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In the recent days, after the release of Android Jelly Bean 4.3, I've heard about a new feature: something like a notification history, which would be a screen showing not only the current notifications but also past ones. Is it true or is it just a rumor? If this actually exists, how can I get to such screen?

2 Answers 2

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This is not a rumor: the notification history is a true feature from Android 4.3, although they don't make any mention of it in their What's New page.

The following steps will allow you to take advantage from the Notification History in a vanilla Android Jelly Bean 4.3:

  1. Go to your app drawer, then tap the Widgets tab. Scroll until you reach Settings shortcut (1x1) widget.
  2. Drag and drop this widget to your home screen.
    Step 1 Step 2
  3. You'll see a screen where you can select the type of settings this shortcut will open. Select Notifications.
  4. The shortcut Notifications will be in your home screen, tap it.
  5. The screen Notifications shows the notification history we are talking about. In this screen currently active notifications appear in full intensity, while dismissed ones are dimmed.
    Step 3 Step 4 Step 5
  6. Tapping in each notification from this screen will open the corresponding App info screen, where you'll be able to toggle the option Show notifications as you wish.
  7. Remember: if you turn off notifications for an app, its icon will disappear from the status bar, all its notifications will be dimmed in the Notification history screen, and you may miss important notifications about this app from now on. Only do this if you are completely sure.
    Step 6 Step 7
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    Not bad. But a touch half-baked. Would have been immensely useful if the details / text of the notification were shown. Inadvertent clearing of the notification shade is the main scenario, I envision where this would be useful to me.
    – Sparx
    Dec 8, 2013 at 5:13
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    There is no widget/shortcut available on the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 running Android 4.4. Seems vendors can (and do) leave out this option.. Mar 3, 2014 at 15:12
  • 1
    It appears the built-in notification log is no longer accessible in Android 6.0 Marshmallow. Notification History [4.3+] app crashes. May 18, 2016 at 13:27
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A few popular devices like Samsung Galaxy S7, S7 Edge, LG V20 completely removed Android's default Notification Log.

If your device has no Settings shortcut in Widgets, you need to use third-party apps like Notification History Log.

Screenshots of Notification History Log

This is a free app which will store all your notifications locally. Here are the features of this application:

  • Default Notification Log (If supported)
  • Advanced Notification History
  • Unlimited Notification Log
  • Blacklist apps to exclude from Log
  • Search Notifications
  • Swipe to Delete Single Notification
  • Clear All Notifications at once

The paid Pro version has Export/Backup and Advanced Filters if you need.

PS: I'm the developer of this application. You can find more details on my blog.

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  • how to retrieve the same in MIUI, I added the widget notification & status bar, but it is not working and there is no widget for notification alone
    – pyd
    Jan 7, 2018 at 17:11

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