New to Android (from iOS)...advice with notifications and status bar

Argelius1

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Apr 30, 2012
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I just got a Samsung S4 (Verizon) because I was tired of Apple's stagnant OS and tiny screens. And I'm a tinkerer, so I'm loving (sort of) the endless ability to change and modify just about everything. And LOVE the big screen (and I have no problem whatsoever putting it in my pocket or using it one-handed...).

I'm encountering a couple of Android frustrations and wondering if anyone can either confirm, "yep, that's how it works", or point me to an app/widget/utility that "fixes" what I'm encountering.

Thanks in advance for your advice.

Notifications and status bar: I have to say I'm missing Apple's red badges that easily call attention to new emails, facebook posts, text messages, etc). I understand that on Android, all notifications show up as those little teeny, tiny white icons in the status bar, amongst the sea of other little white icons (wifi, gps, gestures, bluetooth, etc), making it not always obvious at a quick glance what's new.

I understand swiping down gives me the list of all notifications. But strangely, for such a customizable interface, evidently you have little control over the appearance and order of what's there. For instance, the "ongoing" notifications of WiFi connected shows up at the top, which I dont want to know about at all (along with those from other apps that merely announce the app is working, such as Juice Defender). And others follow in a long list with no particular organization or visual distinction.

I have played with the app SuperStatus Bar to reduce the status bar clutter, but it grinds things to a halt and takes over the notification panel without improving it. I've looked for widgets that show email, sms, etc badges but most are ugly (like most of the email widgets that come with the popular email apps like K-9, Aquamail, etc) or don't function consistently (like Notifier Widget for Facebook).

So, any suggestions or apps that help with this? And thanks to all who have read this all the way to the bottom...
 

lhweb

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I have been using NoLED since my S2. You can customize the apps you want to monitor and display their icons.

Sent from my SGH-T999 using Android Central Forums
 

Fairclough

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Most apps within the settings will have a notification bar option, my most annoying one was batteryguru (for snapdragon processors) and avast, but for me it was just in the app -> settings -> notification icon -> none. It might be a pain going through the apps which do it 1 by 1. Not sure if there is a faster way, sorry I am not much of a help with the rest.
 

Fairclough

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I like how Dashclock does the counters on your lockscreen, however its annoying that you have to flash it to keep it down.
 

badbrad17

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I just got a Samsung S4 (Verizon) because I was tired of Apple's stagnant OS and tiny screens. And I'm a tinkerer, so I'm loving (sort of) the endless ability to change and modify just about everything. And LOVE the big screen (and I have no problem whatsoever putting it in my pocket or using it one-handed...).

I'm encountering a couple of Android frustrations and wondering if anyone can either confirm, "yep, that's how it works", or point me to an app/widget/utility that "fixes" what I'm encountering.

Thanks in advance for your advice.

Notifications and status bar: I have to say I'm missing Apple's red badges that easily call attention to new emails, facebook posts, text messages, etc). I understand that on Android, all notifications show up as those little teeny, tiny white icons in the status bar, amongst the sea of other little white icons (wifi, gps, gestures, bluetooth, etc), making it not always obvious at a quick glance what's new.

I understand swiping down gives me the list of all notifications. But strangely, for such a customizable interface, evidently you have little control over the appearance and order of what's there. For instance, the "ongoing" notifications of WiFi connected shows up at the top, which I dont want to know about at all (along with those from other apps that merely announce the app is working, such as Juice Defender). And others follow in a long list with no particular organization or visual distinction.

I have played with the app SuperStatus Bar to reduce the status bar clutter, but it grinds things to a halt and takes over the notification panel without improving it. I've looked for widgets that show email, sms, etc badges but most are ugly (like most of the email widgets that come with the popular email apps like K-9, Aquamail, etc) or don't function consistently (like Notifier Widget for Facebook).

So, any suggestions or apps that help with this? And thanks to all who have read this all the way to the bottom...

For notifications try Nils. https://forums.androidcentral.com/e...am.android.notificationswidget&token=IEK56LCR

For the red badge notifications on email etc. As posted above Nova Launcher does this. But you can also use UCCW or Zooper widget to make your own notification widget. I use and love Nova Launcher over Touchwiz. You may want to give it a try. You will need to add all of your app icons and widgets into the Nova setup, but there is a lot of customization you can do. You can remove it at any time without losing your current setup. The badges are added using the Teslacoil Notifier add on. They can be grey or red. https://forums.androidcentral.com/e...ls?id=com.teslacoilsw.notifier&token=c5FF5agJ

As for the notification bar, most of these things can be turned off in the app itself. Juice defender for sure. Just go into settings and look for the option to toggle off the notification icon. There's usually is one for each app.

Good luck.

Sent from my Nexus 4
 

inuitF

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Jun 11, 2013
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scrnshot.jpg


Can someone tell me what is that strage icon in the screenshot? I couldn't get rid of it no matter what.

Device Info: Samsung Galaxy Win I8550 (aka. Galaxy Grand Quattro) - OS: Android OS, v4.1.2 (Jelly Bean)
 

inuitF

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the phone is not an S4 and I don't have smart screen function on my phone but yes this is called 'smart stay', I disabled it and this icon is gone.

Thanks a lot. I feel relieved. :D

Settings >> Display >> Smart Stay (enable/disable)
 

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