Notification entry "shuffling"

[Ghostwheel]

Had this under GB, but it seems to have gotten a lot worse under ICS. So here's the phenomenon:

When I pull down my notification bar and there are multiple entries (for example: a text, an email, a Juice Defender, and a My Data Manager), they sometimes rapidly shuffle positions in the list. The issue with this is that if I'm was about to press the text entry to open the texting app, suddenly the Juice Defender entry will move to that spot there just as my finger touches the screen, then Juice Defender will open instead of the text. I can sit there with the notifications open, and just watch them randomly change order every couple seconds for no apparent reason - they're all moving targets.

Anyone have the same issue, or know what causes it? And better yet, how to make it stop? :blink:

 

[Sydman]

Had this under GB, but it seems to have gotten a lot worse under ICS. So here's the phenomenon:

When I pull down my notification bar and there are multiple entries (for example: a text, an email, a Juice Defender, and a My Data Manager), they sometimes rapidly shuffle positions in the list. The issue with this is that if I'm was about to press the text entry to open the texting app, suddenly the Juice Defender entry will move to that spot there just as my finger touches the screen, then Juice Defender will open instead of the text. I can sit there with the notifications open, and just watch them randomly change order every couple seconds for no apparent reason - they're all moving targets.

Anyone have the same issue, or know what causes it? And better yet, how to make it stop? :blink:

I have never seen that on my phone either on GB or ICS. I don't use the data manager or JD, maybe one of them is the culprit.

 

[Ghostwheel]

I have never seen that on my phone either on GB or ICS. I don't use the data manager or JD, maybe one of them is the culprit.

Booting up into safe mode would help determine whether it's one of them, correct?

 

[Sydman]

Yes sir. Get some people to send you some text messages and send yourself some emails and see if they shuffle.

 

[Phreaker47]

One thing that can cause that is if your GPS is turned on, and the OS is in a state of trying to connect to it. You can get a "searching for GPS" notification that can intermittently pop in and out.

 

[alcamedes]

Also, there are some apps that you may have that stay in the notification bar and may update when you get a new notification, meaning keep itself on top therefore shuffling them around! I use power controls and in a setting you set in accessibility to always keep power controls on top. With this being said, the app will always update itself so that it will stay on top.

 

[Larmo222]

I'm getting that GPS location notification constantly shuffling ever two seconds or so when in car dock.....EXTREMELY annoying...i mean, i dont need to know every 2 seconds that my nav app is updating its location while driving.... any ideas?

 

[Ghostwheel]

The issue I described has nothing to do with GPS, at least in my case, since I always leave mine disabled. To give a more graphical description, say I pull down my notification bar and the entries are in a certain order, like this:

Juice Defender
SMS
Battery Left
My Data

As I attempt to press the SMS entry to open up the text app, the list will suddenly change order and almost flicker back and forth rapidly to something like

SMS
Juice Defender
Battery Left
My Data

this "shuffling" of the order happens so quickly that I can't tell which entry will actually be under my finger when it makes contact with the screen, giving a 50/50 chance of opening Juice Defender instead of the SMS. The more notifications present, the crazier the shuffling seems. It's very intermittent, as well.

 

[jbsandroid]

Ghostwheel, did you ever find a solution to this? I am encountering the same thing on my Razr and it is more than slightly annoying. I didn't see it much on GB, though I only had the Razr for a month before the ICS update, but it is constant in ICS.

 

[Ghostwheel]

Ghostwheel, did you ever find a solution to this? I am encountering the same thing on my Razr and it is more than slightly annoying. I didn't see it much on GB, though I only had the Razr for a month before the ICS update, but it is constant in ICS.

I never got a definitive solution, but I'm fairly convinced it's due to one of the apps Juice Defender or My Data Manager, both of which I have installed and have persistent notifications (i.e. not clearable). I suppose if I wanted to know for sure, I'd uninstall them one at a time and figure it out. But I've kind of just learned to live with the shuffling, unfortunately.

 

[Quick]

I never got a definitive solution, but I'm fairly convinced it's due to one of the apps Juice Defender or My Data Manager, both of which I have installed and have persistent notifications (i.e. not clearable). I suppose if I wanted to know for sure, I'd uninstall them one at a time and figure it out. But I've kind of just learned to live with the shuffling, unfortunately.

This doesn't have anything to do with any particular app does it? It's the system's handling of the notification bar/display? New notifications go on top.
I think when apps update a notification they first delete the previous notification and then make a new (updated) notification.

I believe the fix would be for new notifications to go to the bottom of the list.
Downside: maybe not as noticeable and possibly not even initially visible if off the bottom of the screen and scrolling is required.
Upside: Existing notifications don't move.

 

[Ghostwheel]

This doesn't have anything to do with any particular app does it? It's the system's handling of the notification bar/display? New notifications go on top.
I think when apps update a notification they first delete the previous notification and then make a new (updated) notification.

I believe the fix would be for new notifications to go to the bottom of the list.
Downside: maybe not as noticeable and possibly not even initially visible if off the bottom of the screen and scrolling is required.
Upside: Existing notifications don't move.

True, I suppose it's not the apps per se, but the fact that they have persistent notifications that update themselves periodically, which causes the effect we're describing. There'd be no problem if all the notifications were static (texts, downloads, etc), since they'd all show up and remain in their original order.

 

[Quick]

True, I suppose it's not the apps per se, but the fact that they have persistent notifications that update themselves periodically, which causes the effect we're describing. There'd be no problem if all the notifications were static (texts, downloads, etc), since they'd all show up and remain in their original order.

Right.

I don't think they actually change order. It's just that new ones are added at the top.
In your example the SMS notification appeared to "move" to the top.
What I am guessing happened is this: New SMS came in so the app first deleted the previous notification and then triggered a new notification.

I don't know that the system provides an api for actually updating an existing notification in the list.
For example in Tasker you can find a notification (by searching for a string) and then cancel it.

It appears that the notification/status bar api function posts/displays notifications using 2 sort criteria. Last posted and posted with "keep at top" attribute. The two might be applied independently but at the very least the last posted is applied first.
For example 2 of my notifications obviously have the "keep at top" attribute but I will momentarily see others appear above them. Obviously notifications are posted/displayed at the top first and then (either immediately after or just periodically) the "keep at top" notifications are moved to the top. (so yes, I guess that would be a change in order for the entire list but you could say that notifications with the same attributes do not change order relative to each other).

just speculation on my part.