Android 11 DP1: ‘Notification history’ prepares a much needed revamp of the log

Ben Schoon | Feb 19 2020 - 4:03 pm PT

Android 11 seems chock full of tweaks and new features for notifications, and one big one that may be on the way is a revamp of the notification log. The little-known Android feature may soon get a much-needed revamp in the form of “Notification history.”

In case you didn’t know, Android has had a mostly-hidden feature for a few releases called the “notification log.” This option shows any notifications that have come through even if they’ve been dismissed previously. It’s a handy feature, but it generally requires some third-party apps or homescreen widgets to access.

The “notification log” is long overdue for a revamp and that seems like it’s coming in Android 11. We were able to flip the switch on a new page called “Notification history.” Now, we’re pretty sure that this won’t replace the notification log, but would rather act as a user-facing version of that feature. After all, the log’s interface could be a bit daunting and didn’t show notification contents in a user-friendly way. Though, the log has changed to have a much better look in Android 11.

Notification log from Android 10 (left) versus Android 11 (right)

With “Notification history,” Android would show notifications the exact same way they originally came in. The UI shows a “Recently dismissed” section at the top followed by three notifications and the time they came in. Below that, a list of other notifications from the day would appear, though that part isn’t working yet.

Presumably, this is something Google plans to introduce as a more user-facing feature when Android 11 makes its full debut. If that is the case, I think this is a great start.

Dylan Roussel contributed to this article.