Why don't notifications pop up on my screen?

[Android Central Question]

I have a Samsung Galaxy A20 running Android version 9. I'm new to Android, having switched from an iPhone 6. I'm puzzled by the fact that when I get an email, text message, or other notification, my phone plays the notification sound but nothing pops up on my screen. At first I thought it was just because the screen was off, but when I wake it up, there's no notification to be seen. Is this the way it's supposed to be? I've looked at my Notifications settings and I don't see anything that allows me to tell it to show notifications as they come in. Is there some setting somewhere that I'm missing? Or an app I can install that fixes this? When I decided to switch, it never occurred to me that Android notifications would be so far behind what iPhones offer.

A second notification issue that has me scratching my head is that there seems to be only one notification tone, regardless of what kind of notification it is. Again, on the iPhone, I could set one tone for text messages, another for new emails, another for missed calls, another for voicemail messages... not to mention different ringtones and text tones on a per contact basis. Again, is this how it's supposed to be? Is there an app that fixes it?

 

[Ernie Pantuso]

Most times you want find something just go settings>search bar type things and tap to go into it after it displays what your searching

Thanks. I get that I can search settings; I've been using that. But I didn't know what AOD meant. And I can't reproduce the screen shots you showed. When I search settings for "Always On Display", nothing comes up.

 

[mustang7757]

Thanks. I get that I can search settings; I've been using that. But I didn't know what AOD meant. And I can't reproduce the screen shots you showed. When I search settings for "Always On Display", nothing comes up.

Yeah yours might not have it according to b. Diddy link

 

[Ernie Pantuso]

OK, so now that I know I don't have it, what is it that I'm missing out on?
I'm beginning to wonder if I'd be better off rooting this thing and flashing a new ROM...

 

[Ernie Pantuso]

One of the reasons I went with this phone was because I wanted Bixby. And I can't get that to work, either.

 

[mustang7757]

OK, so now that I know I don't have it, what is it that I'm missing out on?
I'm beginning to wonder if I'd be better off rooting this thing and flashing a new ROM...

Nooooo ...for beginners don't dive into Root unless you have another phone as back up

 

[Ernie Pantuso]

Nooooo ...for beginners don't dive into Root unless you have another phone as back up

I'm not exactly a beginner. I'm very technical - I'm just struggling a little with this transition from iPhone. I had an Android years ago... rooted it and installed a different ROM. I can always fall back on my old iPhone 6, too.

 

[Ernie Pantuso]

Now that I know what Always On Display is, I installed Always On Amoled. We'll see if that takes care of my notification problems.

 

[mustang7757]

I'm not exactly a beginner. I'm very technical - I'm just struggling a little with this transition from iPhone. I had an Android years ago... rooted it and installed a different ROM. I can always fall back on my old iPhone 6, too.

Ok..xda forums is also good information on root.
The other issue is phones not popular harder to find info and stock firmware incase something goes wrong. Just a heads up

 

[Ernie Pantuso]

I just sent a test SMS and email - both were displayed. Looks like this may be resolved. We'll see what happens with other notifications.

Seems like this is a pretty glaring issue with the A20. I didn't see any mention of it when I was researching and deciding which phone to get. I'm wondering if I should nuke & pave.