ui/notifiers/notifications.jd

page.title=Notifications
@jd:body

<div id="qv-wrapper">
<div id="qv">
<h2>In this document</h2>
<ol>
  <li><a href="#NotificationUI">Notification Display Elements</a>
    <ol>
      <li><a href="#NormalNotify">Normal view</a></li>
      <li><a href="#BigNotify">Big view</a></li>
    </ol>
  </li>
  <li><a href="#CreateNotification">Creating a Notification</a>
    <ol>
      <li><a href="#Required">Required notification contents</a></li>
      <li><a href="#Optional">Optional notification contents and settings</a></li>
      <li><a href="#Actions">Notification actions</a></li>
      <li><a href="#Priority">Notification priority</a></li>
      <li><a href="#SimpleNotification">Creating a simple notification</a></li>
      <li><a href="#ApplyStyle">Applying a big view style to a notification</a></li>
      <li><a href="#Compatibility">Handling compatibility</a></li>
    </ol>
  </li>
  <li><a href="#Managing">Managing Notifications</a>
    <ol>
      <li><a href="#Updating">Updating notifications</a></li>
      <li><a href="#Removing">Removing notifications</a></li>
    </ol>
  </li>
  <li><a href="#NotificationResponse">Preserving Navigation when Starting an Activity</a>
    <ol>
      <li><a href="#DirectEntry">Setting up a regular activity PendingIntent</a></li>
      <li><a href="#ExtendedNotification">Setting up a special activity PendingIntent</a></li>
    </ol>
  </li>
  <li><a href="#Progress">Displaying Progress in a Notification</a>
    <ol>
      <li><a href="#FixedProgress">Displaying a fixed-duration progress indicator</a></li>
      <li><a href="#ActivityIndicator">Displaying a continuing activity indicator</a></li>
    </ol>
  </li>
  <li><a href="#CustomNotification">Custom Notification Layouts</a></li>
</ol>

    <h2>Key classes</h2>
    <ol>
        <li>{@link android.app.NotificationManager}</li>
        <li>{@link android.support.v4.app.NotificationCompat}</li>
    </ol>
    <h2>Videos</h2>
    <ol>
        <li>
            <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yc8YrVc47TI&feature=player_detailpage#t=1672s">
            Notifications in 4.1</a>
        </li>
    </ol>
<h2>See also</h2>
<ol>
    <li>
        <a href="{@docRoot}design/patterns/notifications.html">Android Design: Notifications</a>
    </li>
</ol>
</div>
</div>
<p>
    A notification is a message you can display to the user outside of your application's
    normal UI. When you tell the system to issue a notification, it first appears as an icon in the
    <strong>notification area</strong>. To see the details of the notification, the user opens the
    <strong>notification drawer</strong>. Both the notification area and the notification drawer
    are system-controlled areas that the user can view at any time.
</p>
<img
    id="figure1"
    src="{@docRoot}images/ui/notifications/iconic_notification.png"
    height="120" alt="" />
<p class="img-caption">
    <strong>Figure 1.</strong> Notifications in the notification area.
</p>
<img id="figure2" src="{@docRoot}images/ui/notifications/normal_notification.png"
     height="293" alt="" />
<p class="img-caption">
    <strong>Figure 2.</strong> Notifications in the notification drawer.
</p>
<div class="note design">
    <p>
        <strong>Notification Design</strong>
    </p>
    <p>
        Notifications, as an important part of the Android UI, have their own design guidelines. To
        learn how to design notifications and their interactions, read the Android Design Guide
        <a href="{@docRoot}design/patterns/notifications.html">Notifications</a> topic.
    </p>
</div>
<p class="note">
    <strong>Note:</strong> Except where noted, this guide refers to the
    {@link android.support.v4.app.NotificationCompat.Builder NotificationCompat.Builder} class
    in the version 4 <a href="{@docRoot}tools/support-library/index.html">Support Library</a>.
    The class {@link android.app.Notification.Builder Notification.Builder} was added in Android
    3.0.
