Samsung Galaxy S4: How to Enable or Disable Flash Notification in Android 4.4 Kitkat

The flash notification feature is available for the first time in Android 4.3 Jelly Bean. At that time, by default this option was enabled and made the camera light flashed when the users received notifications, incoming calls or when the alarms sound. This feature triggered a lot of complaints from the users who felt annoyed and disturbed with that super-bright and eyes-hurt flash light. FYI, this feature is designed for the deaf or hard of hearing users to help them recognize when they have notifications, incoming calls or alarms because the notifications light will be much easier to tell them than the notifications tone. In Android 4.4 Kitkat, this option is still available though it's not enabled by default.


How to enable or disable the flash notification?
If in Android 4.3 Jelly Bean you have to do an extra step to disable this option, then in Android 4.4 Kitkat you can enable or disable this option with ease. Generally, there are 2 methods available that you can use to enable or disable this feature, from the Settings menu and from the device option.

Method #1: From the Settings menu

1. In any screen, swipe down the top of the screen to open the notifications panel and then tap the Settings icon .
2. Tap My device tab.
3. Scroll down to find Accessibility, then tap it.
4. Scroll down to find Flash notification. Depending on your current settings, tap the Flash notification to enable or disable this option. When the checkbox next to this option is checked means this option is enabled.

Method #2: From the device options
You can use this method if you have added the accessibility shortcut to the device options. If you don't know how to do so, you can see the complete steps here. To enable or disable flash notification through the device menu, do as follows:

1. In any screen, long press the Power key.
2. On pop up menu select Accessibility.
3. Scroll down to find Flash notification. Depending on your current settings, tap the Flash notification to enable or disable this option. When the checkbox next to this option is checked means this option is enabled.

For the record, the mute/pause motion under the motions and gestures menu also will be enabled by default when you enable the flash notification feature. It's done to allow you to mute/pause playing sounds when the screen is on by turning the device over so that the screen faces downward. I personally choose not to use this option because for me the flash light makes my eyes hurt. But, this option may be useful for those of users who prefer to use the notifications light than the notifications tone. So, how about you? Do you enable or disable this option in your phone?