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Android APIs
public class

Notification

extends Object
implements Parcelable
java.lang.Object
   ↳ android.app.Notification

Class Overview

A class that represents how a persistent notification is to be presented to the user using the NotificationManager.

The Notification.Builder has been added to make it easier to construct Notifications.

Developer Guides

For a guide to creating notifications, read the Status Bar Notifications developer guide.

Summary

Nested Classes
class Notification.BigPictureStyle Helper class for generating large-format notifications that include a large image attachment. 
class Notification.BigTextStyle Helper class for generating large-format notifications that include a lot of text. 
class Notification.Builder Builder class for Notification objects. 
class Notification.InboxStyle Helper class for generating large-format notifications that include a list of (up to 5) strings. 
class Notification.Style An object that can apply a rich notification style to a Notification.Builder object. 
Constants
int DEFAULT_ALL Use all default values (where applicable).
int DEFAULT_LIGHTS Use the default notification lights.
int DEFAULT_SOUND Use the default notification sound.
int DEFAULT_VIBRATE Use the default notification vibrate.
int FLAG_AUTO_CANCEL Bit to be bitwise-ored into the flags field that should be set if the notification should be canceled when it is clicked by the user.
int FLAG_FOREGROUND_SERVICE Bit to be bitwise-ored into the flags field that should be set if this notification represents a currently running service.
int FLAG_HIGH_PRIORITY This constant was deprecated in API level 16. Use priority with a positive value.
int FLAG_INSISTENT Bit to be bitwise-ored into the flags field that if set, the audio will be repeated until the notification is cancelled or the notification window is opened.
int FLAG_NO_CLEAR Bit to be bitwise-ored into the flags field that should be set if the notification should not be canceled when the user clicks the Clear all button.
int FLAG_ONGOING_EVENT Bit to be bitwise-ored into the flags field that should be set if this notification is in reference to something that is ongoing, like a phone call.
int FLAG_ONLY_ALERT_ONCE Bit to be bitwise-ored into the flags field that should be set if you want the sound and/or vibration play each time the notification is sent, even if it has not been canceled before that.
int FLAG_SHOW_LIGHTS Bit to be bitwise-ored into the flags field that should be set if you want the LED on for this notification.
int PRIORITY_DEFAULT Default notification priority.
int PRIORITY_HIGH Higher priority, for more important notifications or alerts.
int PRIORITY_LOW Lower priority, for items that are less important.
int PRIORITY_MAX Highest priority, for your application's most important items that require the user's prompt attention or input.
int PRIORITY_MIN Lowest priority; these items might not be shown to the user except under special circumstances, such as detailed notification logs.
int STREAM_DEFAULT Use this constant as the value for audioStreamType to request that the default stream type for notifications be used.
[Expand]
Inherited Constants
From interface android.os.Parcelable
Fields
public static final Creator<Notification> CREATOR Parcelable.Creator that instantiates Notification objects
public int audioStreamType The audio stream type to use when playing the sound.
public RemoteViews bigContentView A large-format version of contentView, giving the Notification an opportunity to show more detail.
public PendingIntent contentIntent The intent to execute when the expanded status entry is clicked.
public RemoteViews contentView The view that will represent this notification in the expanded status bar.
public int defaults Specifies which values should be taken from the defaults.
public PendingIntent deleteIntent The intent to execute when the notification is explicitly dismissed by the user, either with the "Clear All" button or by swiping it away individually.
public int flags
public PendingIntent fullScreenIntent An intent to launch instead of posting the notification to the status bar.
public int icon The resource id of a drawable to use as the icon in the status bar.
public int iconLevel If the icon in the status bar is to have more than one level, you can set this.
public Bitmap largeIcon The bitmap that may escape the bounds of the panel and bar.
public int ledARGB The color of the led.
public int ledOffMS The number of milliseconds for the LED to be off while it's flashing.
public int ledOnMS The number of milliseconds for the LED to be on while it's flashing.
public int number The number of events that this notification represents.
public int priority Relative priority for this notification.
public Uri sound The sound to play.
public CharSequence tickerText Text to scroll across the screen when this item is added to the status bar on large and smaller devices.
public RemoteViews tickerView The view to show as the ticker in the status bar when the notification is posted.
public long[] vibrate The pattern with which to vibrate.
public long when A timestamp related to this notification, in milliseconds since the epoch.
Public Constructors
Notification()
Constructs a Notification object with default values.
Notification(int icon, CharSequence tickerText, long when)
This constructor was deprecated in API level 11. Use Notification.Builder instead.
Notification(Parcel parcel)
Unflatten the notification from a parcel.
Public Methods
Notification clone()
Creates and returns a copy of this Object.
int describeContents()
Describe the kinds of special objects contained in this Parcelable's marshalled representation.
void setLatestEventInfo(Context context, CharSequence contentTitle, CharSequence contentText, PendingIntent contentIntent)
This method was deprecated in API level 11. Use Notification.Builder instead.
String toString()
Returns a string containing a concise, human-readable description of this object.
void writeToParcel(Parcel parcel, int flags)
Flatten this notification from a parcel.
[Expand]
Inherited Methods
From class java.lang.Object
From interface android.os.Parcelable