</p>
<!-- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -->
<!-- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -->
<h2 id="NotificationUI">Notification Display Elements</h2>
<p>
    Notifications in the notification drawer can appear in one of two visual styles, depending on
    the version and the state of the drawer:
</p>
<dl>
    <dt>
        Normal view
    </dt>
    <dd>
        The standard view of the notifications in the notification drawer.
    </dd>
    <dt>
        Big view
    </dt>
    <dd>
        A large view that's visible when the notification is expanded. Big view is part of the
        expanded notification feature available as of Android 4.1.
    </dd>
</dl>
<p>
    These styles are described in the following sections.
</p>
<!-- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -->
<h3 id="NormalNotify">Normal view</h3>
<p>
    A notification in normal view appears in an area that's up to 64 dp tall. Even if you create a
    notification with a big view style, it will appear in normal view until it's expanded. This
    is an example of a normal view:
</p>
<img
    src="{@docRoot}images/ui/notifications/normal_notification_callouts.png"
    alt=""
    height="153"
    id="figure3" />
<p class="img-caption">
  <strong>Figure 3.</strong> Notification in normal view.
</p>
<p>
    The callouts in the illustration refer to the following:
</p>
<ol>
    <li>Content title</li>
    <li>Large icon</li>
    <li>Content text</li>
    <li>Content info</li>
    <li>Small icon</li>
    <li>
        Time that the notification was issued. You can set an explicit value with
        {@link android.support.v4.app.NotificationCompat.Builder#setWhen setWhen()}; if you don't
        it defaults to the time that the system received the notification.
    </li>
</ol>
<!-- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -->
<h3 id="BigNotify">Big view</h3>
<p>
    A notification's big view appears only when the notification is expanded, which happens when the
    notification is at the top of the notification drawer, or when the user expands the
    notification with a gesture. Expanded notifications are available starting with Android 4.1.
</p>
<p>
    The following screenshot shows an inbox-style notification:
</p>
<img src="{@docRoot}images/ui/notifications/bigpicture_notification_callouts.png"
    alt=""
    height="240"
    id="figure4" />
<p class="img-caption">
  <strong>Figure 4.</strong> Big view notification.
</p>
<p>
    Notice that the big view shares most of its visual elements with the normal view. The
    only difference is callout number 7, the details area. Each big view style sets this area in
    a different way. The available styles are:
</p>
<dl>
    <dt>
        Big picture style
    </dt>
    <dd>
        The details area contains a bitmap up to 256 dp tall in its detail section.
    </dd>
    <dt>
        Big text style
    </dt>
    <dd>
        Displays a large text block in the details section.
    </dd>
    <dt>
        Inbox style
    </dt>
    <dd>
        Displays lines of text in the details section.
    </dd>
</dl>
<p>
    All of the big view styles also have the following content options that aren't
    available in normal view:
</p>
<dl>
    <dt>
        Big content title
    </dt>
    <dd>
        Allows you to override the normal view's content title with a title that appears only in
        the expanded view.
    </dd>
    <dt>
        Summary text
    </dt>
    <dd>
        Allows you to add a line of text below the details area.
    </dd>
</dl>
<p>
    Applying a big view style to a notification is described in the section
    <a href="#ApplyStyle">Applying a big view style to a notification</a>.
</p>
<!-- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -->
<!-- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -->
<h2 id="CreateNotification">Creating a Notification</h2>
<p>
    You specify the UI information and actions for a notification in a
    {@link android.support.v4.app.NotificationCompat.Builder NotificationCompat.Builder} object.
    To create the notification itself, you call
    {@link android.support.v4.app.NotificationCompat.Builder#build
    NotificationCompat.Builder.build()}, which returns a {@link android.app.Notification} object
    containing your specifications.
    To issue the notification, you pass the {@link android.app.Notification} object to the system
    by calling {@link android.app.NotificationManager#notify NotificationManager.notify()}.
