How to View Android Notification History (WhatsApp Trick)
Method 1: Settings’ Widget
Thankfully, Android already comes with a widget that allows you to view all the notifications that you have received in the last few hours. The Android notification log made its debut with Jelly Bean but went unnoticed for a long time. Press and hold on a blank part of your home screen to access the Widgets section and tap it.
Scroll all the way to the bottom and you will see a Settings widget 1×1 dimensions. Drag and place it on the screen.
On doing so, it will ask you to choose the option that you want the widget to link to. Your new shortcut. You will choose Notification Log here.
This will create a new shortcut on your home screen – Notification Log. Click on it to view all the past notifications that you have received in the last few hours.
Where it fell short?
It is still unclear how far it will go back in time to show the notifications. Is it based on the number of notifications or duration? Also, it shows a lot of unwanted details. For instance, a few days back, I accidentally swiped away notification from Uber that had a coupon code. I tried accessing the lost notification using this notification log, and although it did show me the notification from uber, there was no coupon code in it. Nonetheless, it is a still worth a try if you don’t have to pre-install notification recovery app. Note: Clicking on the individual notification will not take you to that notification. Instead, it will open the log further to reveal App Info window with developer-centric data like permissions, data usage, and other nitty-gritty detail. But, you know the name of the app that sent you the notification. So, you can simply open that app to view the update.
WhatsApp Deleted Messages
WhatsApp introduced a feature where you can delete messages sent to a user or group and the latter won’t be able to read it. The feature is useful for times when you text something you might regret, however, using the notification history trick, you can still see the message! It is really a flaw that WhatsApp overlooked because every notification is recorded in the system, even WhatsApp. Let’s see it in action. I sent a message to Mrinal and then deleted it before he could see it. To my surprise, he could still see the message following the above method.
It is to be noted here that you can only recover and read messages that you have interacted with in some capacity. If you have read the message or have swiped it away from the notification center, you will be able to see the same in the notification logs. However, if the message was deleted before you got a chance to read or interact with it, you won’t be able to see it in the logs either. This is somewhat better because, otherwise, the primary objective of deleting messages would be lost. But this also means that if the message was deleted after you saw it and you want it back as proof, you got it.
Method 2: Desktop Notifications – Free
Desktop Notification is not exactly an Android Notification history app, rather it syncs your Android Notifications to your computer. This is useful for people who are working on their desktops and laptops all day long and find it cumbersome to check their mobile every time it pings. You begin with installing a browser addon for Chrome/Firefox, and then install the companion app on your smartphone. The app uses your Google account linked to your Android, to connect and manage notifications. Launch the app and give it notification access. Next, connect it to your Google account. You will now receive notifications in your browser where the addons are located. Now, even if you accidentally swipe away the notification on your Android, you can go back to your computer, and view past notifications from your browser.
Other features include app control where you can set the apps that are allowed to push notifications to your browser. This way, you can set it to receive notifications from important apps like Slack or Gmail, for example. You can also connect your mobile to other Android devices like tablets to receive notifications.
Method 3: Notification History
This is another app that will allow you to keep track of your Android notifications and maintain a log of the same. This time, instead of the browser, you will be able to access and view all past notifications on your mobile itself.
This app offers a bunch of features and comes with a pro version too. All the notifications are stored time-wise along with toast messages. The app will let you search for a particular message and filter them date wise. You can define filters for which notifications are important and should be displayed in the search results. Once you have received a notification, you can schedule it to reappear at a later day and time. Swiping to the right will dismiss the notification. The premium version is available for $1.49 and will offer an ads-free environment with the ability to use unlimited filters and set a custom date range on the view screen. Ad-supported version allows a maximum of 3 filters.
Wrapping Up: Android Notification History
Notifications are a great way to stay updated on what is happening on your mobile. It is when you are not able to view them, for any reason, is when things begin to get out of hands. Following one of these methods will make your life that much easier, helping you to go back in time and see what you have missed. There is no need to be extra careful when you receive a bunch of notifications when you don’t have the time to go through all of them. On second thought, I think I might have too many apps installed in the first place. But then again, isn’t that the case with all of us?
