Delayed Gmail notifications

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kiwigander

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#226264 28-Dec-2017 22:01

Hi all,

I'm having a problem with something that used to work brilliantly until a few months ago with Gmail and my Android phone (Sony Xperia Z5 Compact and previously Motorola RAZR M and RAZR i).

Voice messages left on my home phone or my cellphone are recorded either by WorldXChange or by 2talk and automatically copied to my Gmail account. They are then auto-forwarded to one of my email accounts hosted by my ISP. That works, but I am not connected to my email accounts 24/7 and rely on my cellphone telling me I've got a Gmail.

In the past, if I was within cellphone reception range I'd get that notification in near-real-time after the message had been left; if I were out of reception range, I'd get the notification soon (a few minutes) after arriving somewhere with reception. Now, though, the notification is delayed up to 11 hours.

My phone is one of the Xperia Z5 Compacts that Noel Leeming discounted about twenty months ago. It shows some Spark screens while booting up but has never been locked to Spark. (I'm on 2Degrees.) It's running Android 7.0 with Android security patch level 1 March 2017. I get the impression from another thread on this forum that if I'm going to find an Android update it'll require a Spark SIM, as the phone says it's up-to-date whenever I check.

In regards to settings that might affect reception of Gmail notifications:

I've ensured that STAMINA mode is Off. In Settings > Apps > Configure apps > Special access > Battery optimisation I've ticked the box for Gmail to be "NOT OPTIMISED";

I set up a specific Gmail folder to receive and forward the e-mailed voicemail recordings. All that accomplished was to ensure that after however many hours' delay, I get two copies of each voicemail notification when they finally come through.

I'm not wedded to Gmail; indeed, I use it almost exclusively to relay these voicemail messages to myself. If I could set up the same quick-relay functionality that I used to have with Gmail by using an IMAP account on the server that my ISP hosts for me, I'd be happy to do so.

What does everyone suggest? ("Trade the Z5c for an iPhone" is not what I want to hear.)

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#1926373 28-Dec-2017 22:16

Does any other email have that kind of delay?

kiwigander

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#1926378 28-Dec-2017 22:39

[blockquote]Does any other email have that kind of delay?[/blockquote]

I can't answer that question because I haven't got any other email set up to trigger notifications. Except for my Gmail account, all my email is via POP. (ducks flying rotten tomatoes etc) If it is feasible to set up notifications from my non-Google email server, I assume I'll have to set up an IMAP account.

kiwigander

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#1926388 28-Dec-2017 22:58

<blockquote>Does any other email have that kind of delay?</blockquote>

Further to my last comment, on several occasions lately I've logged into my e-mail accounts only to discover a voice message forwarded by Gmail to my regular email account. I've then refrained from opening Gmail on my cellphone while I've waited for the notification - which comes hours later. So Gmail is receiving the voice messages correctly from the 2talk and WxC servers, is forwarding them to my regular email account correctly, but isn't notifying my cellphone until many hours later.

blakamin

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#1926390 28-Dec-2017 23:11

2 degrees reception OK where you are? Ever thought of sending yourself a gmail from another account and seeing if it notifies you?

Clear cache in the gmail app? Uninstall-reinstall?

siyuan

127 posts

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#1926392 28-Dec-2017 23:18

I doubt I'll be able to help you, but I might as well throw these ideas out anyway.

For a while, I got sick of Google Play Services updating in the background while I was on cellular network without even notifying me, so I disabled background data for Google Play Services. While it did achieve what I wanted, but it also had the side effect of disabling background data for Google push notification. I don't think this would be the case for you though, but still worth checking whether you've restricted background data for Google Play Services. Check in Settings -> Data usage, see if there's anything listed under Restricted, you won't see such list if there's nothing restricted.

The other thing you can try is Push Notification Fixer, there's also a version for rooted users. The difference between root and non-root versions is that the root version modifies the system setting, while the non-root version polls the push notification server at the set interval. Not sure if it's still necessary with modern Android though. In the past, the push notification heartbeat is sent too far in between, in a lot of cases, the TCP connection would be dropped by many routers.

I can't think of anything else to try though, the only time I've experienced something like this is when I disabled the background data for Google Play Services. Not to say this is unheard of, I've heard about another user with Xperia Z1 Compact complaining about the exact same problem.

tripp

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#1926404 29-Dec-2017 05:28

Switch to Inbox by google and see if that fixes the issues.

gregmcc

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#1926405 29-Dec-2017 05:39

kiwigander:

Hi all,

I'm having a problem with something that used to work brilliantly until a few months ago with Gmail and my Android phone (Sony Xperia Z5 Compact and previously Motorola RAZR M and RAZR i).

Voice messages left on my home phone or my cellphone are recorded either by WorldXChange or by 2talk and automatically copied to my Gmail account. They are then auto-forwarded to one of my email accounts hosted by my ISP. That works, but I am not connected to my email accounts 24/7 and rely on my cellphone telling me I've got a Gmail.