</p>
<!-- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -->
<h3 id="Required">Required notification contents</h3>
<p>
    A {@link android.app.Notification} object <em>must</em> contain the following:
</p>
<ul>
    <li>
        A small icon, set by
        {@link android.support.v4.app.NotificationCompat.Builder#setSmallIcon setSmallIcon()}
    </li>
    <li>
        A title, set by
        {@link android.support.v4.app.NotificationCompat.Builder#setContentTitle setContentTitle()}
    </li>
    <li>
        Detail text, set by
        {@link android.support.v4.app.NotificationCompat.Builder#setContentText setContentText()}
    </li>
</ul>
<h3 id="Optional">Optional notification contents and settings</h3>
<p>
    All other notification settings and contents are optional. To learn more about them,
    see the reference documentation for {@link android.support.v4.app.NotificationCompat.Builder}.
</p>
<!-- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -->
<h3 id="Actions">Notification actions</h3>
<p>
    Although they're optional, you should add at least one action to your notification.
    An action allows users to go directly from the notification to an
    {@link android.app.Activity} in your application, where they can look at one or more events
    or do further work.
</p>
<p>
    A notification can provide multiple actions. You should always define the action that's
    triggered when the user clicks the notification; usually this action opens an
    {@link android.app.Activity} in your application. You can also add buttons to the notification
    that perform additional actions such as snoozing an alarm or responding immediately to a text
    message; this feature is available as of Android 4.1. If you use additional action buttons, you
    must also make their functionality available in an {@link android.app.Activity} in your app; see
    the section <a href="#Compatibility">Handling compatibility</a> for more details.
</p>
<p>
    Inside a {@link android.app.Notification}, the action itself is defined by a
    {@link android.app.PendingIntent} containing an {@link android.content.Intent} that starts
    an {@link android.app.Activity} in your application. To associate the
    {@link android.app.PendingIntent} with a gesture, call the appropriate method of
    {@link android.support.v4.app.NotificationCompat.Builder}. For example, if you want to start
    {@link android.app.Activity} when the user clicks the notification text in
    the notification drawer, you add the {@link android.app.PendingIntent} by calling
    {@link android.support.v4.app.NotificationCompat.Builder#setContentIntent setContentIntent()}.
</p>
<p>
    Starting an {@link android.app.Activity} when the user clicks the notification is the most
    common action scenario. You can also start an {@link android.app.Activity} when the user
    dismisses a notification. In Android 4.1 and later, you can start an
    {@link android.app.Activity} from an action button. To learn more, read the reference guide for
    {@link android.support.v4.app.NotificationCompat.Builder}.
</p>
<!-- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -->
<h3 id="Priority">Notification priority</h3>
<p>
    If you wish, you can set the priority of a notification. The priority acts
    as a hint to the device UI about how the notification should be displayed.
    To set a notification's priority, call {@link
    android.support.v4.app.NotificationCompat.Builder#setPriority(int)
    NotificationCompat.Builder.setPriority()} and pass in one of the {@link
    android.support.v4.app.NotificationCompat} priority constants. There are
    five priority levels, ranging from {@link
    android.support.v4.app.NotificationCompat#PRIORITY_MIN} (-2) to {@link
    android.support.v4.app.NotificationCompat#PRIORITY_MAX} (2); if not set, the
    priority defaults to {@link
    android.support.v4.app.NotificationCompat#PRIORITY_DEFAULT} (0).
</p>
<p> For information about setting an appropriate priority level, see "Correctly
    set and manage notification priority" in the <a
    href="{@docRoot}design/patterns/notifications.html">Notifications</a> Design
    guide.
</p>
<!-- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -->
<h3 id="SimpleNotification">Creating a simple notification</h3>
<p>
    The following snippet illustrates a simple notification that specifies an activity to open when
    the user clicks the notification. Notice that the code creates a
    {@link android.support.v4.app.TaskStackBuilder} object and uses it to create the
    {@link android.app.PendingIntent} for the action. This pattern is explained in more detail
    in the section <a href="#NotificationResponse">
    Preserving Navigation when Starting an Activity</a>:
</p>
<pre>
NotificationCompat.Builder mBuilder =
        new NotificationCompat.Builder(this)
        .setSmallIcon(R.drawable.notification_icon)
        .setContentTitle("My notification")
        .setContentText("Hello World!");
// Creates an explicit intent for an Activity in your app
Intent resultIntent = new Intent(this, ResultActivity.class);

// The stack builder object will contain an artificial back stack for the
// started Activity.
