Notifications Triggering Screen Wakeup (Android)

A different implementation of the Android as compared to iPhone is the waking up of screen and displaying a snippet of the message on the lockscreen. Some ROMs do enable this option but the default jelly bean and most default implementations for Android are as such. This is especially so for the Samsung devices, Samsung Galaxy SGS3 and the Galaxy Note 2.

The two implementations might have their different individual advantages but an option to switch between is always good. This is especially so for those that have just migrated from an iPhone. The iPhone implementation allows for a quick glance at incoming messages and also save the step of pressing the power switch. In the long run, it could help preserve the life span of the power button too. On the other hand, the Android implementation allows for more privacy and also conserves battery somewhat especially for those mass group Whatsapp chat with frequent messages.

There are a number of applications on Whatsapp that enable the feature of notifications turning on the screen but the best program I found is NotifierPro. The look closely resembles that of the iPhone iOS notification center. It allows you to activate notifications for various applications, control the screen timeout duration, location of the notification.

Android’s default notification system (especially jelly bean) is awesome, but I sometimes wish I didn’t have to look so closely at the menu bar to see the details of an incoming notification. NotifierPro adds large, customizable, detailed banner menus to Android. The full version (NotifierPro Plus) costs S$3.24 has quite a number of added features, such as setting sleep hours, to only trigger the notification when the phone is locked, and more detailed customisations such as contact pictures and so forth. If it was cheaper, I would have paid for it. I am still thinking whether is it necessary, and guess I will be trying out the free version a little longer.

If you are looking for something simpler, and only require it for two applications, say Whatsapp and SMS, you can use the internal Whatsapp notification system – which would also wake the screen up. This would be a full popup window. To activate it, go to Whatsapp – Settings: Notifications, Popup Notification (either only screen “off” or always show).

For SMS, you could install an application like SMS WakeUp. This program similarly runs in the background and wakes your phone for a few seconds to alert you of a new text message.