What you need to know
- Android 14 has removed the ability for users to long-press an app to view its notifications.
- Android 13 would let users view at least one notification, with an accompanying counter alerting them to more if there were any.
- Google’s latest OS is filled with little changes like this as the company looked to build upon what it did in Android 13 instead of dropping major features.
Google’s latest major OS release has dropped an old feature that has some users wishing it was never taken away.
Previously, users could long-press an app on their Android device to see its notifications. With the rollout of Android 14, that feature no longer exists, as spotted by 9to5Google. This viewing method wasn’t entirely sound as, if you had more than one notification for the app, the long-press workout would only show one. In the corner would be a counter, alerting you if there were more notifications.
The change is more of a surprise to those who weren’t in the beta as opposed to those who were. The change to remove long-press notifications was brought up as an “issue” during Android 14’s beta run over the summer.
Unfortunately, a member of Google responded stating that the presumed problem was actually a feature working “as intended.”
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Google’s alteration only leaves App Info, Pause App, and included Widgets as options when long-pressing an app icon. As 9to5 notes, removing the notifications gives these options some breathing room as they’re now shown as a full list instead of a merged design.
There have been quite a few of these smaller, refined implementations with Android 14 since Google rolled it out officially back in October. The software itself is essentially building upon the work done previously with Android 13 as the company looks to offer much more customization for a user’s lock screen. Other, usability-focused changes arrived in the form of a consistent share menu design when using apps like X, Instagram, and more.
We are looking ahead with Android 14 as Google rolled out QPR1 Beta 2.2 to eligible Pixel owners earlier this month. The patch contained over 30 fixes for Pixels as Google looks to iron things out before its stable December feature drop. But while that’s in the oven, Google is moving right ahead with QPR2 Beta 1.1, which is likely looking at a stable release in March 2024.
It was a smaller patch that targeted a couple of pesky bugs while improving the system’s stability and performance for Pixel phones.