… or are notifications just really bad on Android?
For background, we’ve got an old, sick, dog and my wife often needs to get help from me urgently. I’m still running an old Pixel 4a - it worked really well for me until Google crippled the battery and even now it works well enough that I’m not tempted to upgrade.
My notifications always seem to be delayed - in batches. I have 3 buildings on my property and each has a Nest doorbell. Some days I can be walking around and I’ll constantly hear ding, ding, ding as I walk past each doorbell. Other days I can walk around and hear nothing, and then I’ll get 5-10 notifications all at once.
Today was a perfect example of why this is so frustrating - I’m sitting at my desk with my phone in front of me. It’s plugged in an charging. My phone starts ringing and it’s my wife upset that I have not responded to her messages. I go help her with the dog and come back to my phone and sure enough, 8 minutes ago there’s a notification from Google Chat, 6 minutes ago there’s a notification from Google Messages and 4 minutes ago there’s the phone call. The Google Chat and Google Messages notifications never came through - until the phone call came in!
I’ve been through and made sure that all the battery optimisations are turned off for all the apps that I want instant notifications from - but that shouldn’t have any impact here - my phone was plugged in.
Is this normal Android? (kinda rhetorical question - I’ve been running Android since my Nexus 4 and don’t think this is normal but it feels like it’s somehow the “new” normal)
I’m not running the stock Pixel launcher - does the launcher get involved in notification delivery at all?
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All the best for your furry friend.
One batch of the 4A’s batteries have become a fire hazard. That’s why Google (near)bricked the phones to prevent that.
These delayed notifications sound like some background processes get killed. I hazard to guess that’s why you get all at once once you wake up the phone. So look for items like background and battery optimization in the settings and see if you can re-enable some of these.
It’s been a minute with the 4A. I think it’s great that you keep extending the life of the phone and thus reduce e-waste. But I think it might be time to look for another phone.
I’m aware of the battery issue. Mine is one of the near bricked ones. I’m down to about 50% before I finish breakfast and coffee most days! I’m home most of the time so it’s not a big deal - I can charge often. If I leave home it’s in a car so I can charge while travelling etc. Because of where I live a replacement battery wasn’t an option. I’ve been wanting to do it myself but the kits are out of stock ever since the announcement.
Someone else noted that their Pixel 3a is still going strong and this prompted me to recheck everything. We’ll see how it goes.
I’m not just holding on to it to keep it out of landfill - although that is certainly a consideration. I really like it - the size is right etc. My wife has a Pixel 6 Pro and it’s huge. There are no new options close to this size. I am keeping an eye out for a local used Pixel 7a and will do that if I find one at a reasonable price.
More than likely it is Doze. https://developer.android.com/training/monitoring-device-state/doze-standby
Supposedly disabling battery restrictions on an app disables Doze, but in practice it doesn’t seem to make much difference.
It has been a thing off and on with Android since Doze was introduced.
This is what it feels like. But if it is Doze then it’s really broken - because it happens when my phone is plugged in and charging!
Just because you see similar effects in multiple scenarios doesn’t mean they are all caused by the same thing. It might be something doze related in 90% of the cases and then something else entirely happening in some specific situation.
Thanks - I found those suggestions some time ago when I first started having these issues. Every battery optimisation setting I can find, including the ones in that article, is off.
I still use my 3a XL without issue. This is very likely a usage issue, settings issue or even a hardware issue. It’s not a software issue.
Clear your application cache. If that still doesn’t work, try uninstalling Google Chat, then re-install it. If it’s built in, uninstall the updates, and then re-update. This resets all the notification settings.
Knowing that your 3a is still performing well enough promted me to double double check things.
I found that “Do Not Disturb” in the notifications settings is not just a simple on/off toggle but a sub menu. Under schedules in there I had “Flip to shh” on. In my example today it was sitting face up on my desk so should not have been in DND mode, but in general maybe being in my pocket is triggering this.
I’ve also cleared cache and data for Chat and Messages and they both prompted me to enable notifications when first run after that. (I’m sure I’ve already done this recently but can’t hurt to do it again)
And, I’ve switched back to Pixel Launcher as a test. I much prefer Niagara and will switch back as soon as I notice and improvment, or determine that changing launcher has not improved anything.
Thanks.
Lemme know if you end up figuring it out. I’m invested.
I’d look more into your data connection first. WiFi and Cell Data. That seems to be the primary source of delayed notifications in my personal experience.
