How to fix Galaxy S9 Plus notifications issue: missing sound and app badges (icons)

As the top-of-the-line device in Samsung’s Galaxy line, the S9 Plus (#GalaxyS9Plus) is expected to perform flawlessly all the time. Unfortunately, that’s not just the case. Like any smartphone, it’s awesomeness stems from the fact that its software and hardware are supposed to work together. That does not happen all the time though. While overwhelmingly terrific, the S9 can easily succumb to common software and hardware issues just like an ordinary smartphone. In today’s troubleshooting post, we bring three other issues reported by some members of our community. as usual, we also provide the solutions to address each of these cases. We hope you’ll find this post helpful.

Problem #1: Galaxy S9 Plus widgets changed to old ones after restoring backup

This may not be an issue per day but when I bought my Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus I liked the widget options it had as default after setting the phone up. However after I copied all my data and app settings etc from my S6 Edge, I realized that the original S9 Plus widgets I had prior to transferring the S6 Edge data and settings were replaced with the S6 Edge settings which I had. I wanted to inquire is there any way for me to have the new widgets on the S9 Plus without having to undo all my data etc. Many thanks in advance.

Solution: Unfortunately no. One of the purposes of allowing you to save your settings from an old device is to let you use the same old configuration in another device later on. If you want to have a different configuration in your S9, then you need to go over the things you want to change. There’s no automated system in your Galaxy device that can help you with your concern right now. If you want, try to restore data only such as photos and other files and leave apps and other settings behind. If you used Samsung’s Backup and Restore option under settings to create a backup before, you will have an option to select what items to restore later on. Try playing around with this option under Settings > Cloud and accounts >Backup and restore to see what works best for you.

If you used Smart Switch to backup your data and settings, there should also be an option for you to select items you only need to restore.

Problem #2: How to fix Galaxy S9 Plus notifications issue: missing sound and app badges (icons)

Hi. Trying all your solution attempts for the S9 Plus whatsapp no sound problem. it didn’t work but I found the following:

 

• It’s not only no sound, but also the number of messages in the icon were missing.

• After every reboot, the signal and number in the icon are there for a short moment (less than a second). It’s only the first time after a reboot/restart. Hope it helps you to find the solution. Thanks for your good work 🙂

 

Solution: You need to narrow down causes for this problem. There’s no direct way to know what may be the reason so you have to follow a set of troubleshooting steps for this.

Clear the cache partition

If sound notifications and badges started acting up after an update, one likely reason is a corrupted system cache. To ensure that your Android’s system cache is fresh, you want to clear the cache partition. Here’s how:

1. Turn off the device.
2. Press and hold the Volume Up key and the Bixby key, then press and hold the Power key.
3. When the Android logo displays, release all three keys.
4. An ‘Installing system update’ message will show for 30 – 60 seconds before the Android system recovery menu options appear.
5. Press the Volume down key several times to highlight wipe cache partition.
6. Press Power key to select.
7. Press the Volume down key to highlight yes, them and press the Power key to select.
8. When the wipe cache partition is complete, Reboot system now is highlighted.
9. Press the Power key to restart the device.

Clear BadgeProvider data

BadgeProvider is one of core Android apps and is built to manage notifications, or at least affect their performance to a certain degree. Try clearing its data to restore it to its defaults. This often fixes notifications issues. Here’s how to do it:

1. Open Settings app.
2. Tap Apps.
3. Tap on More settings at the upper right (three-dot icon).
4. Select Show system apps.
5. Find and tap BadgeProvider app.
6. Tap Storage.
7. Tap Clear Data button.
8. Restart your S9 and check for the problem.

Sign back in to your google account

Another possible workaround for this issue, which we find helpful in other similar situations, is signing out and back in to your Google account. This should follow clearing of data of BadgeProvider app.

To sign out of your Google account, just go to Settings > Cloud and accounts > Accounts.