Constants

public static final int DEFAULT_ALL

Added in API level 1

Use all default values (where applicable).

Constant Value: -1 (0xffffffff)

public static final int DEFAULT_LIGHTS

Added in API level 1

Use the default notification lights. This will ignore the FLAG_SHOW_LIGHTS bit, and ledARGB, ledOffMS, or ledOnMS.

See Also
Constant Value: 4 (0x00000004)

public static final int DEFAULT_SOUND

Added in API level 1

Use the default notification sound. This will ignore any given sound.

See Also
Constant Value: 1 (0x00000001)

public static final int DEFAULT_VIBRATE

Added in API level 1

Use the default notification vibrate. This will ignore any given vibrate. Using phone vibration requires the VIBRATE permission.

See Also
Constant Value: 2 (0x00000002)

public static final int FLAG_AUTO_CANCEL

Added in API level 1

Bit to be bitwise-ored into the flags field that should be set if the notification should be canceled when it is clicked by the user.

Constant Value: 16 (0x00000010)

public static final int FLAG_FOREGROUND_SERVICE

Added in API level 5

Bit to be bitwise-ored into the flags field that should be set if this notification represents a currently running service. This will normally be set for you by startForeground(int, Notification).

Constant Value: 64 (0x00000040)

public static final int FLAG_HIGH_PRIORITY

Added in API level 11

This constant was deprecated in API level 16.
Use priority with a positive value.

Obsolete flag indicating high-priority notifications; use the priority field instead.

Constant Value: 128 (0x00000080)

public static final int FLAG_INSISTENT

Added in API level 1

Bit to be bitwise-ored into the flags field that if set, the audio will be repeated until the notification is cancelled or the notification window is opened.

Constant Value: 4 (0x00000004)

public static final int FLAG_NO_CLEAR

Added in API level 1

Bit to be bitwise-ored into the flags field that should be set if the notification should not be canceled when the user clicks the Clear all button.

Constant Value: 32 (0x00000020)

public static final int FLAG_ONGOING_EVENT

Added in API level 1

Bit to be bitwise-ored into the flags field that should be set if this notification is in reference to something that is ongoing, like a phone call. It should not be set if this notification is in reference to something that happened at a particular point in time, like a missed phone call.

Constant Value: 2 (0x00000002)

public static final int FLAG_ONLY_ALERT_ONCE

Added in API level 1

Bit to be bitwise-ored into the flags field that should be set if you want the sound and/or vibration play each time the notification is sent, even if it has not been canceled before that.

Constant Value: 8 (0x00000008)

public static final int FLAG_SHOW_LIGHTS

Added in API level 1

Bit to be bitwise-ored into the flags field that should be set if you want the LED on for this notification.

  • To turn the LED off, pass 0 in the alpha channel for colorARGB or 0 for both ledOnMS and ledOffMS.
  • To turn the LED on, pass 1 for ledOnMS and 0 for ledOffMS.
  • To flash the LED, pass the number of milliseconds that it should be on and off to ledOnMS and ledOffMS.

Since hardware varies, you are not guaranteed that any of the values you pass are honored exactly. Use the system defaults (TODO) if possible because they will be set to values that work on any given hardware.

