Android Notification Settings

This article will review Android Notification Settings and alert troubleshooting steps.

Recommended Android Notification Settings

• Enable lock screen notifications from Settings -> Notifications -> Lock Screen Notifications and - Ensure that "Show content when unlocked" is enabled
• Update lighting style from Settings -> Notifications -> Notification pop-up style and ensure Brief is enabled. Then tap "Edge lighting style" and select an effect that will best help you see incoming Pulsara notifications on the lock screen

Additional Android Notification Settings

• Images and steps in this document were taken using a Samsung Galaxy S22+ running Android version 14.0.0 on One UI 6.0. Experience may vary based on Android device.
• Notice for Android Users Who Utilize Pulsara Video Calling
  • In Android OS version 14, a new permission is required for the Pulsara main app or Pulsara Patient to see incoming Pulsara Calls when they are received with the device is locked/asleep
  • The permission allows incoming calls to display so they can be seen easily
  • The permission is called “Full-screen alerts” (Samsung) or “Allow full-screen notifications (Pixel)
  • Review the settings for Enabling Full-Screen alerts/notifications 
• Pulsara Mobile on Android is unable to override the device being set to silent and the notification volume being all the way down. Review the settings for Notification Volume Settings. 
• Android 15 includes a new feature called Private Space. if Pulsara is installed into this space, app functionality such as patient alerting will be compromised. Pulsara recommends NOT installing into the Private Space.

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Access settings: To access the settings on an Android phone, swipe from the top of the screen down or find the settings icon in All Apps.

Tap on "Apps". Sometimes this is called Applications Manager.

 

Navigate to Pulsara

Tap Notifications 

Ensure notifications are enabled and sound and vibration are on.

Android allows for notifications to be set by category. We recommend ensuring all notifications are enabled. Some notification settings with new software versions have moved. If you don’t see “Notification Categories,” review managing notification categories.  

To change the alert tone of a specific alert, select the notification category and update the sound. 

After ensuring all alerts are toggled on, set vibrate to on.

Note: The above image shows that vibrate is off. Simply slide the toggle to enable vibrate when alerted.

For a more prominent secondary alert, enable "Show as pop-up" for any secondary notification.  

To enable "Show as pop-up" for any secondary notification channel, open up the main phone OS Settings.  Navigate to Apps->Pulsara->Notifications.  Select any secondary notification channel (for example Team Messages) and slide the toggle next to "Show as a pop-up".  Enabling this feature will provide in-app notifications that look like this

Note: Primary alerts are automatically set to show as a pop-up by default.  

Troubleshooting: With Android, if you change your default sound you will lose your ability to set the default Pulsara Alert sounds. If you change your default sounds and would like to use the Pulsara Alert sounds (which we highly recommend), you will need to clear the storage on the application to reset Pulsara to its default state. Do this by opening the Application Info page and click on Storage:

Then, tap on Clear storage. Doing this will require you to log back in, but it will restore the application to its original state, and you will have access to the Pulsara Default Sounds.

Managing Notification Categories

If you have a newer device, notification categories may not show as an option for Pulsara as seen above. To manage notification categories for Pulsara follow the following steps.

Open the Settings app on your phone and tap Notifications.

Tap Advanced settings.

Scroll to the bottom of the page and enable Manage notification categories for each app.

Go back to the main Settings screen.

Scroll down and tap Apps.

Locate and select Pulsara.

Tap Notifications.

Tap Notification categories.

We recommend ensuring all notification categories are enabled to alert, and that shows as a pop-up is selected. 

Enabling Full-Screen alerts/notifications 

In Android OS version 14, a new permission is required for the Pulsara main app or Pulsara Patient to see incoming Pulsara Calls when they are received with the device locked/asleep

The permission allows incoming calls to display so they can be seen easily

The permission is called “Full-screen alerts” (Samsung) or “Allow full-screen notifications (Pixel)

To enable full-screen alerts/notifications, complete the following steps for the device in use.

For Samsung

1. Navigate to the device settings app
2. Select Apps
3. Click the vertical "..." button
4. Select Permission manager
5. Select Special Access
6. Select Full-screen alerts
7. Toggle on Full-screen alerts for Pulsara

For Google Pixel

1. Navigate to the device settings app
2. Select App notifications 
3. Select Pulsara
4. Scroll to the bottom of the settings page
5. Allow full-screen notifications

Managing Notification Volume Settings

Pulsara cannot override the device being set to silent and the notification volume being all the way down. The notification volume will need to be turned up to receive audible alerts. Pulsara will alert as loud as what the notification volume is set for. See the example below for the volume notification category that must be turned up.

To receive audible Pulsara notifications while still silencing other applications, Pulsara recommends enabling Do Not Disturb while having notifications volume up.