How to fix your Galaxy S7 notifications not working properly after Android Oreo update

Hello and welcome to our new troubleshooting article for the day. Today’s post answers two cases about notification issues after updating the #GalaxyS7 to Android Oreo. The main question that we would like to address here is on what you can do if notifications have become erratic after updating the device.

Problem #1: Galaxy S7 can’t use unique custom ringtone for contacts after Android Oreo update

S7 Unique Text Notification. My contact that frequently text me each have their own unique notification sound, so I immediately know who is texting without looking at my S7.  After the recent update, I lost all of those unique notifications. Before, I could go into each contact, Edit and add a notification sound. That feature is lost. The ability to change a ringtone for a contact is still there but not notification.  HELP!!!! — Pas

Solution: Hi Pas. With the recent Android Oreo update on Samsung devices, the ability to set a custom or unique ringtone for a particular contact was removed. This appears to be happenin on Samsung devices as other Android phones running on Oreo still allows setting up of custom ringtone for contacts. There’s no word from Samsung why this was removed but we hope they’re add it again in the near future.

Right now, the only effective workaround that we suggest is to use a third party text messaging app like Android Messages, Textra, Pulse, etc. There are many messaging apps that you can use for free in the Play Store so it’s up to you. For our own consumption, we decide to stick with the official app from Google by using their Android Messages app. We can confirm that you have the ability to add custom ringtone for contacts in this app so try to check it our first.

Problem #2: Galaxy S7 notifications not working properly after Android Oreo update

I have a Galaxy S7 and Samsung just did an update to it system to 8.0 Oreo. I have been through every configuration in the notifications and I can no longer get notifications from my apps, such as Facebook or Twitter, like I did before. I am not getting messages and notices where I should, and I am getting them in places where they should not be appearing, regardless that I selected do not show on lock screen in my new notification settings! And although the new update offers a new alert count badge that appears over the app to notify you how many notices / messages I have, even with it set to on in my notification settings, it will no longer do so. And it was doing it before this update! This new update has really screwed up a lot of things in my phone settings. I have carefully and in detail gone through all the new updates in the settings and I have the settings set correctly according to the device and I am still not getting my notices as I should and I am no longer getting the count badge over the app indicating how many new messages I have. Is very frustrating and I am no longer enjoying my phone! Can you shed any light on this issue or offer any correction I can take to alleviate this issue? Thank you. — T. T. T..T.

Solution: We’re not exactly sure what you mean by not getting notifications where you should but if you app notifications appear to be erratic, that can’t be due to Android Oreo. While we do notice that Samsung devices can no longer add custom ringtone for particular contacts like the case mentioned above, notifications in general works great on Android Oreo. There must be other factors causing your phone notifications to behave the way it’s doing now. Below are the possible solutions that you can try:

Review notification settings

There’s no major changes to notification settings in Android Oreo apart from the one mentioned above so whatever settings you had with Android Nougat should be carried over after the update. That’s what happened to our own Galaxy S7 edge that got updated to Oreo a few days ago. All notification settings as well as customizations via Zedge app did not change at all after the update. If you did tweak some things right after the update, now is the good time to check them again.

Force reboot

You can force reboot your device to refresh the entire system. A lot of bugs are usually fixed by this simple step so be sure not to skip it. In your case, we recommend that you do a forced reboot to simulate the effects of unplugging the battery from the system. These are the steps to do that:

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.

Wipe the cache partition

Wiping the cache partition is a necessary troubleshooting step in your case since you mentioned that the issue occurred following an update. There’s all sorts of possible problems that can happen if a device’s system cache, which is stored in the cache partition, became corrupted after an update. To check if you have a cache issue, follow these steps to refresh the cache partition:

1. Turn off the phone.
2. Press and then hold the Home and Volume UP keys, then press and hold the Power key.
3. When the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge shows on the screen, release the Power key but continue holding the Home and Volume Up keys.
4. When the Android logo shows, you may release both keys and leave the phone be for about 30 to 60 seconds.
5. Using the Volume Down key, navigate through the options and highlight ‘wipe cache partition.’
6. Once highlighted, you may press the Power key to select it.
7. Now highlight the option ‘Yes’ using the Volume Down key and press the Power button to select it.
8. Wait until your phone is finished wiping the cache partition. Once completed, highlight ‘Reboot system now’ and press the Power key.
9. The phone will now reboot longer than usual.
10. Let the phone run and check for the problem.

Observe in safe mode

While there’s a chance that your phone’s cache partition may had been corrupted, another possible reason why notifications may not be working as they should is third party apps. Bad or poorly coded apps may interfere with Android sometimes causing bugs and glitches. To check if one of your apps is the reason why notifications have become erratic, we suggset that you boot the device to safe mode, let it run, and observe.

While running on safe mode, no third party apps will be allowed to run. So, notifications work normally in this mode, that’s a clear sign that you have a bad app situation. There may be an icompatible third party app that messes up with the OS, or a malicious app is manipulating the notification schemes of the phone. At other times, inefficient coding can lead to problems as Android may not be able to work properly with the said app.

To boot your Galaxy S7 to safe mode:

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.
8. Open Facebook app and see how it works. To know if there’s a difference, use Facebook app for a few hours.

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 S8 is still problematic, repeat steps 1-4.

Clear data of BadgeProvider app

When it comes to notification issues, one of the common reasons why they exists is a malfunctioning BadgeProvider app. This is a core Android app that handles notifications and other similar tasks in the system. Sometimes, system updates may bring some bugs causing this app to work erratically. This can lead to notifications issues in a device. To ensure that BadgeProvider is working smoothly, you can delete its data. Here’s how to do that:

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 S7 and check for the problem.

Factory reset

If all else fails, make sure to factory reset your device. This is the ultimate solution for all bugs that occur after a system update. Not only does it return all software settings to their defaults but the procedure also gets rid of developing bugs most of the time.

To factory reset your device:

1. Create a backup of your files.
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 cache partition’.
6. Press Power button to select.
7. Press the Volume down key until ‘yes’ is highlighted and press the Power button.
8. When the wipe cache partition is complete, “Reboot system now” is highlighted.
9. Press the Power key to restart the device.

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