// This ensures that navigating backward from the Activity leads out of
// your application to the Home screen.
TaskStackBuilder stackBuilder = TaskStackBuilder.create(this);
// Adds the back stack for the Intent (but not the Intent itself)
stackBuilder.addParentStack(ResultActivity.class);
// Adds the Intent that starts the Activity to the top of the stack
stackBuilder.addNextIntent(resultIntent);
PendingIntent resultPendingIntent =
        stackBuilder.getPendingIntent(
            0,
            PendingIntent.FLAG_UPDATE_CURRENT
        );
mBuilder.setContentIntent(resultPendingIntent);
NotificationManager mNotificationManager =
    (NotificationManager) getSystemService(Context.NOTIFICATION_SERVICE);
// mId allows you to update the notification later on.
mNotificationManager.notify(mId, mBuilder.build());
</pre>
<p>That's it. Your user has now been notified.</p>
<!-- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -->
<h3 id="ApplyStyle">Applying a big view style to a notification</h3>
<p>
    To have a notification appear in a big view when it's expanded, first create a
    {@link android.support.v4.app.NotificationCompat.Builder} object with the normal view options
    you want. Next, call {@link android.support.v4.app.NotificationCompat.Builder#setStyle
    Builder.setStyle()} with a big view style object as its argument.
</p>
<p>
    Remember that expanded notifications are not available on platforms prior to Android 4.1. To
    learn how to handle notifications for Android 4.1 and for earlier platforms, read the
    section <a href="#Compatibility">Handling compatibility</a>.
</p>
<p>
    For example, the following code snippet demonstrates how to alter the notification created
    in the previous snippet to use the Inbox big view style:
</p>
<pre>
NotificationCompat.Builder mBuilder = new NotificationCompat.Builder(this)
    .setSmallIcon(R.drawable.notification_icon)
    .setContentTitle("Event tracker")
    .setContentText("Events received")
NotificationCompat.InboxStyle inboxStyle =
        new NotificationCompat.InboxStyle();
String[] events = new String[6];
// Sets a title for the Inbox style big view
inboxStyle.setBigContentTitle("Event tracker details:");
...
// Moves events into the big view
for (int i=0; i &lt; events.length; i++) {

    inboxStyle.addLine(events[i]);
}
// Moves the big view style object into the notification object.
mBuilder.setStyle(inBoxStyle);
...
// Issue the notification here.
</pre>
<h3 id="Compatibility">Handling compatibility</h3>
<p>
    Not all notification features are available for a particular version, even though
    the methods to set them are in the support library class
    {@link android.support.v4.app.NotificationCompat.Builder NotificationCompat.Builder}.
    For example, action buttons, which depend on expanded notifications, only appear on Android
    4.1 and higher, because expanded notifications themselves are only available on
    Android 4.1 and higher.
</p>
<p>
    To ensure the best compatibility, create notifications with
    {@link android.support.v4.app.NotificationCompat NotificationCompat} and its subclasses,
    particularly {@link android.support.v4.app.NotificationCompat.Builder
    NotificationCompat.Builder}. In addition, follow this process when you implement a notification:
</p>
<ol>
    <li>
        Provide all of the notification's functionality to all users, regardless of the version
        they're using. To do this, verify that all of the functionality is available from an
        {@link android.app.Activity} in your app. You may want to add a new
        {@link android.app.Activity} to do this.
        <p>
            For example, if you want to use
            {@link android.support.v4.app.NotificationCompat.Builder#addAction addAction()} to
            provide a control that stops and starts media playback, first implement this
            control in an {@link android.app.Activity} in your app.
