How can I hide the Safe Surfer permanent notification and VPN key icons on the Android status bar?
Google requires the Safe Surfer app to have a permanent notification enabled by default on the notification bar at the top of the screen. As part of the Safe Surfer connection, Android also shows a VPN connection icon. If you wish, you can hide these icons.
If this is a Samsung device running One UI 6.1 or newer (you can find this information in the Settings app > About phone/tablet > Software information > One UI version), you will first need to navigate to the Settings app > Notifications > Advanced settings. Inside this menu, turn on the switch found next to "Manage notification categories for each app". You can then proceed with the following instructions.
Swipe down from the top of the screen.
Long tap the Safe Surfer notification.
Tap the Settings button.
Enter your Safe Surfer PIN, then tap the OK button.
Once you've done that, Safe Surfer will let you change sensitive settings for one minute. As before, swipe down from the top of the screen > long tap the Safe Surfer notification > tap the Settings button.
Tap the Notification categories menu.
Tap the Services switch to turn it off.
Great work, you've now hidden the Safe Surfer permanent notification.
If you're protecting a Samsung device and you would like to also hide the VPN key icon, let's continue with the next step. Otherwise, if you were going through the Android full walkthrough guide, you can now return to the walkthrough guide.
To hide the VPN key icon on a Samsung device, we'll need an app called Good Lock. This is developed by Good Lock Labs, which is a Samsung app studio. Tap the Galaxy Store app.
Tap the Search icon at the upper-right corner.
Search for "good lock", then tap the search result.
Tap the Download button found next to the Good Lock app listing.
Tap the start button.
Scroll down to the QuickStar feature listing, then tap the Download button.
Once QuickStar has downloaded, scroll up to the top, then tap the QuickStar feature listing.
Tap the switch to turn QuickStar on.
Tap the Visibility of Indicator Icons menu.
Tap the switch found next to VPN to turn it off.
Great work, you've now hidden the VPN connection icon. Close the Good Lock app, then open the Settings app and tap the Home screen menu.
Tap the Hide apps on Home and App screens menu.
Tap the checkbox found next to Good Lock.
Tap the Done button.
If you were going through the Android full walkthrough guide, you can now return to the walkthrough guide.
Step 1: Hide the Safe Surfer permanent notification icon
If this is a Samsung device running One UI 6.1 or newer (you can find this information in the Settings app > About phone/tablet > Software information > One UI version), you will first need to navigate to the Settings app > Notifications > Advanced settings. Inside this menu, turn on the switch found next to "Manage notification categories for each app". You can then proceed with the following instructions.
Swipe down from the top of the screen.
Long tap the Safe Surfer notification.
Tap the Settings button.
Enter your Safe Surfer PIN, then tap the OK button.
Once you've done that, Safe Surfer will let you change sensitive settings for one minute. As before, swipe down from the top of the screen > long tap the Safe Surfer notification > tap the Settings button.
Tap the Notification categories menu.
Tap the Services switch to turn it off.
Great work, you've now hidden the Safe Surfer permanent notification.
If you're protecting a Samsung device and you would like to also hide the VPN key icon, let's continue with the next step. Otherwise, if you were going through the Android full walkthrough guide, you can now return to the walkthrough guide.
Step 2: Hide the VPN key icon (Samsung only)
To hide the VPN key icon on a Samsung device, we'll need an app called Good Lock. This is developed by Good Lock Labs, which is a Samsung app studio. Tap the Galaxy Store app.
Tap the Search icon at the upper-right corner.
Search for "good lock", then tap the search result.
Tap the Download button found next to the Good Lock app listing.
Tap the start button.
Scroll down to the QuickStar feature listing, then tap the Download button.
Once QuickStar has downloaded, scroll up to the top, then tap the QuickStar feature listing.
Tap the switch to turn QuickStar on.
Tap the Visibility of Indicator Icons menu.
Tap the switch found next to VPN to turn it off.
Great work, you've now hidden the VPN connection icon. Close the Good Lock app, then open the Settings app and tap the Home screen menu.
Tap the Hide apps on Home and App screens menu.
Tap the checkbox found next to Good Lock.
Tap the Done button.
If you were going through the Android full walkthrough guide, you can now return to the walkthrough guide.
Updated on: 04/09/2024
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