It took Google years so as to add this Android 15 function, and it is nonetheless half-baked

If there’s one function I’ve had on the highest of my Android wishlist for practically a decade now, it’s notification sync throughout units. I notice my use case is excessive since I’ve a number of Android telephones on my desk proper now and lots of extra in my gadget drawer, however there was a time once I simply had one cellphone and one pill and I nonetheless acquired uninterested in seeing duplicate notifications throughout each of them.

However notification dismissal throughout telephones is right here now, lastly, as a part of Android 15! Effectively, uh, scratch that. It’s right here in case you have a Pixel 6 or newer, as a result of it’s solely rolling out as a Pixel-exclusive choice. That’s one of many first limitations of the choice for me. The opposite is extra… difficult.

Sure, turning off duplicate notifications is on the market throughout my Pixel 9 Professional, Pixel 9 Professional Fold, Pixel 7 Professional, and Pixel Pill, however every part else is disregarded. My Galaxy S24 Extremely, Nothing Cellphone 2, and some different check units don’t play alongside. So the avalanche of notifications is there each time I decide them up or flip them on, and I’ve to attend for a minute or two whereas they catch up earlier than I do anything. It doesn’t matter if I’ve dismissed these already on my Pixel units; they’ll nonetheless be there for me on my different telephones.

And look, as soon as once more, I do know I’m a fringe case, but when I solely had a Pixel cellphone and a Galaxy Tab or a OnePlus cellphone and a Pixel Pill, I’d nonetheless be in that messy state of affairs the place one system needs to sync its notification state whereas the opposite can’t, and the entire function could be ineffective to me. You actually must be all-in on nothing however Pixels to get the profit.

One would hope that Google is now boosting its personal Pixel model by maintaining the function unique, but it surely ought to roll it out to extra Android telephones later. Effectively, at the very least that’s what occurred already with a few different Pixel exclusives and I believe it’ll be the case right here.

Even when the setting made its method throughout the whole Android ecosystem quickly, there’s one other limitation that’s irking me simply as a lot. The choice to sync notification dismissal is proscribed to at least one Google account, and I can’t discover Google’s documentation to grasp what that precisely means.

I’ve three Google accounts — a private one, a piece one, and a joint account with my husband. All of them serve completely different functions and have separate e-mail communication, calendars, bookmarks, map locations, and so forth. I even ensure that to obtain apps from the precise Play Retailer account when putting in new Android apps (Asana and Slack from my work account, Instagram from my private one, Amazon and Uber from the joint account — you get the gist).

So, what precisely am I getting or not getting by choosing one account or the opposite? Frequent sense says it shouldn’t matter which account I select: So long as it’s the identical one and it’s linked to all of my Pixel telephones, it ought to work throughout the entire telephones, apps, and notifications. Proper?

Effectively, to date, I’ve seen duplicate notifications nonetheless pop up on my Pixel Pill after I’ve dismissed them on my cellphone, even from Google’s personal apps, that are signed in with the identical account. So both the function just isn’t totally rolled out (we’ve seen this earlier than with cross-device sync, the place the setting confirmed up weeks earlier than the function actually began working) or there’s some account-based limitation at play that I’m not conscious of.

I’m afraid, although, that this account picker means one thing else. Perhaps it solely syncs notification dismissal for the emails, calendar occasions, missed Meet calls, Pictures recollections, and many others. of that very same Google account. So, if I choose my private e-mail, I’ll nonetheless get duplicates of my work and couple’s e-mail notifications. Huh. Even worse, perhaps it solely works for apps the place I’m signed in with my private Google account or apps tied to my private Google Play Retailer. Perhaps it doesn’t work with third-party apps even — I don’t know!

It’s clear that Google wants to clarify this function higher, what we should always count on of it, and why we have now to choose a Google account. Is it only a technique to hyperlink the whole notifications of the 2 telephones collectively or is it choosing and selecting what notifications to sync and which of them to maintain dupes of? And if it’s alleged to be practical, then one thing is off and never working. Or, if it’s not stay nor practical, then it’s time the devs avoided surfacing settings for options that don’t work simply but lest they get confused folks like me questioning why one thing isn’t doing what it’s alleged to.

And perhaps all of those hiccups are why we haven’t seen the function come to all of Android simply but. So sure, as soon as the entire points are ironed out, I’d like to see this roll out extensively throughout the ecosystem. Till then, right here goes one other unhappy sigh for a promise not totally delivered.