        </p>
    </li>
    <li>
        Ensure that all users can get to the functionality in the {@link android.app.Activity},
        by having it start when users click the notification. To do this,
        create a {@link android.app.PendingIntent} for the {@link android.app.Activity}. Call
        {@link android.support.v4.app.NotificationCompat.Builder#setContentIntent
        setContentIntent()} to add the {@link android.app.PendingIntent} to the notification.
    </li>
    <li>
        Now add the expanded notification features you want to use to the notification. Remember
        that any functionality you add also has to be available in the {@link android.app.Activity}
        that starts when users click the notification.
    </li>
</ol>
<!-- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -->
<!-- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -->
<h2 id="Managing">Managing Notifications</h2>
<p>
    When you need to issue a notification multiple times for the same type of event, you
    should avoid making a completely new notification. Instead, you should consider updating a
    previous notification, either by changing some of its values or by adding to it, or both.
</p>
<p>
    For example, Gmail notifies the user that new emails have arrived by increasing its count of
    unread messages and by adding a summary of each email to the notification. This is called
    "stacking" the notification; it's described in more detail in the
    <a href="{@docRoot}design/patterns/notifications.html">Notifications</a> Design guide.
</p>
<p class="note">
    <strong>Note:</strong> This Gmail feature requires the "inbox" big view style, which is
    part of the expanded notification feature available starting in Android 4.1.
</p>
<p>
    The following section describes how to update notifications and also how to remove them.
</p>
<h3 id="Updating">Updating notifications</h3>
<p>
    To set up a notification so it can be updated, issue it with a notification ID by
    calling {@link android.app.NotificationManager#notify(int, Notification)
    NotificationManager.notify(ID, notification)}. To update this notification once you've issued
    it, update or create a {@link android.support.v4.app.NotificationCompat.Builder} object,
    build a {@link android.app.Notification} object from it, and issue the
    {@link android.app.Notification} with the same ID you used previously. If
    the previous notification is still visible, the system updates it from the contents of
    the {@link android.app.Notification} object. If the previous notification has been dismissed, a
    new notification is created instead.
</p>
<p>
    The following snippet demonstrates a notification that is updated to reflect the
    number of events that have occurred. It stacks the notification, showing a summary:
</p>
<pre>
mNotificationManager =
        (NotificationManager) getSystemService(Context.NOTIFICATION_SERVICE);
// Sets an ID for the notification, so it can be updated
int notifyID = 1;
mNotifyBuilder = new NotificationCompat.Builder(this)
    .setContentTitle("New Message")
    .setContentText("You've received new messages.")
    .setSmallIcon(R.drawable.ic_notify_status)
numMessages = 0;
// Start of a loop that processes data and then notifies the user
...
    mNotifyBuilder.setContentText(currentText)
        .setNumber(++numMessages);
    // Because the ID remains unchanged, the existing notification is
    // updated.
    mNotificationManager.notify(
            notifyID,
            mNotifyBuilder.build());
...
</pre>
<p>
    This produces a notification that looks like this:
</p>
<img
    id="figure5"
    src="{@docRoot}images/ui/notifications/updated_notification.png"
    alt=""
    height="118"/>
<p class="img-caption">
  <strong>Figure 5.</strong> Updated notification displayed in the notification drawer.
</p>
<!-- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -->
<h3 id="Removing">Removing notifications</h3>
<p>
    Notifications remain visible until one of the following happens:
</p>
<ul>
    <li>
        The user dismisses the notification either individually or by using "Clear All" (if
        the notification can be cleared).
    </li>
    <li>
        The user clicks the notification, and you called
        {@link android.support.v4.app.NotificationCompat.Builder#setAutoCancel setAutoCancel()} when
        you created the notification.
    </li>
    <li>
        You call {@link android.app.NotificationManager#cancel(int) cancel()} for a specific
        notification ID. This method also deletes ongoing notifications.
    </li>
    <li>
        You call {@link android.app.NotificationManager#cancelAll() cancelAll()}, which removes
        all of the notifications you previously issued.