In the past, if I was within cellphone reception range I'd get that notification in near-real-time after the message had been left; if I were out of reception range, I'd get the notification soon (a few minutes) after arriving somewhere with reception. Now, though, the notification is delayed up to 11 hours.

My phone is one of the Xperia Z5 Compacts that Noel Leeming discounted about twenty months ago. It shows some Spark screens while booting up but has never been locked to Spark. (I'm on 2Degrees.) It's running Android 7.0 with Android security patch level 1 March 2017. I get the impression from another thread on this forum that if I'm going to find an Android update it'll require a Spark SIM, as the phone says it's up-to-date whenever I check.

In regards to settings that might affect reception of Gmail notifications:

I've ensured that STAMINA mode is Off. In Settings > Apps > Configure apps > Special access > Battery optimisation I've ticked the box for Gmail to be "NOT OPTIMISED";

I set up a specific Gmail folder to receive and forward the e-mailed voicemail recordings. All that accomplished was to ensure that after however many hours' delay, I get two copies of each voicemail notification when they finally come through.

I'm not wedded to Gmail; indeed, I use it almost exclusively to relay these voicemail messages to myself. If I could set up the same quick-relay functionality that I used to have with Gmail by using an IMAP account on the server that my ISP hosts for me, I'd be happy to do so.

What does everyone suggest? ("Trade the Z5c for an iPhone" is not what I want to hear.)

I've got the same problem with gmail as well, Samsung S6, Vodafone, most times the push notifications just don't happen until Im doing something else on the phone. I'm suspecting it's something to do with the power saving in Android OS that is putting push notifications to sleep but gets woken up when you do other things on the phone

timmmay

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#1926455 29-Dec-2017 08:15

What email app are you using? What others have you tried?

sbiddle

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#1926463 29-Dec-2017 09:08

One person supports this post

I think Android notifications and power settings are pretty much broken right now. I've noticed numerous problems as well on a number of handsets. @freitasm has also had plenty of grief recently.

nzkiwiman

2284 posts

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#1926500 29-Dec-2017 11:13

I've moved across several devices this year and noticed that Gmail notifications no longer alerts me in real time

DS248

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#1926544 29-Dec-2017 13:32

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Anything in this link of help?

https://www.hongkiat.com/blog/solve-android-delayed-notifications/

kiwigander

199 posts

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#1927215 30-Dec-2017 23:04

Thanks for the replies to date.

I had Google Play Services ticked to be 'not optimised' for battery usage; I've now ticked Google Play Store for the same. Ta, @siyuan.

@blakamin: 2 degrees reception OK where you are? Ever thought of sending yourself a gmail from another account and seeing if it notifies you?

2 degrees reception is fine in the places where I am concerned about not receiving the messages in good time. Even where it's not fine (e.g. where there are only flickers of reception along the road from my home into the city) notifications were surprisingly prompt until everything turned to custard a few months ago.

I just sent an e-mail from my ISP-hosted account to my Gmail account, and I received near-instant notification. The Xperia Z5c is presently on WiFi as I'm at home with no cellular reception.

I then rang my cellphone number (and the phone of course wouldn't receive the call here) and the message I recorded on 2talk (who handle the voicemail for my 2 Degrees account) was notified nearly instantly.

Hmmm, maybe de-optimising battery usage for Google Play Store did the trick?

@blakamin: Clear cache in the gmail app? Uninstall - reinstall?

Not sure how to clear the cache in the Gmail app, and I can't uninstall it. I could uninstall all updates and could disable-reenable it.

I've noted all other suggestions and will explore them and report back if what I've done with the Google Play Store app hasn't reliably restored the Gmail push notifications.

I realise also that other push notifications, specifically those from Air New Zealand and Auckland Transport, are working just fine. Sorry - took a while for this particular (low wattage incandescent) light to switch on; whenever I read about the push notification problem I get thrown by everyone's complaints about 5 minute delays receiving their Facebook or Instawhatever notifications.

blakamin

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#1927217 30-Dec-2017 23:10

On my Sony Z5 premium: Settings> Apps> Gmail> Storage and it's in there.

Notifications is also on the same page as storage... And under Data usage, there's a setting for background data.

blakamin

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#1927349 31-Dec-2017 14:27

Any luck,@kiwigander?

kiwigander

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#1927365 31-Dec-2017 15:35

To recap: as advised last night at 23h04, first tests were successful after de-optimising Google Play Store for battery usage. 2talk voice messages forwarded to Gmail were notified to me in near-real-time.

That was before I read your (@blakamin) advice re where to find the clear-Gmail-cache function. I've now cleared it. I didn't clear all Gmail data but will try that manoeuvre if push notifications fall over again.

I also switched unrestricted Gmail data usage ON (background data was already ON). I'll want to keep an eye on what happens to data usage, as I use a $19 pack.

In today's test, WorldXChange voice messages forwarded to Gmail were also notified to me in near-real-time.

Looking very promising.

I'll be back in cellular reception in a couple of days and can test the setup again to ensure there isn't some peculiar problem that would impair receiving push notifications over 3G but not over WiFi.

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