Factory reset

The issue should already be fixed at this point but if nothing seems to work still, consider wiping the phone to restore all software settings to their defaults. Factory reset will erase all your data so be sure to back them up first. If you have a computer, you can use Smart Switch to create a backup.

Here’s how to factory reset your Galaxy S9:

1. Create a backup of your data.
2. Turn off the device.
3. Press and hold the Volume Up key and the Bixby key, then press and hold the Power key.
4. When the green Android logo displays, release all keys (‘Installing system update’ will show for about 30 – 60 seconds before showing the Android system recovery menu options).
5. Press the Volume down key several times to highlight ‘wipe data / factory reset’.
6. Press Power button to select.
7. Press the Volume down key until ‘Yes — delete all user data’ is highlighted.
8. Press Power button to select and start the master reset.
9. When the master reset is complete, ‘Reboot system now’ is highlighted.
10. Press the Power key to restart the device.

Problem #3: How to fix Galaxy S9 app issues: Yahoo Mail and others won’t open when connected to wifi

Some of my downloaded apps are not working, such as yahoo mail, stubhub, banking… I’ve uninstalled, reinstalled, cleared cache, soft reset, cleared partition and still they don’t work. Stupid things like recolor and family guy still work. It only works when wifi is off. I’ve also forgot and reset router. I can’t even submit this with wifi on. Can you help? Please. Thank you.

Solution: We don’t think this is a router or wifi issue but most likely something that’s in your phone. It can due to a third party app or an operating system glitch that we’re not aware of. To troubleshoot the issue, follow our suggestions below.

Force reboot

Don’t underestimate the power of a simple restart. A lot of minor app and OS bugs are fixed by simulating a “battery pull.” In this short troubleshooting guide, this should be the first thing that you want to do. Here’s how to do it:

1. Press and hold the Power + Volume Down buttons for approximately 10 seconds or until the device power cycles. Allow several seconds for the Maintenance Boot Mode screen to appear.
2. From the Maintenance Boot Mode screen, select Normal Boot. You can use the volume buttons to cycle through the available options and the lower left button (below the volume buttons) to select. Wait for up to 90 seconds for the reset to complete.

Observe in safe mode

The next step in your troubleshooting ladder is to know whether or not there’s a bad app behind the trouble. With hundreds of thousands of apps that you can download and install, just one of them is enough to cause problems. Not all apps receive the same care and expertise all the time so a few of them may become problematic when installed in newer devices or when running with newer Android builds. Some apps are also built to cause problems in a system. Some may look legit initially but then updates to something sinister later on. Others may be designed to hijack a device so ads can be displayed persistently.

To check if you’ve installed a bad third party app, follow these steps:

1. Turn the device off.
2. Press and hold the Power key past the model name screen.
3. When “SAMSUNG” appears on the screen, release the Power key.
4. Immediately after releasing the Power key, press and hold the Volume down key.
5. Continue to hold the Volume down key until the device finishes restarting.
6. Safe mode will display in the bottom left corner of the screen.
7. Release the Volume down key when you see Safe Mode.

Once the phone has been reset to safe mode, only pre-installed apps will be permitted to run. Everything that you added will be suspended. Try to observe how previously problematic apps work. If you can’t open them because they’re also third party, simply skip this troubleshooting step.

On the other hand, if the problem won’t occur when device is on safe mode, you can bet you have a third party app problem. To identify which of your apps is causing the trouble, you should boot the phone back to safe mode and follow these steps:

1. Boot to safe mode.
2. Check for the problem.
3. Once you’ve confirmed that a third party app is to blame, you can start uninstalling apps individually. We suggest that you begin with the most recent ones you added.
4. After you uninstall an app, restart the phone to normal mode and check for the problem.
5. If your S9 is still problematic, repeat steps 1-4.

Factory reset

We don’t know the full history of your device so we can’t tell you exactly what’s wrong with it. If nothing changes at this point, the best thing that you can do is to return all software settings back to their factory state. Follow the steps above to factory reset your S9.

 

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