Pixel devices work properly with Amber Alerts. They support receiving the different levels of alerts and have different settings for each.

I couldn’t find a way to disable “Presidential Alerts” (at least when I last checked around 2031 or 2022).

In the US, the whole system works perfectly. In Canada (or at least in Ontario), since all alerts come in as Presidential Alerts, it doesn’t work in practice.

A few guesses as to why people say it works:

• They’re in the US/not in Canada
• They have Amber Alerts turned on anyway
• Their area gets fewer Amber Alerts after changing their settings by coincidence
• They have another audio device connected to the phone when their device receives Amber Alerts, so the device routes the alerts through the device (e.g. ear buds that they aren’t always wearing)
• They use apps that are able to suppress alerts including Presidential Alerts

Yeah, on my old Samsung, I was able to disable alerts, make it respect DND, etc. But on my Pixel, I’m not.

It’s unfortunate because there are all kinds of settings to customize the alerts on my Pixel, but it’s designed for the system to be used as intended.

The Pixel doesn’t allow you to change or turn off the Presidential alerts (aka. “Your life is in immediate danger”), but that’s what ALL alerts are sent as in Canada.

It’s definitely your phone, possibly your carrier to some extent, and almost definitely not your province/territory (since the system is configured nationally).

The app’s called Alertable! I don’t know if it has Amber Alerts and stuff, but it gives me the alerts that I want.

As per the article, in Canada, Amber Alerts are sent at the top level. Meaning even if your phone lets you set different sounds for different levels of government alert, Amber Alerts are sent at the “Your life is in imminent danger if you don’t take immediate action” level every time.

I “hacked” my phone to disable the system, then downloaded an app that sends me equivalent notifications with the sound effects of my choosing.

I still use folders to organize paper documents. Taxes and medical stuff mostly.