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+# Desktop: turn off notifications without muting chats
+
+Status: draft rev 9 (after review round 6). All decisions taken 2026-10-17. Base: `origin/master` a932c8298. Paths are relative to `apps/multiplatform`.
+Related plans: [sound](2026-10-17-desktop-notification-sound.md), [Windows click](2026-10-17-windows-notification-click.md). Research notes: `~/ntf-research/*.md`.
+
+## Problem
+
+On desktop, the only way to stop notifications is to mute chats. Mute is a per-chat setting stored in the chat database: it shows in the chat list, and it changes which unread counts the app tracks for inactive profiles. A user who wants no system notifications on this computer must mute everything, then later unmute everything.
+
+Reports:
+- #5009 (open): a full desktop off switch; the maintainer reply was "as a workaround you can mute all chats".
+- #7116 (open): a flood of notifications at startup.
+
+## Facts
+
+- FACT [`SettingsView.kt:124-126`]: the Settings → Notifications row is shown only on `AppPlatform.ANDROID`.
+- FACT [`NotificationsSettingsView.kt:37-58`]: `NotificationsSettingsLayout` already gates its only row with `appPlatform == AppPlatform.ANDROID` (`:47`), so desktop rows fit into the same screen.
+- FACT [`PrivacySettings.kt:173-195`]: the only desktop notification setting today is Privacy → Notifications → "Show preview".
+- FACT [`NtfManager.desktop.kt:97-98`]: message, contact-request, contact-connected and missed-call notifications (call invitations older than 3 minutes, `CallManager.kt:20-21`) all reach desktop `displayNotification`. Its first line is the gate `if (!user.showNotifications) return`.
+- FACT [`CallManager.kt:15-18`, `NtfManager.desktop.kt:22-23`]: a fresh call invitation goes to `notifyCallInvitation`, a separate entry. The in-app call alert is created when `user.showNotifications` is true and the invitation is under 3 minutes old (`CallManager.kt:16-18`), and it rings on desktop (`IncomingCallAlertView.kt:31`).
+- FACT [`ProcessedErrors.kt:37` → `NtfManager.desktop.kt:54`]: agent critical errors use `showMessage`. These are not chat notifications.
+- FACT [`SimpleXAPI.kt:114, 332`]: Boolean preferences are `mkBoolPreference(key, default)`. The desktop-only key prefix is `Desktop…` (`:523-524`).
+- FACT [`Appearance.desktop.kt:64`]: the template for a Boolean preference row is `SettingsPreferenceItem(icon = null, text, pref)`. It has an `enabled` parameter (`SettingsView.kt:423-434`).
+- FACT [`DesktopTray.kt:50-81`, `ChatModel.kt:606-612`]: the tray dot and unread counts don't depend on notifications.
+- FACT [`SimpleXAPI.kt:3073`]: when the desktop controls a mobile (remote host), the host's events also notify through the same path. The switch covers them too.
+
+## Ideal final result
+
+One switch on this computer, "Show notifications", that stops system notifications and changes nothing else. Unread counts, mute state, the tray dot and the in-app call alert stay as they are.
+
+## Options
+
+1. **A desktop Notifications screen** (recommended). Show Settings → Notifications on desktop as well, with a desktop-only toggle in `NotificationsSettingsLayout`. The sound plan adds its toggle there too.
+   - Users look for notification settings under Settings → Notifications.
+   - The screen is already platform-gated.
+2. **A toggle in Privacy → Notifications**, next to "Show preview". A smaller diff, but an on/off switch is not privacy, and the sound toggle would have to live there too.
+3. **A tray menu toggle.** The tray exists only with minimize-to-tray, and not at all on stock GNOME. Rejected as the only control.
+
+## Design (option 1)
+
+Narrative: when notifications are off on this computer, the desktop shows no system notification for chats. Everything else stays the same.
+
+1. **`SimpleXAPI.kt` AppPreferences**: `val desktopNotifications = mkBoolPreference(SHARED_PREFS_DESKTOP_NOTIFICATIONS, true)`, declared with the other notification Booleans (after `canAskToEnableNotifications`, `:114`). Key: `"DesktopNotifications"`, next to `SHARED_PREFS_DESKTOP_CLOSE_BEHAVIOR`. Not in `hintPreferences` or `AppSettings`: the setting belongs to this computer.
+2. **`NtfManager.desktop.kt` `displayNotification`**: extend the existing first-line gate to `if (!user.showNotifications || !appPreferences.desktopNotifications.get()) return`. Both premises sit in one visible place.
+3. **`notifyCallInvitation`**: unchanged (D1). Fresh call invitations still show the system call notification.
+4. **`SettingsView.kt:124`**: show the row on desktop too, keeping `disabled = stopped`, so it is unavailable while chat is stopped, as on Android. Desktop icon: `ic_notifications` / `ic_notifications_off`, from the new preference read through `remember { appPrefs.desktopNotifications.state }`, so the icon updates. Android keeps `ic_bolt` / `ic_bolt_off`, from `notificationsMode`.
+5. **`NotificationsSettingsView.kt` `NotificationsSettingsLayout`**: under `appPlatform.isDesktop`, add `SettingsPreferenceItem(icon = null, stringResource(MR.strings.…), chatModel.controller.appPrefs.desktopNotifications)` (the global `chatModel`, since `NotificationsSettingsLayout` has no `chatModel` parameter, `:38-41`) and a `SectionTextFooter`. The footer says chats are not muted, unread counts still update, and incoming calls and app error notifications are still shown.
+6. **`strings.xml`** base: title and footer.
+7. **Docs**:
+   - `spec/services/notifications.md` §4: the new gate, plus the line numbers it cites.
+   - `spec/state.md`: the notification preferences table (`:336-345`).
+   - `product/views/settings.md`: the desktop Notifications row.
+
+Feature off (toggle on, the default) = today's app, plus a visible Settings → Notifications row on desktop.
+
+## Interaction with the other plans
+
+- Sound: it plays only when a notification is shown, so this switch silences it too. The sound toggle is disabled while notifications are off (`PreferenceToggle(disabled =)`, which greys the label too).
+- Windows click: no notification means no toast or token. Fresh call invitations and app error messages still toast (D1).
+- Landing order: this plan first, because it creates the desktop screen.
+
+## Threat model
+
+- The preference is local, set only through the UI. No peer input reaches it, and a peer can't observe it: receipts and unread state are unchanged.
+- Risk: a user forgets that notifications are off and misses messages. The Settings row icon shows the state.
+
+## Test plan
+
+One build after the last review round (AppImage; plus the fork-CI MSI if built with the Windows plan):
+- Toggle off: messages, a contact request, a contact-connected event and a missed call show no system notification, for the active profile, a background profile and a connected remote host.
+  - Unread badges and the tray dot still update.
+  - Mute state in the chat list is unchanged.
+- Fresh call: the system call notification and the in-app ring still appear.
+- Toggle on: identical to master (A/B screenshots).
+- The setting survives a restart. Android is unchanged.
+
+## Decisions
+
+- **D1. Fresh call invitations.** DECIDED: still notified. Missed calls older than 3 minutes are plain notifications, and the switch suppresses them.
+- **D2. Placement.** DECIDED: option 1, Settings → Notifications on desktop.
+- **D3. Sound toggle while off.** DECIDED: shown, disabled.