barnabus
Turning notification sound OFF in the app does not seem to work. Have you tried using the phone's settings? SETTINGS > NOTIFICATIONS > SPARTAN
I'm told by one of our testers that this is how he has been able to silence the notifications. If it works for you, it's a workaround until the app can be fixed.
Unfortunately, on Android, it appears that turning notifications off also means pics don't download. They do on iOS. I'll be submitting a problem ticket on this.