What's different about the Alarm Channel vs the Notification Channel

[Andy Burnelli]

Anyone have advice as to when to use the "Notification" versus "Alarms"
channel when an app gives you that choice?

In a recent thread, micky asked for an app that pings you when you lose your
cellular signal which is definitely a useful thing when you're hiking.

I found an app which gives the user a choice of a notification or alarm.
*Cellular Connection Monitor* by Pavel Borzenkov (free & ad free)
<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.simple.axanor.simpleconnectivitymonitor>

Neither micky nor I know, intuitively anyway, why we should pick either one.
So we left it at the default.

But what is the best choice?
<https://duckduckgo.com/?q=android+notification+channel+versus+alarm+channel>

That didn't find anything comparing alarm channels with notification
channels, but it did find a lot more about notification channels than alarm
channels.
*Android: Notification Channel Categories*
<https://documentation.onesignal.com/docs/android-notification-categories>

There's a lot more out there on notification channels than on alarm channels
*Android Alarm Manager*
<https://developer.android.com/reference/android/app/AlarmManager>

This thread is opened to expand our limited knowledge on what the difference
is between an Alarm Channel and the Notification Channel in terms of what is
the best one to use for any given application.

Anyone who knows more than we do on this topic is welcome to expand our
knowledge by explaining how they use Alarm channels & Notification channels.
--
Ignorance is fine as it can be cured; it's stupidity that can't be cured.

[Andy Burnelli]

Andy Burnelli wrote:

> Anyone who knows more than we do on this topic is welcome to expand our
> knowledge by explaining how they use Alarm channels & Notification channels.

I just went back to that app description and realized it claimed a reason!
<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.simple.axanor.simpleconnectivitymonitor>
"*Use Alarm Channel to hear the notification even in silent mode*"

Maybe the fact alarms work when the phone is silent is the only difference?
Maybe not.

If you can help us learn more on how alarm channels differ, please edify us.

[Andy Burnelli]

Andy Burnelli wrote:

> I just went back to that app description and realized it claimed a reason!
> <https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.simple.axanor.simpleconnectivitymonitor>
> "*Use Alarm Channel to hear the notification even in silent mode*"

BTW, to continue to always be purposefully helpful in adding value, at some
point in testing all these internet connectivity & cellular connectivity
tools, setting some to alarm types, others to notification types, soon I was
essentially being alarmed-and-notified to death by the cacophony of sounds.
<https://i.postimg.cc/Njw312j1/lostsignal01.jpg>

Sounds were suddenly popping up everywhere, given I was testing a half dozen
of the cellular and internet connectivity heartbeat tools at the same time.

I finally resorted to unique verbal notifications which say the name of the
tool and the type of notification or alarm that each tool was claiming.

I saved all those verbal notifications & alarms in their respective folders:
/sdcard/audio/{notifications,alarms}/CellularConnectionMonitorLostCellSignal.wav
<https://i.postimg.cc/x1Y5Tv6L/lostsignal02.jpg>

The resulting settings for just one tool is shown in the screenshot below:
<https://i.postimg.cc/8zRjbV12/lostsignal03.jpg>

Where that tool happens to be the one that prompted this querying thread:

<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.simple.axanor.simpleconnectivitymonitor>
"*Use Alarm Channel to hear the notification even in silent mode*"

If you need to set verbal custom notifications, here's a tutorial to help:
*Tutorial: Create/edit/set custom notification sounds such as "You've Got K-9 Mail"*
<https://groups.google.com/g/comp.mobile.android/c/uQMbZIlhR1g>

Notice you can _type_ those verbal notifications instead of recording them!
See the helpful tutorial for details on how by using good free ad free apps.
--
Every Usenet post should strive to add value in the body (not the headers).

[David Oseas]

On 2/25/2022 8:31 AM, Andy Burnelli wrote:
>
> Maybe the fact alarms work when the phone is silent is the only difference?
> Maybe not.
>
> If you can help us learn more on how alarm channels differ, please edify
> us.

You are able to specify Alarms as exceptions to Do Not Disturb mode --
at least that's the case on my Samsung phone...

Regards,

-David