Another chapter in my disastrous attempt to move back to Android, only this time it's Google's fault, not HMD Global's:
I began to notice that, following extended periods of inactivity, I would stop getting mail notifications from the Outlook app on my Nokia 6. They would all flood in the moment I turned on the screen. I immediately remembered the "doze" feature, which I regarded with much suspicion when it was first announced. That had been in Android 6 which i had used briefly, and while I couldn't remember it causing issues there, I went into battery optimization on the Nokia 6 and disabled it for the Outlook app. No difference.
Next I installed the Gmail app and tried that: Exactly the same behavior.
I then conducted a Google search, and from what I can tell this is "normal" behavior - something to do with GCM priorities? People are talking about having to root devices just to fix this stupidity.
Is it really the case that the Gmail app on iOS now provides superior notifications to the Gmail app on Android? What a joke.
TL;DR: Unbeknownst to me, Google had "refined" doze in Nougat, to the point where it cripples notifications. If I'm mistaken, please let me know.