The alpha channel must be set for forward compatibility.

Constant Value: 1 (0x00000001)

public static final int PRIORITY_DEFAULT

Added in API level 16

Default notification priority. If your application does not prioritize its own notifications, use this value for all notifications.

Constant Value: 0 (0x00000000)

public static final int PRIORITY_HIGH

Added in API level 16

Higher priority, for more important notifications or alerts. The UI may choose to show these items larger, or at a different position in notification lists, compared with your app's PRIORITY_DEFAULT items.

Constant Value: 1 (0x00000001)

public static final int PRIORITY_LOW

Added in API level 16

Lower priority, for items that are less important. The UI may choose to show these items smaller, or at a different position in the list, compared with your app's PRIORITY_DEFAULT items.

Constant Value: -1 (0xffffffff)

public static final int PRIORITY_MAX

Added in API level 16

Highest priority, for your application's most important items that require the user's prompt attention or input.

Constant Value: 2 (0x00000002)

public static final int PRIORITY_MIN

Added in API level 16

Lowest priority; these items might not be shown to the user except under special circumstances, such as detailed notification logs.

Constant Value: -2 (0xfffffffe)

public static final int STREAM_DEFAULT

Added in API level 1

Use this constant as the value for audioStreamType to request that the default stream type for notifications be used. Currently the default stream type is STREAM_NOTIFICATION.

Constant Value: -1 (0xffffffff)

Fields

public static final Creator<Notification> CREATOR

Added in API level 1

Parcelable.Creator that instantiates Notification objects

public int audioStreamType

Added in API level 1

The audio stream type to use when playing the sound. Should be one of the STREAM_ constants from AudioManager.

public RemoteViews bigContentView

Added in API level 16

A large-format version of contentView, giving the Notification an opportunity to show more detail. The system UI may choose to show this instead of the normal content view at its discretion.

public PendingIntent contentIntent

Added in API level 1

The intent to execute when the expanded status entry is clicked. If this is an activity, it must include the FLAG_ACTIVITY_NEW_TASK flag, which requires that you take care of task management as described in the Tasks and Back Stack document. In particular, make sure to read the notification section Handling Notifications for the correct ways to launch an application from a notification.

public RemoteViews contentView

Added in API level 1

The view that will represent this notification in the expanded status bar.

public int defaults

Added in API level 1

Specifies which values should be taken from the defaults.

To set, OR the desired from DEFAULT_SOUND, DEFAULT_VIBRATE, DEFAULT_LIGHTS. For all default values, use DEFAULT_ALL.

public PendingIntent deleteIntent

Added in API level 1

The intent to execute when the notification is explicitly dismissed by the user, either with the "Clear All" button or by swiping it away individually. This probably shouldn't be launching an activity since several of those will be sent at the same time.

public int flags

Added in API level 1

public PendingIntent fullScreenIntent

Added in API level 9

An intent to launch instead of posting the notification to the status bar.

public int icon

Added in API level 1

The resource id of a drawable to use as the icon in the status bar. This is required; notifications with an invalid icon resource will not be shown.

public int iconLevel

Added in API level 1

If the icon in the status bar is to have more than one level, you can set this. Otherwise, leave it at its default value of 0.

public Bitmap largeIcon

Added in API level 11

The bitmap that may escape the bounds of the panel and bar.

public int ledARGB

Added in API level 1

The color of the led. The hardware will do its best approximation.

public int ledOffMS

Added in API level 1

The number of milliseconds for the LED to be off while it's flashing. The hardware will do its best approximation.

public int ledOnMS

Added in API level 1

The number of milliseconds for the LED to be on while it's flashing. The hardware will do its best approximation.

public int number

Added in API level 1

The number of events that this notification represents. For example, in a new mail notification, this could be the number of unread messages. The system may or may not use this field to modify the appearance of the notification. For example, before HONEYCOMB, this number was superimposed over the icon in the status bar. Starting with HONEYCOMB, the template used by Notification.Builder has displayed the number in the expanded notification view. If the number is 0 or negative, it is never shown.

public int priority

Added in API level 16

Relative priority for this notification. Priority is an indication of how much of the user's valuable attention should be consumed by this notification. Low-priority notifications may be hidden from the user in certain situations, while the user might be interrupted for a higher-priority notification. The system will make a determination about how to interpret this priority when presenting the notification.

public Uri sound

Added in API level 1

The sound to play.

