Mobile notifications are unparalleled among other technological devices. Never before had users received such visual and accessible alerts and reminders. Currently, it's a highly advanced system that includes sounds, animations and effects which allow you to see these alerts at all times. We go a little further and we're going to explain how to create notifications by selecting a text anyone and what extra possibilities Android offers when working with text, smart selection and notification panel.
Both the appearance and usefulness of notifications have improved over the years. Improvements have included features such as... display on the lock screenBuilt-in quick replies, the ability to dismiss them with a single gesture, notification channels, media controls, and persistent reminders. This time, we're talking about a more customizable tool that uses text selection to turn any fragment into a constantly visible notification.
Selection, the app to create notifications from a text
It's easy to think that what we're going to do is create a reminderWrite something and pin it to the notification panel. It's something most users already know how to do, and it's not particularly difficult, especially since there are much more popular apps for this task. It's true that you can also do it this way. SelectionThe app we're going to use for this tutorial also has a feature that many people don't know about, which makes it especially interesting when you work with text all day.
The idea behind Selection is simple: you choose text that already exists on the screen (a message, a fragment of a website, part of a document, etc.), select it as if you were going to copy it, and instead of staying there, you turn it into a pinned notification in the top bar. This way you can turn anything you see on your phone into a reminder without having to open a notes app, paste the content, and manually set the alert.
This approach fits perfectly with how Android understands text today: almost everything is selectable, copyable, shareable, and processable. Selection leverages this standard system behavior and adds an extra step: move the text to the notification panel to always have it just a tap away.
It's especially useful if you receive important information via messaging, email or social media, if you frequently check websites or if you work with constantly changing data (order numbers, verification codes, bank details, addresses or phrases you want to remember).
Selection is an app that allows us to select (redundancy intended) a specific text and resize it as we wish. It can select text from a webpage, a document and even a screenshotSo far, everything remains normal; it's nothing surprising compared to what we've already discovered in other similar applications.
The essential difference comes when the app is able to share said selected text and enable it in the same notification panelAny text can be copied and selected for the Selection app, whether it's a WhatsApp or Instagram message, something we see on a webpage, or, as we mentioned before, a screenshot. Some apps, like banking apps, don't allow text selection at all. For those cases, Selection allows manual entry the notification content and quickly send it to the panel, so you don't lose that ability to create reminders even if the original app blocks the selection.
In addition to its classic use as a reminder, this way of working opens the door to small, advanced workflows: you can pin it to the panel code fragments, phrases from a long documentdaily goals or any text you want to keep in mind without having to jump between apps to check it.
It should be said, as a negative point, that the app does not have unlimited free use in the generation of notifications. In this way, we have a free plan in which we can create 15 selections. That is, 15 notifications per month are those that can be generated for free. However, if we want unrestricted use, only cost $ 0,99 To enjoy the paid plan, the price is negligible considering the benefits you can get from integrating it into your daily routine. However, it's not easy to find on the Play Store due to its generic name, so we recommend accessing it via the link above.
How to select a text and create a notification
Although the app goes to the trouble of explaining how to do it step by step, it's as simple as the interface itself. All you need to do is... select a text...as if we were going to copy it somewhere else. With that gesture that we have so well assimilated, Selection adds to that pop-up that appears after selecting words an option called 'Put in NC 'This acronym refers to placing that text in the notification center, or in other words, on the panel.
Therefore, all we have to do is choose any text, whether it's a message or website content, by pressing and holding on a word. It will be automatically selected, adding two tabs that we can use to... adjust size From that selection. Once finished, a pop-up appears with several options such as 'Cut', 'Copy', or 'Paste'. Also, just to the right there are three vertical pointsIf we press them, other options appear. At the very bottom of that small menu is the 'Put in NC' option.
As soon as you tap it, that same text is quickly added to the top panel as a notification. That reminder remains there. anchored to the panel, without the possibility of removing it by swiping left or right. It can only be accessed by pressing the button of 'Dismiss' Once it's deleted, there's not much more you can do, like customize it or set a deadline, but it's a very convenient and instant feature that makes excellent use of how Android handles selected text.
Although the mechanics are extremely simple, it's important to understand that what Selection does is rely on the Android standard text selection APIThat pop-up you see is the same one used for copying, pasting, or sharing, but with an additional option that only appears if the app is installed. That explains why it works in almost any application that allows text selection, whether it's a browser, a messaging app, or a document editor.
