-native-notifications
3. On the following screen you should see an option that says “Enable native notifications” on the top. What you need to do here is click on the “Enable” link.
4. You will be required to relaunch Chrome for the changes to take effect. To do that click on the “Relaunch Now” button in the bottom of the page, and Chrome will relaunch. Make sure you save your important work before closing the browser.
5. After Chrome has relaunched, it should then send all the notifications natively. You will see the notifications appearing besides the notifications from other apps.
To test out the feature head over to the Web Push site where you can send a test notification to Chrome.
Once you are there on the site, enter a notification message in the first box and a URL in the second box, then click on “Send me a notification!” A notification should arrive on your Mac. But this time, natively!
6. Here’s what a native notification from Chrome looks like.
As you can see, the notification has arrived natively and can be controlled just like any other notification on your Mac. It should also follow the Do Not Disturb rules so you do not get distracted when you are working.
If, for some reason, you change your mind and want to go back to what it was originally, you can just go to the flags page and click on the “Disable” link for the feature, and you will then start to get the Chrome notifications in the browser environment and not natively.
Conclusion
If you would prefer Chrome to send you notifications natively and not use its own interface, the guide above should help you enable the native notifications feature in Chrome on your Mac.
Let us know if this improved your experience with Chrome!
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