Android 12 Beta 4: Most notification banner pop-ups are not appearing due to bug

Abner Li | Aug 13 2021 - 1:09 pm PT

With this week’s release, Google is “moving into the final phase” of Android 12 and focusing on “polish, performance, and stability” rather than adding new features. However, a bug in Android 12 Beta 4 sees most notification banners not pop up.

When a notification comes in on Android, you’re supposed to see the app icon/name in the status bar, and a short banner with the sender name, message preview, and option to reply (in the case of most communication apps). On Beta 4, users are only seeing the status bar portion with a swipe-down required to see the actual alert. The notification banner pop-up is missing.

As a result, if you have sound/vibration disabled as you’re using your Pixel, it’s very easy to miss incoming notifications. If users miss the app name, they’ll have to frequently glance at the status area.

Rebooting does not resolve this issue, while the “Pop on screen” notification setting remains enabled for impacted apps:

When device is unlocked, show notifications as a banner across the top of the screen

Android 11 vs Android 12

This is a widespread problem with reports from Pixel 3, 4, and 5 owners regardless (as seen below) of whether your device is set to receive all alerts, set to only vibrate, or completely silent. However, some apps appear to be unaffected, while we’re seeing the banner appear when two alerts come in at the same time. Banners work normally on the lockscreen and always-on display.

Google will undoubtedly have to address this notification bug, but it’s unclear whether that will take the shape of an Android 12 Beta 4.1 update or wait until the Release candidate “in the weeks ahead.” That will be the final beta, but it’s clear there are still some usability bugs today.