I don’t think that’s it - the notifications are getting to my phone, Android is just not showing them to me. In the example today in my post - the notifications were timestamped 8 and 6 minutes ago, but there was no alert for them. And, I have good connectivity - especially today’s example, sitting at my desk connected to my home wifi - which is good.
One option I’ve run into particularly with some self hosted systems is with notices going to the wrong one of multiple systems logged in. If you have several phones/tablets/computers using the same account notices can get twitchy. Could try killing of some old logins and reset this one to refresh the token it uses to keep you authed.
My phone does this sometimes on cellular data. Usually it’s just my phone being an idiot. Check the power settings for the app, restart the phone and clear the cache for the app. That’s what I do for my chat apps when it starts getting annoying
What network connection are you using to get these notifications?
If it’s a telco, they might have modified their network and your coverage might have changed.
If it’s WiFi, your router or an antenna might have come loose, or a neighbour has updated their WiFi network and is drowning out yours
Have you purchased and installed new equipment? It might be causing interference. An old piece of gear, a power supply, inverter, solar panel, could suddenly generate radio noise and stop things from working too.
You might think of wireless communication as unchanging, but it’s constantly updating and reacting to local conditions which in turn can vary from second to second.
Source: I’m a licensed radio amateur
What network connection are you using to get these notifications?
In general a mix of WiFi and telco cellular. In the example today, my house WiFi - a UniFi U6-Lite on channel 157 at around -65dBm when at my desk.
If it’s a telco, they might have modified their network and your coverage might have changed.
Telco coverage is really poor here - I have UniFi access points in 3 buildings that I roam between. I understand I may see some issues as my phone roams between the access points but that does not explain the example today where I was just sitting at my desk.
If it’s WiFi, your router or an antenna might have come loose, or a neighbour has updated their WiFi network and is drowning out yours
The antenna of a UniFi U6 Lite is internal - I have no way to check if it’s come loose, but everything else works fine so I don’t suspect it. I live in the middle of nowhere. My closest neighbours are about 100m away - I see one of them at -75dBm and the other at -89dBm.
Have you purchased and installed new equipment? It might be causing interference. An old piece of gear, a power supply, inverter, solar panel, could suddenly generate radio noise and stop things from working too.
Not that I’m aware of. I do sometimes see a hidden SSID broadcast from " SAGEMCOM BROADBAND SAS" hardware that I can’t identify. I think it’s my Bell GigaHub that has WiFi turned off - maybe it turns itself on from time to time to scan etc.
You might think of wireless communication as unchanging, but it’s constantly updating and reacting to local conditions which in turn can vary from second to second.
Yeah, I get that. I have other radio comms issues not related to Android, so not really appropriate here. I’m a volunteer firefighter and have a Motorola Minitor VI pager sitting on my desk. My pages often come through really scratchy, or not at all. We (the fire dept.) have just spent a few thousand dollars installing a new antenna at the transmitter and this has not helped.
Source: I’m a licensed radio amateur
I’d be very interested to chat with you privately about my pager issues :-)
Phone specific issues aside, which might well be the root cause, your pager issues might point at an issue that may be exacerbating your experience.
If there’s wideband RF noise around you, many radio services might be affected.
If you have a portable AM transistor radio handy, you can turn it on, tune away from any station and walk around your property. If the noise increases, try to find where it’s coming from. There’s also https://qrm.guru/ - it’s intended for radio amateurs, but we’re a friendly (mostly harmless) lot.
As a volunteer firefighter, you might also have amateurs among you or known to members of your group, who might have local knowledge that I lack.
Happy to exchange email. Not sure what the community rules are about sharing it here. I’m happy to send it via DM, it’s not a secret.
Wow I thought I was going strong with my pixel 6!
Lol - my wife has a 6 Pro - that’s the fancy new phone in the house
Honestly if I didn’t depend on a reliable phone for my job/travel I wouldn’t care as much. But when I’m at the end of a long day on site or after 16 hours of travel, I need a phone that will hold its battery, be fast and get connection.
If the data connection is solid, notifications should be almost instant (assuming a properly-written app using the Google push notification service). There are so many different things to check that I would probably just recommend checking for updates (unlikely for a 4a) and then factory reset.
Or just tell her to call you when it’s time sensitive. Or just yell down the hall.
My phone does that sometimes when the battery gets really low. I think the radio has a power saving mode where it stops transmitting most of the time and tries to only transfer the bare minimum data. Or at least that seems like what’s going on with mine.
