Android notification reliability

When notification handling looks wrong, check the system boundary first.

Android notification managers depend on system-granted access and background execution. Pingfold exposes a Health surface so reliability problems are visible instead of silently looking like routing mistakes.

1. Confirm Notification Access

Pingfold needs Android Notification Access to observe incoming notifications and apply Immediate, Digest, Block, and Exception behavior. If access is missing, routing cannot work.

2. Confirm Pingfold can post notifications

On Android 13 and newer, Pingfold also needs notification permission to show Digest summaries, Remind Later notifications, and reliability alerts. This is separate from Notification Access.

3. Check Pingfold Health

Open Settings → Health. Pingfold distinguishes a healthy listener from setup problems and suspected background restrictions, and provides guidance rather than pretending every device behaves the same.

4. Review manufacturer background restrictions

Some Android vendors apply aggressive background-management policies. Follow Pingfold's device-specific guidance only when Health indicates a likely restriction; do not disable unrelated battery or security controls preemptively.

5. Separate reliability from policy

If Health is good but a notification was handled differently than expected, inspect the local explanation/history. That tells you whether the app default, an Exception, Focus, or another explicit Pingfold behavior made the decision.