A useful trick is to leverage this flow to turn any action you already routinely perform with the system's smart selection into a notification: if you're selecting an address to open it in Maps or a phone number to make a call, you can also pin that same text to the panel so that remain accessible while you complete other tasks.
What Android offers when you select text: smart selection and quick actions
To understand why an app like Selection fits so well into the Android ecosystem, it's worth reviewing how it works. smart text selection which is integrated into the system. Every time you long-press on a word or number, Android analyzes what that content is and what action would make the most sense to offer you.
In its most basic form, a standard notification displays a small icon, a title, and a short textHowever, today the experience goes even further: Android can display expanded text, action buttons, images, and, in many cases, advanced interactions such as direct replies or media controls. Text selection becomes a gateway to all these possibilities.
When you highlight something, the system tries to recognize whether it's a phone number, a date, a physical address, an email address, a URL, an amount of money, or just generic text. Based on that, contextual shortcuts appear, such as Call, open in Maps, create a calendar event, write an email or search the web, without having to copy and paste manually.
This logic resides in components like Android System Intelligence and Private Compute Core, which allow these functions to be delivered locally, without exposing your data outside the device. Thanks to this, the suggestions and actions you see when selecting text work in a large part of the applications and websites, and they are refined over time.
The magic of combining Selection with this smart selection is that you can have the best of both worlds: on the one hand, direct actions on the selected (open, call, translate, convert), and on the other hand, the possibility of setting that same fragment in a persistent notification to consult it later without depending on the original app.
Most useful contextual actions when selecting text in Android
Android adapts the suggestions which it shows you based on the type of content. This is the most common content your device will recognize, and you can easily combine it with Selection to set what you need:
- Telephone numbers: When you select a valid number, you'll see the option to call using your Phone app. In some cases, you can also initiate an SMS directly or save the number as a contact.
- Dates: If you highlight a date, you'll see the shortcut to create an event in the calendar (Google Calendar or another calendar app you have installed).
- Postal addresses: When an address is detected, the menu offers to open it in Google Maps or compatible services, saving you from copying and pasting it into the search engine.
- Emails: Selecting an email prompts you to compose the email using your default email client, with the recipient field already filled in.
- web links: If you select a URL in plain text, the system allows you to open it with the browser or with the official app associated with the service (for example, a social media link).
- Generic text: For fragments without a special pattern, the action of searching the web, opening a dictionary, or translating is usually shown, depending on the context.
- Units and currencies: Android can detect numerical quantities and offer unit or currency conversions in one tap.
Not all apps display text the same way. Some banking, payment, or security services prevent you from selecting content within their interface. In those cases, Selection lets you enter the content manuallyBut you can also resort to screenshots or optical character recognition (OCR) tools incorporated into the system or camera to be able to work with that data.
Once you have the text in a selectable format, the steps are always the same: long press, limit adjustment with the handles and, from there, use the context menu to execute the action you want or, in the case of Selection, set the text as a notification.
How does Android display those notifications when you convert text into alerts?
When any app (including Selection) creates a notification, it relies on standard system APIs, typically using the class NotificationCompat from the AndroidX library. This library allows the same notification to work well on both older and newer devices, and allows more advanced features to be used only where they are available.
In its most compact form, a notification includes a small icon, a title, a short text message, and a priority or importance level. On recent devices, importance is defined at the level of notification channelThis is a user-configurable category (e.g., reminders, silent alerts, etc.). When an app converts text into a notification, it typically uses a specific channel for these reminders, allowing you to control whether you want them to be sent to the correct channel. ring, vibrate, or remain silent.
If the text is too long, the system can display it in expanded form using styles such as BigTextStyleThis is very useful when you pin a multi-line fragment with Selection, because you can read it in full by expanding the notification, without needing to open another app.
Each notification must also have a action upon touching itIn the case of simple text reminders, the app that generated the notification or a summary screen will typically open. But even in these cases, the standard behavior remains: when you tap the notification, the system can either automatically dismiss it if it was programmed to do so, or keep it pinned until you tap the specific close button.
Furthermore, Android limits how often an app can sound notifications to prevent abuse: if an app sends several notifications in the same second, only the first one will make a sound, even if they all appear in the notification panel. This mainly affects apps that generate many alerts in a short period, but it's good to keep in mind to understand why sometimes a reminder doesn't make a sound even though it was created correctly.
Read aloud and text accessibility that you turn into a notification
Another feature that complements Selection and text-based notifications well is the toolset of accessibility and read aloud On Android, if you use Speak Selection or similar services, you can have your phone read aloud both the screen content and active notifications.