To play the default notification sound, see defaults.

public CharSequence tickerText

Added in API level 1

Text to scroll across the screen when this item is added to the status bar on large and smaller devices.

See Also

public RemoteViews tickerView

Added in API level 11

The view to show as the ticker in the status bar when the notification is posted.

public long[] vibrate

Added in API level 1

The pattern with which to vibrate.

To vibrate the default pattern, see defaults.

public long when

Added in API level 1

A timestamp related to this notification, in milliseconds since the epoch. Default value: Now. Choose a timestamp that will be most relevant to the user. For most finite events, this corresponds to the time the event happened (or will happen, in the case of events that have yet to occur but about which the user is being informed). Indefinite events should be timestamped according to when the activity began. Some examples:

  • Notification of a new chat message should be stamped when the message was received.
  • Notification of an ongoing file download (with a progress bar, for example) should be stamped when the download started.
  • Notification of a completed file download should be stamped when the download finished.
  • Notification of an upcoming meeting should be stamped with the time the meeting will begin (that is, in the future).
  • Notification of an ongoing stopwatch (increasing timer) should be stamped with the watch's start time.
  • Notification of an ongoing countdown timer should be stamped with the timer's end time.

Public Constructors

public Notification ()

Added in API level 1

Constructs a Notification object with default values. You might want to consider using Notification.Builder instead.

public Notification (int icon, CharSequence tickerText, long when)

Added in API level 1

This constructor was deprecated in API level 11.
Use Notification.Builder instead.

Constructs a Notification object with the information needed to have a status bar icon without the standard expanded view.

Parameters
icon The resource id of the icon to put in the status bar.
tickerText The text that flows by in the status bar when the notification first activates.
when The time to show in the time field. In the System.currentTimeMillis timebase.

public Notification (Parcel parcel)

Added in API level 1

Unflatten the notification from a parcel.

Public Methods

public Notification clone ()

Added in API level 1

Creates and returns a copy of this Object. The default implementation returns a so-called "shallow" copy: It creates a new instance of the same class and then copies the field values (including object references) from this instance to the new instance. A "deep" copy, in contrast, would also recursively clone nested objects. A subclass that needs to implement this kind of cloning should call super.clone() to create the new instance and then create deep copies of the nested, mutable objects.

Returns
  • a copy of this object.

public int describeContents ()

Added in API level 1

Describe the kinds of special objects contained in this Parcelable's marshalled representation.

Returns
  • a bitmask indicating the set of special object types marshalled by the Parcelable.

public void setLatestEventInfo (Context context, CharSequence contentTitle, CharSequence contentText, PendingIntent contentIntent)

Added in API level 1

This method was deprecated in API level 11.
Use Notification.Builder instead.

Sets the contentView field to be a view with the standard "Latest Event" layout.

Uses the icon and when fields to set the icon and time fields in the view.

Parameters
context The context for your application / activity.
contentTitle The title that goes in the expanded entry.
contentText The text that goes in the expanded entry.
contentIntent The intent to launch when the user clicks the expanded notification. If this is an activity, it must include the FLAG_ACTIVITY_NEW_TASK flag, which requires that you take care of task management as described in the Tasks and Back Stack document.

public String toString ()

Added in API level 1

Returns a string containing a concise, human-readable description of this object. Subclasses are encouraged to override this method and provide an implementation that takes into account the object's type and data. The default implementation is equivalent to the following expression:

   getClass().getName() + '@' + Integer.toHexString(hashCode())

See Writing a useful toString method if you intend implementing your own toString method.

Returns
  • a printable representation of this object.

public void writeToParcel (Parcel parcel, int flags)

Added in API level 1

Flatten this notification from a parcel.

Parameters
parcel The Parcel in which the object should be written.
flags Additional flags about how the object should be written. May be 0 or PARCELABLE_WRITE_RETURN_VALUE.