Getting random notification sounds/vibrations with no new notification being shown on the phone

[mrb1946]

Just got the phone about 2 weeks ago, and since I set it up it has been doing this. It will make the notification sound as if I got a text, or two the two short vibrations if I'm in silent mode, completely randomly. I'll check the screen to see what notification I get and there's nothing there.

There doesn't really seem to be any consistency to this, but I have noticed it happens more often around roughly 20 seconds after locking my phone and setting it down. I've been looking around forums to see if anyone has had this problem, and I've seen several people recommend things like turning off Smart Alert and Notification Reminder (which I have done both), but those things are not helping me.

This happens at least 4-5 times a day and it is incredibly annoying. Does anyone have any ideas?

Thanks

 

[JREwing]

My Note 9 is doing the same thing. I thought I was the only one with this issue.

 

[Javier P]

Do you have NFC enabled?

 

[mrb1946]

I do not have NFC enabled.

 

[Javier P]

I do not have NFC enabled.

Do you have the Blokada app or any similar ad blocker installed in your phone? See this thread.

https://forums.androidcentral.com/showthread.php?t=926947

 

[mrb1946]

Do you have the Blokada app or any similar ad blocker installed in your phone? See this thread.

https://forums.androidcentral.com/showthread.php?t=926947

I don’t have any sort of app like that installed. I am currently in safe mode on the phone and it has not happened again yet, so I’m assuming it is related to an app I have downloaded. Do you have any suggestions about how I should go about troubleshooting this? Especially since I can’t recreate it on command.

 

[Javier P]

I don’t have any sort of app like that installed. I am currently in safe mode on the phone and it has not happened again yet, so I’m assuming it is related to an app I have downloaded. Do you have any suggestions about how I should go about troubleshooting this? Especially since I can’t recreate it on command.

You could try creating the notification log widget that I commented on the other thread. The problem is that most Samsung devices don't include that option on the stock widgets and you would need to use a shortcut creator, like More Shortcuts, or a launcher like Nova.

 

[mrb1946]

You could try creating the notification log widget that I commented on the other thread. The problem is that most Samsung devices don't include that option on the stock widgets and you would need to use a shortcut creator, like More Shortcuts, or a launcher like Nova.

Ok thanks! I will try this, because it does appear to be one of my apps since everything is fine in safe mode. I’ll report back with what I find out.

 

[dbow27]

I have had this same problem done I got the phone at launch. at this time I'm just used to getting 8-10 random buzzes a day

 

[Gayle Lynn]

If you want DNS, VPN, and adblocking then try Adguard I have it on all my phones and PC.

https://www.adguard.com

 

[justafew]

Just got the phone about 2 weeks ago, and since I set it up it has been doing this. It will make the notification sound as if I got a text, or two the two short vibrations if I'm in silent mode, completely randomly. I'll check the screen to see what notification I get and there's nothing there.

There doesn't really seem to be any consistency to this, but I have noticed it happens more often around roughly 20 seconds after locking my phone and setting it down. I've been looking around forums to see if anyone has had this problem, and I've seen several people recommend things like turning off Smart Alert and Notification Reminder (which I have done both), but those things are not helping me.

This happens at least 4-5 times a day and it is incredibly annoying. Does anyone have any ideas?

Thanks

I was having a similar issue and installed an app called Notification Archive, which logs every notification. I found two different apps that for some reason were causing the vibration notification but it wasn't appearing in the notification panel (one was Webex Meetings for some kind of smart device link notification). That helped me decide what to do about the apps.

 

[mrb1946]

Update: I went through and uninstalled a lot of apps this morning. I also started using Nova Launcher so I could get the Notification Log widget on my homescreen. So far today, I have not received any random vibrations. I will go through the full day and see what happens. Will report back.

 

[Javier P]

Update: I went through and uninstalled a lot of apps this morning. I also started using Nova Launcher so I could get the Notification Log widget on my homescreen. So far today, I have not received any random vibrations. I will go through the full day and see what happens. Will report back.

Excellent. You can go through the notification log and see if you see any old record about your ghost notifications.

 

[mrb1946]

It still has not happened to me. I'm going to have to assume and chalk it up to one of the apps that I had installed on the phone.

To recap what I did for anyone who needs help with this, because I did not find an answer. I uninstalled literally every app that I did not need to use for the next 24 hours or so just to see if the problem would go away. It did. Going forward, I will only those apps back as I need them, and that will help me to troubleshoot which app was the problem.

I wish I had listed which apps I uninstalled so that maybe you all could check for a mutual problem, but I was not thinking that far ahead.

Hopefully this helps people in the future because I know how crazy it was driving me.