After enabling "Speak Selection" in the accessibility settings, you can tell the system which part of the screen you want to hear, including the notification panel. This way, if you pin an important section with "Selection," you'll not only always have it visible, but you'll also be able to... Listen to it when you need to.This is especially valuable if you have vision difficulties or prefer to consume information in audio while doing other tasks.
This text-to-speech feature works at the text level, so any notification containing clear text will benefit from it. You don't need to configure anything specific in Selection; simply ensure the notification is generated in the standard way so that accessibility tools can interact with it.
If you frequently switch between multiple apps while listening to content, it's worth checking the accessibility settings for the option to background readingwhich allows the phone to continue reading even if you switch screens or alternate with other tasks.
Advanced text selection on Android and combined use with apps like Selection
Starting with relatively modern versions of Android, a key improvement was introduced in the selection process: the system tries to automatically detect limits of what you're selecting. This means that if you tap on an address or phone number, Android will try to encompass the entire address or number, without forcing you to manually adjust the handles.
This smart detection is combined with straightforward action suggestions. For example, if a full address is highlighted, you'll see the option to open it in Maps. If it's a phone number, the most logical action will be to call or send a message. In the case of an email, you'll be offered the option to compose an email with the recipient field already configured.
When you introduce an app like Selection into the equation, you can follow this natural order: first, you let the system do its job (recognize the pattern and expand the selection), then you take advantage of the context menu both to perform the immediate action and to pin the text to the notification center if you think you will need to refer to it again later.
This workflow eliminates the need to manually open a notes or reminders app every time you encounter relevant information. Instead, you turn "what you're seeing right now" into a persistent notification with two quick gestures, leveraging familiar system capabilities.
Smart selection, learning, and privacy: how Android improves with use
To improve intelligent selection and contextual suggestions over time, Google relies on techniques such as federated learningThis approach allows training artificial intelligence models directly on the devices, without the raw data leaving the mobile phone.
In practice, this means the system locally observes how you interact with the text: which fragments you tend to adjust, which direction limits you correct, which actions you choose most often, and so on. From there, it generates small, anonymous model updates that, when the phone is charging and has a good connection, are sent to be combined with those of millions of users.
The result is that Android is gradually adjusting how it detects relevant numbers, addresses, or phrases, reducing the need for manual corrections. For the user, this is noticeable in... more precise selections and in suggestions for actions that fail less often, which also benefits apps that rely on standard selection, such as Selection.
All of this is managed through Android System Intelligence and Private Compute Core, components that perform these learning and suggestion tasks in isolation from the rest of the system and without direct network access. When it's necessary to download a new model or send anonymous statistics, a bridge service called Private Compute Services is used, which maintains the separation between your local data and the servers.
If at any time you want to have more control over the information used to improve these features, you can review the privacy settings for options related to the use and diagnosis and with the Android System Intelligence data, including the option to delete the local data associated with the component.
This way, you have access to an increasingly refined selection experience, while maintaining control over how and when your data is used, something especially relevant when you work daily with sensitive texts or personal information.
Practical tips for combining Selection with the Android notification ecosystem
Working with Selection is so simple that its real value often lies in how you integrate it with the rest of Android's features. Here are some practical tips to get the most out of it:
- Take advantage of organization by notification channels Android's feature lets you separate the reminders you create with Selection from the rest of your notifications, so you can silence or highlight them as needed.
- If you frequently use read-aloud, combine Selection with Accessibility options so that the text pinned to the panel can be read aloud. can also be read by voice when you need it.
- On devices with custom skins (like Samsung), check out additional selection and OCR features to extract text even when the original app doesn't let you select it directly.
- Remember that you can manually enter text in Selection for cases where the system does not allow you to select anything, such as certain banking apps or protected screens.
If you're already used to text selection gestures on Android (double tap, long press, drag handles), add the extra gesture to your routine It introduces almost no friction, yet it turns any relevant fragment into a constant visual reminder in the notification panel.
Since I added a "Previews" section after launch, the app is being used more than I expected, instead of just installing it, watching the tutorial, and selecting text from outside the app to pin it to your notification center. I hope you enjoy the app and find it as useful as it has been for me and the many users who left a review.
To enter the giveaway, just leave a comment. and I will send you the code in order of arrival.
Link: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=tik.in.ptimn
Convert a text into fixed notification It's a very direct way to ensure that important information doesn't get lost among messages, tabs, or documents: you select, tap an option, and that fragment moves to the top bar, accessible at all times, complemented by the full power of notifications and Android's smart selection.