Notification runtime permission

Android 13 (API level 33) and higher supports a runtime permission for sending non-exempt (including Foreground Services (FGS)) notifications from an app: POST_NOTIFICATIONS. This change helps users focus on the notifications that are most important to them.

We highly recommend that you target Android 13 or higher as soon as possible to benefit from the additional control and flexibility of this feature. If you continue to target 12L (API level 32) or lower, you lose some flexibility with requesting the permission in the context of your app's functionality.

Declare the permission

To request the new notification permission from your app, update your app to target Android 13 and complete a similar process compared to requesting other runtime permissions, as shown in the following sections.

The permission that you need to declare in your app's manifest file appears in the following code snippet:

<manifest ...>
    <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.POST_NOTIFICATIONS"/>
    <application ...>
        ...
    </application>
</manifest>

App capabilities depend on user choice in permissions dialog

In this dialog, users have the following actions available to them:

The following sections describe how your app behaves, based on which action the user takes.

User selects "Allow"

If the user selects the allow option, your app can do the following:

User selects "Don't allow"

If the user selects the don't allow option, your app can't send notifications unless it qualifies for an exemption. All notification channels are blocked, except for a few specific roles. This is similar to the behavior that occurs when the user manually turns off all notifications for your app in system settings.

Caution: If your app targets 12L or lower and the user taps Don't allow, even just once, they aren't prompted again until one of the following occurs:

  • The user uninstalls and reinstalls your app.
  • You update your app to target Android 13 or higher.

User swipes away from dialog

If the user swipes away from the dialog—that is, they don't select either allow or don't allow—the state of the notification permission doesn't change.

Effects on newly-installed apps

If a user installs your app on a device that runs Android 13 or higher, your app's notifications are off by default. Your app must wait to send notifications until after you request the new permission and the user grants that permission to your app.

The time at which the permissions dialog appears is based on your app's target SDK version:

  • If your app targets Android 13 or higher, your app has complete control over when the permission dialog is displayed. Use this opportunity to explain to users why the app needs this permission, encouraging them to grant it.
  • If your app targets 12L (API level 32) or lower, the system shows the permission dialog the first time your app starts an activity after you create a notification channel, or when your app starts an activity and then creates its first notification channel. This is usually on app startup.

Effects on updates to existing apps

To minimize disruptions associated with the notification permission, the system automatically pre-grants the permission to all eligible apps when the user upgrades their device to Android 13 or higher. In other words, these apps can continue to send notifications to users, and users don't see a runtime permission prompt.

Eligibility for permission pre-grant

For your app to be eligible for an automatic pre-grant, it must have an existing notification channel and not have its notifications explicitly disabled by the user on a device that runs 12L or lower.

If the user disabled notifications for your app on a device that runs 12L or lower, that denial persists when the device upgrades to Android 13 or higher.

Exemptions

This section contains the set of notifications and apps that are exempt from the notification permission behavior change. On Android 13 (API level 33) or higher, if the user denies the notification permission, they still see notices related to foreground services in the Task Manager but don't see them in the notification drawer.

Media sessions

Notifications related to media sessions are exempt from this behavior change.

Apps configured to self-manage phone calls

If your app configures itself to self-manage phone calls, you don't need the POST_NOTIFICATIONS permission in order for your app to send notifications that use the Notification.CallStyle notification style.

The system considers your app to have configured itself for self-managing phone calls if it does each of the following:

  1. Declares the MANAGE_OWN_CALLS permission.
  2. Implements the ConnectionService interface.
  3. Registers with the device's telecom provider by calling registerPhoneAccount().

Test your app

You can evaluate how the notification permission affects your app when it's first used on a device that runs Android 13 or higher. The following sets of Android Debug Bridge (ADB) commands allow you to simulate the most common sequences of user choices and device upgrades without needing to reset your test device:

  • App is newly installed on a device that runs Android 13 or higher:

    adb shell pm revoke PACKAGE_NAME android.permission.POST_NOTIFICATIONS
adb shell pm clear-permission-flags PACKAGE_NAME \
  android.permission.POST_NOTIFICATIONS user-set
adb shell pm clear-permission-flags PACKAGE_NAME \
  android.permission.POST_NOTIFICATIONS user-fixed

  • The user keeps notifications enabled when the app is installed on a device that runs 12L or lower, then the device upgrades to Android 13 or higher:

    adb shell pm grant PACKAGE_NAME android.permission.POST_NOTIFICATIONS
adb shell pm set-permission-flags PACKAGE_NAME \
  android.permission.POST_NOTIFICATIONS user-set
adb shell pm clear-permission-flags PACKAGE_NAME \
  android.permission.POST_NOTIFICATIONS user-fixed

  • The user manually disables notifications when the app is installed on a device that runs 12L or lower, then the device upgrades to Android 13 or higher:

    adb shell pm revoke PACKAGE_NAME android.permission.POST_NOTIFICATIONS
adb shell pm set-permission-flags PACKAGE_NAME \
  android.permission.POST_NOTIFICATIONS user-set
adb shell pm clear-permission-flags PACKAGE_NAME \
  android.permission.POST_NOTIFICATIONS user-fixed

Best practices

This section describes several ways that you can use the new notification permission most effectively in your app.

Update your app's target SDK version

To give your app more flexibility over when the permission dialog appears, update your app so that it targets Android 13 or higher.

Wait to show notification permission prompt

Before you ask users to grant any permissions, let them familiarize themselves with your app.

New users may want to explore the app and realize first-hand the benefits of each individual notification request. You can trigger a permissions prompt from a user action. The following list shows several examples of when it's a good time to show the notification permission prompt:

  • The user taps an "alert bell" button.
  • The user chooses to follow someone's social media account.
  • The user submits an order for food delivery.

Figure 1 shows a recommended workflow for requesting the notification permission. Unless shouldShowRequestPermissionRationale() returns true, your app doesn't need to display the middle screen—the one that has the title text "Get notified!".

Alternatively, you can set a request to appear after you give users a chance to familiarize themselves with your app. For example, you might wait until the third or fourth time the user launches your app.

After the user signs in, they're presented with an invitation to get notified of trip updates. After the user presses the I'm in button, the app requests the new permission, which causes the system dialog to appear
Figure 1. A recommended user-driven workflow for requesting the notification permission. The middle screen is necessary only if shouldShowRequestPermissionRationale() returns true.

Request the permission in context

When you request notification permissions within your app, do so in the correct context, so that it's explicitly clear what the notifications are used for and why the user should opt in. For example, an email app might include options to send notifications for every new email, or only the emails where the user is the only recipient.

Use this opportunity to give transparency to your intentions, and users are more likely to grant the notification permission to your app.

Check whether your app can send notifications

Before your app sends a notification, confirm whether the user has enabled notifications for your app. To do so, call areNotificationsEnabled().

Use the permission responsibly

After you receive approval to send notifications, remember to use the permission responsibly. Users can see the number of daily notifications that your app sends, and they can revoke the permission at any time.