Anyone who used Android knows that it does not, by default, repeat notifications for important events, such as missed called, text messages, email or calendar. One has to manually switch the screen on and look at the notification bar on the top to see what they missed. Ideally, Android needs to have a visual or audible notification that there is a notification that happened in the past.
Luckily there are many apps that provide this, and I review some that I have tried in the past, with the pros and cons for each.
Light Flow
By far, the best app that I used until recently was Light Flow Lite. I even paid for the full version Light Flow. It worked great on my Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc, as long as I was on GingerBread (Android 2.3).
It allowed me to assign to each type of notification a different LED light color and blink frequency, as well as a notification sound, vibrate and repeat pattern.
However, once I upgraded to Ice Cream Sandwich (Android 4.0), it stopped working completely, and all it did was drain the battery too quickly. It was no longer a viable option.
It seems that any app that wants to hook to Accessability in Android 4.0 would be a battery drain.
Droid Notify
I then tried Droid Notify Lite. It provides a popup with contextually relevant buttons. I don't recall the specific issue that led me to uninstall it, whether it was user interface issues or battery drain.
LED Notify
Next, I tried LED Notify. Although this app was developed for LED-less phones that have AMOLED screens, so it can turn on specific pixels, rather than the entire screen, it does add several features that makes it a generally useful app for repeat notifications. Just make sure that you turn the screen flashing off if it eats up a lot of battery.
Tasker
Tasker has the potential to be a very customizable solution for notifications, but it costs money and requires some time to develop the notification tasks. It also needs to hook into Accessability, and therefore potentially can be a battery drain.
Missed Message Flasher
My current working solution on Android 4.0 is to use Missed Message Flasher. This app tells you which notifications will need the Accessibility feature, which will probably drain your battery. This applies to Calendar, Email (not Gmail though), Skype and others.
I use this app to repeat notifications for Missed Calls and Text Messages only. I receive too much email via Gmail for it to be a distraction, and therefore don't have it turned on for that.
The app is configured to play a sound, which sadly is not unique for each notification type, but it does the job. It also is configured to vibrate.
The default "Timing and limits" settings are too frequent for my taste, so I changed them to start repeating every 30 seconds, and longer after that.
Thankfully, I don't use Email, just Gmail, and have a solution (mentioned below) for the Calendar).
Calendar Snooze
For calendar notifications, Calendar Snooze does a good job to be able to repeat notifications and snooze events for later.
My final advice is to try out the above apps and see which ones work on your specific phone and for your specific needs. Post a comment below on what you find. Mention your phone make and model as well as the Android version that you are using.
Comments
Gobizmo (not verified)
Android Repeat Notification Problem
Mon, 2013/12/16 - 08:11Yes,Mr.Khalid you are absolutely Right.I am agree with You.Need to operate manually switch the screen on and look at the notification bar on the top to see what they missed.
You have give a nice list of free apps that can solves this android problem and make your phone user friendly.
However,Fortunately I found a company,Name "Gobizmo" provide a fantastic app for that particular reason,but the app is not free,it is paid...
Mike S (not verified)
low battery suggestion?
Thu, 2014/02/06 - 14:18Hi,
thanks for the interesting discussion. I am looking for a low power consumption app that simply repeats a sound file until I interact with the phone when I get an SMS. I need it to play every 5 or 10 seconds so it will be sure to wake me up if I'm sleeping. Do you know of any free or paid apps that will do what I need? Lightflow works great but uses way too much battery power.
Thanks,
Mike
Khalid
There isn't one ...
Thu, 2014/02/06 - 15:15There isn't a solution that is low power. If you are playing an sound file, then the media server will be invoked and you will prevent the phone from sleeping, hence the power consumption.
You can setup lightflow with sound only, without LED functionality and see how things go.
I went back to LightFlow after I upgraded from Sony Xperia Arc to Sony Xperia ZL. I can get ~ 2.5 days of standby despite Lightflow causing Android to use more power than it would normally. It does not work with Sony's Stamina mode, which saves power even more.
I am now trying out Juice Defender with Lightflow to see if I can save more battery. Even if it does not make a difference, 2.5 days of standby is excellent and much better than my previous phone.
Khalid
3 days and 6 hours
Fri, 2014/02/14 - 12:30I was able to get 3 days and 6 hours with LightFlow.
Bill (not verified)
opposite
Fri, 2014/10/17 - 22:43I have the opposite problem: my phone sounds 5 or 6 times for each message! Anyone know how to make it stop or where to ask? Or even what to search for? Everywhere I look I find people trying to make the number of notifications increase....