When Every Second Matters: Building Live Update Notifications for Real-Time Experiences

From checking a sports score to tracking a delivery, we often need information the moment it happens. With Android 16, Live Update Notifications became a game-changer! They allow users to see real-time updates directly on their notification panel or lock screen without even opening an app!

This talk includes the following points:
- How Does a Notification Become a Live Update?
- Implementation of Live Update Notification
- How we took full advantage of all available functions of Live Update Notifications at Box Box Club and delivered the best experience.

With these insights, you can build a Live Update Notification that keeps the user informed in real-time.

Transcript

1. Bhoomi Gadhiya When every second matters Building Live Update Noti fi cations for real-time experiences
3. • Lead Android Engineer @Box Box Club • WTM Ambassador • Blogs and talks on Android
4. Home of the best F1 widgets & app
5. Home of the best F1 widgets & app
6. Fans wanted live race updates instantly but…
7. Too many notifications = frustration
8. Home screen widget
9. Why not Custom Notification? • Remote-views • High testing overhead • Inconsistent UI
11. What if?
12. What is Live Updates? • Real-time & ongoing updates • Lock Screen & AOD • Promoted to the top in Noti fi cation Drawer • Status bar chip • One persistent noti fi cation
13. AOD, Lock Screen , Noti fi cation Drawer, Status bar chip
14. Progress-centric Notification
15. Progress Style does NOT automatically make your notification a Live Update!
16. Normal notification -> Live Update ✅ Must be of speci fi c type BigTextStyle, CallStyle, or ProgressStyle ✅ Non-runtime permission android.permission.POST_PROMOTED_NOTIFICATIONS ✅ Request promotion EXTRA_REQUEST_PROMOTED_ONGOING or setRequestPromotedOngoing(true) ✅ Ongoing .setOngoing(true) ✅ ContentTitle .setContentTitle(“title”)
17. Normal notification -> Live Update ❌ Must not… customContentView() setGroupSummary() setColorized(true) IMPORTANCE_MIN
18. Implementation Requirements • Target Android 16 • Same Noti fi cation ID throughout the journey //build.gradle (:app) ... android { compileSdk = 36 } ...
19. Building the Base Live Notification private fun buildBaseNotification(context: Context): Notification.Builder { return Notification.Builder(appContext, CHANNEL_ID) .setSmallIcon(R.drawable.logo_boxbox) }
20. Building the Base Live Notification private fun buildBaseNotification(context: Context): Notification.Builder { return Notification.Builder(appContext, CHANNEL_ID) .setSmallIcon(R.drawable.logo_boxbox) .setOngoing(true) }
21. Add Progress Style private fun buildBaseNotification(context: Context): Notification.Builder { return Notification.Builder(appContext, CHANNEL_ID) .setSmallIcon(R.drawable.logo_boxbox) .setOngoing(true) .setStyle(Notification.ProgressStyle() ...) }
22. Pre-race val notification = buildBaseNotification(context) .setContentTitle("$raceName starts in") .setContentText(“⏳${text}") .setLargeIcon(largeIcon) .build()
23. Race starts val notification = buildBaseNotification(context) .setContentTitle("Race Started!") .setContentText(“Lights out and here we go 🚦”) .setSubText(raceName) .setLargeIcon(largeIcon) .setStyle(ProgressStyle().setProgressIndeterminate(true)) .build()
25. Live Race val notification = buildBaseNotification(context) .setContentTitle(“Lap 3/51”) .setContentText(“1 MAX · 2 NOR · 3 PIA”) .setOnlyAlertOnce(true) .setLargeIcon(largeIcon) .setStyle(...) .build()
26. Live Race val progressStyle = ProgressStyle() .setProgress(progressPercent) .setProgressTrackerIcon(carIcon) .setProgressSegments( listOf( ProgressStyle.Segment(progressPercent).setColor(teamColor), ProgressStyle.Segment(100 - progressPercent).setColor(trackColor))) .setProgressEndIcon(endIcon)
27. val progressStyle = ProgressStyle() ... .setProgressTrackerIcon(carIcon) .setProgressEndIcon(endIcon) Flag & car changes
28. val notification = buildBaseNotification(context) .setContentTitle(“Lap 3/51”) .setContentText(“1 MAX · 2 NOR · 3 PIA”) .setShortCriticalText(“3/51”) .setOnlyAlertOnce(true) .setLargeIcon(largeIcon) .setStyle(...) .build() Status Chip
29. Race End val progressStyle = ProgressStyle() ... .setProgressEndIcon(endIcon)
30. Highly customisable Progress Style
32. Screenshots say it all…
33. Screenshots say it all…
34. Screenshots say it all…
35. Why Live Update Notification? • Perfect for time-sensitive experiences: sports, deliveries, travel • More user engagement without app opens • One Noti fi cation - continuously updated
36. Platform Sample h tt ps://github.com/android/platform-samples
37. Thank you! @bhoomigadhiya