This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
Managing Your Notifications
Android displays notifications to help you keep up with your messages, appointments, and other events. You can choose which apps can give you notifications. If your device has a notification light, you can control whether Android pulses the light to make you aware of notifications you have not yet viewed.
Responding to a Notification
When an app raises a notification, the notification appears briefly at the top of the screen and then disappears. Drag down from the top of the screen to display the Notifications pane (see Figure 1.3). You can then take the following actions:
FIGURE 1.3 Tap a notification in the Notifications pane to go to the app that raised the notification.
- Tap a button on the notification to take an action. For example, on a Missed Call notification, you can tap the Call Back button to return the call or tap the Message button to send a message to the caller.
- Swipe a notification left or right to dismiss it.
Tap the Clear All button (the button that shows three horizontal bars staggered like a staircase) to clear all the notifications you can dismiss.
NOTE
You cannot dismiss system notifications such as the Connected as a Media Device notification shown in Figure 1.3.
- If the notification is collapsed, tap it and drag down to expand it.
- Tap and hold the notification until the App Info pop-up button appears, and then tap the button to display the App Info screen for the app.
- Tap a notification to go to the app that raised it.
Turning the Notification Light On or Off
If your device has a notification light, you can make the light blink to alert you to notifications you haven’t yet seen. Here’s how to control whether the light blinks:
- Open the Settings app.
- Tap the Display button to go to the Display screen.
- Tap to check or uncheck the Pulse Notification Light check box.
Turning Off Notifications for an App
Here’s how to turn off notifications for an app:
- Open the Settings app.
- Tap the Apps button in the Device section to display the Apps screen. The Apps screen displays the Downloaded tab at first.
- If the app for which you want to turn off notifications does not appear on the downloaded tab, swipe left once to display the Running tab or twice to display the All tab.
- Tap the app’s button to display its App Info screen.
- Tap to clear the Show Notifications check box.
TIP
Here are two ways to quickly display an app’s App Info screen. If the app is currently running, tap the Recent Apps button, tap and hold the app’s thumbnail in the Recent Apps list, and then tap the App Info button on the pop-up menu. If the app has raised a notification, tap and hold the notification on the Notifications panel, and then tap the App Info button on the pop-up menu.
Clearing Repeat Notifications
Sometimes Android may display the same notifications repeatedly. Usually, this happens with download notifications, but other apps can also raise notifications more than once.
If you find this happening, first restart your device. Restarting can solve any number of problems, and it takes only a minute or two.
If restarting doesn’t suppress old download notifications, you may need to clear the cache and data for the Download Manager app. To do so, follow these steps:
- Open the Settings app.
- Tap the Apps button in the Device section to display the Apps screen.
- Swipe left twice to display the All list.
- Tap the Download Manager button to display the App Info screen for the Download Manager app.
- Tap the Clear Cache button to clear the cached data.
Tap the Clear Data button. The Delete App Data? dialog box opens (see Figure 1.4).
FIGURE 1.4 You may need to delete the app data for the Download Manager app to get rid of repeated download notifications.
- Tap the OK button.
- Tap the Force Stop button. The Force Stop? dialog box opens.
- Tap the OK button.
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Restart your phone after clearing Download Manager’s cache and data.
TIP
Another way to clear old notifications is to install a notification-management app. You can find various notification-management apps on the Play Store, but watch out for two things. First, make sure the app doesn’t require Internet access. Second, make sure that the app doesn’t require your phone to be rooted. Rooting gives you access to the root account, which enables you to take full control of your device’s software and hardware and install unapproved software on it.