Learn Hardcore Russian: Я отключил уведомления, потому что телефон звенел даже ночью. - I turned off notifications because the phone was ringing even at night.

Imperfective (отключать): process, repeated action, or background.
Perfective (отключить → отключил): a single, completed action, focusing on the result.

In Я отключил уведомления, потому что телефон звенел даже ночью, the speaker means:

I turned the notifications off (once, successfully, result achieved).

If you said Я отключал уведомления, it would sound like:

"I was turning off the notifications" (process)
or
"I used to turn off the notifications" (habit),
not just one successful turning off.

How does gender work with я отключил? When would it be я отключила?

The pronoun я doesn’t show gender by itself, but in the past tense the verb does:

Masculine: я отключил
Feminine: я отключила
Neuter (for things): оно отключило
Plural: мы отключили, они отключили

So:

A man would say: Я отключил уведомления.
A woman would say: Я отключила уведомления.

The same applies to звенел:

A man: телефон звенел (no gender issue here; телефон is masculine)
A woman would still say телефон звенел, because телефон is masculine; the verb agrees with телефон, not with the speaker, in the second clause.

What form is уведомления? Singular or plural? What case is it?

Уведомления here is:

Plural
Accusative case
Noun: уведомление (notification), neuter

For neuter inanimate nouns:

Nominative plural = Accusative plural

So:

Nominative plural: уведомления – notifications
Accusative plural: уведомления – notifications (as the direct object)

In the sentence, уведомления is the direct object of отключил:

Я отключил что? → уведомления (Accusative plural)

Why is it уведомления (plural) and not singular уведомление?

In real life, you usually have many notifications, not just one:

Messages, app alerts, email notifications, etc.

So Я отключил уведомления naturally means:

I disabled notifications (in general / all of them).

You could say:

Я отключил уведомление – I turned off the notification (one specific notification),
but that sounds like you mean one particular alert, not the general notification feature.

What exactly does отключил уведомления mean? Is it the same as turning the phone off?

Отключить уведомления means:

To disable notifications in the settings (for apps, messages, etc.),
Or to turn off alerts so they don’t appear / sound.

It is not the same as turning the whole phone off.

Compare:

Я отключил уведомления. – I disabled notifications.
Я выключил телефон. – I turned off the phone.
Я отключил звук. – I muted the sound.

Your sentence says the speaker only disabled notifications, not the entire phone.

Why is there a comma before потому что? Is the comma always required?

Yes, in this kind of sentence a comma is required.

Потому что introduces a subordinate clause of reason (because…). Russian normally puts a comma between:

the main clause, and
the потому что-clause:
Я отключил уведомления, потому что телефон звенел даже ночью.

You would also need a comma if you reversed the order:

Потому что телефон звенел даже ночью, я отключил уведомления.

Only in some very short, fixed, spoken phrases can the comma be omitted, but in standard writing, keep it.

Can we change the word order: put потому что at the beginning?

Yes. Word order in Russian is flexible. You can say:

Я отключил уведомления, потому что телефон звенел даже ночью.
– Neutral; gives the result first, then the reason.
Потому что телефон звенел даже ночью, я отключил уведомления.
– Emphasizes the reason; sounds a little more formal or explanatory.

Both are grammatically correct. Meaning is the same; the difference is in emphasis and style.

Why is it звенел, not something like позвонил or зазвенел?

Звенел is the imperfective past of звенеть – to ring, to jingle, to make a ringing sound.

Using звенел here shows:

a repeated / ongoing action in the past:
the phone was ringing / kept ringing even at night.

Compare:

Телефон звенел даже ночью.
– The phone rang repeatedly / kept ringing at night (a disturbance).
Телефон позвонил ночью.
– The phone rang (once) at night.
Телефон зазвенел ночью.
– The phone started ringing at night (moment of beginning, perfective).

In your sentence, the idea is a persistent problem, so звенел (imperfective) fits best.

Is телефон звенел natural Russian, or should it be телефон звонил?

Both are possible, but there is a nuance:

Телефон звонил – the standard, everyday way to say the phone was ringing.
Телефон звенел – also correct, but it slightly emphasizes the ringing sound itself, like a bell.

So:

Телефон звонил даже ночью. – Very common, fully natural.
Телефон звенел даже ночью. – Also okay; can sound a bit more descriptive or stylistic.

Many native speakers would actually prefer звонил in casual speech, but звенел is not wrong.

Why is it ночью without a preposition, not в ночь or в ночи?

Ночью is the instrumental case of ночь and is commonly used as an adverb of time:

ночью – at night
утром – in the morning
днём – in the daytime
вечером – in the evening

So даже ночью means even at night.

Other options have different nuances:

в ночь – more like into the night (on that night, towards night; literary / specific).
в ночи – archaic / poetic, not normal everyday speech.

For neutral modern Russian, ночью is the standard choice here.

What does даже ночью emphasize, and can даже go somewhere else in the sentence?

Даже means even; it adds emphasis, often to show that something is surprising or extreme.

In телефон звенел даже ночью, the focus is:

Not only during the day, but even at night, which is especially annoying.

You can move даже for slightly different emphasis:

Телефон звенел даже ночью. – Emphasizes night as the surprising time.
Телефон даже ночью звенел. – Very similar, but rhythmically stresses “even at night” a bit more.
Даже ночью телефон звенел. – Strongly contrasts night with other times.

All are grammatically correct; the main idea (it rang even at night) stays the same.

How do you pronounce and stress уведомления and потому что?

Уведомления (notifications):

Syllables: у-ве-дом-ле-ни-я
Stress: уведомле́ния – the stress is on -ме-: /u-vye-dam-LYE-nee-ya/

Потому что (because):

Stress: потому́ что
Pronunciation in natural speech often blends: /pə-ta-MU shtə/

So the whole phrase sounds roughly like:

Я отключи́л уведомле́ния, потому́ что телефо́н звене́л да́же но́чью.