    </li>
</ul>
<!-- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -->
<!-- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -->
<h2 id="NotificationResponse">Preserving Navigation when Starting an Activity</h2>
<p>
    When you start an {@link android.app.Activity} from a notification, you must preserve the
    user's expected navigation experience. Clicking <i>Back</i> should take the user back through
    the application's normal work flow to the Home screen, and clicking <i>Recents</i> should show
    the {@link android.app.Activity} as a separate task. To preserve the navigation experience, you
    should start the {@link android.app.Activity} in a fresh task. How you set up the
    {@link android.app.PendingIntent} to give you a fresh task depends on the nature of the
    {@link android.app.Activity} you're starting. There are two general situations:
</p>
<dl>
    <dt>
        Regular activity
    </dt>
    <dd>
        You're starting an {@link android.app.Activity} that's part of the application's normal
        workflow. In this situation, set up the {@link android.app.PendingIntent} to
        start a fresh task, and provide the {@link android.app.PendingIntent} with a back stack
        that reproduces the application's normal <i>Back</i> behavior.
        <p>
            Notifications from the Gmail app demonstrate this. When you click a notification for
            a single email message, you see the message itself. Touching <b>Back</b> takes you
            backwards through Gmail to the Home screen, just as if you had entered Gmail from the
            Home screen rather than entering it from a notification.
        </p>
        <p>
            This happens regardless of the application you were in when you touched the
            notification. For example, if you're in Gmail composing a message, and you click a
            notification for a single email, you go immediately to that email. Touching <i>Back</i>
            takes you to the inbox and then the Home screen, rather than taking you to the
            message you were composing.
        </p>
    </dd>
    <dt>
        Special activity
    </dt>
    <dd>
        The user only sees this {@link android.app.Activity} if it's started from a notification.
        In a sense, the {@link android.app.Activity} extends the notification by providing
        information that would be hard to display in the notification itself. For this situation,
        set up the {@link android.app.PendingIntent} to start in a fresh task. There's no need to
        create a back stack, though, because the started {@link android.app.Activity} isn't part of
        the application's activity flow. Clicking <i>Back</i> will still take the user to the
        Home screen.
    </dd>
</dl>
<!-- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -->
<h3 id="DirectEntry">Setting up a regular activity PendingIntent</h3>
<p>
    To set up a {@link android.app.PendingIntent} that starts a direct entry
    {@link android.app.Activity}, follow these steps:
</p>
<ol>
    <li>
        Define your application's {@link android.app.Activity} hierarchy in the manifest.
        <ol style="list-style-type: lower-alpha;">
            <li>
                Add support for Android 4.0.3 and earlier. To do this, specify the parent of the
                {@link android.app.Activity} you're starting by adding a
<code><a href="{@docRoot}guide/topics/manifest/meta-data-element.html">&lt;meta-data&gt;</a></code>
                element as the child of the
<code><a href="{@docRoot}guide/topics/manifest/activity-element.html">&lt;activity&gt;</a></code>.
                <p>
                    For this element, set
<code><a href="{@docRoot}guide/topics/manifest/meta-data-element.html#nm">android:name</a>="android.support.PARENT_ACTIVITY"</code>.
                    Set
<code><a href="{@docRoot}guide/topics/manifest/meta-data-element.html#val">android:value</a>="&lt;parent_activity_name&gt;"</code>
                    where <code>&lt;parent_activity_name&gt;</code> is the value of
<code><a href="{@docRoot}guide/topics/manifest/meta-data-element.html#nm">android:name</a></code>
                    for the parent
<code><a href="{@docRoot}guide/topics/manifest/activity-element.html">&lt;activity&gt;</a></code>
                    element. See the following XML for an example.
                </p>
            </li>
            <li>
                Also add support for Android 4.1 and later. To do this, add the
<code><a href="{@docRoot}guide/topics/manifest/activity-element.html#parent">android:parentActivityName</a></code>
                attribute to the
<code><a href="{@docRoot}guide/topics/manifest/activity-element.html">&lt;activity&gt;</a></code>
                element of the {@link android.app.Activity} you're starting.
            </li>
        </ol>
        <p>
            The final XML should look like this:
        </p>
<pre>
&lt;activity
    android:name=".MainActivity"
    android:label="&#64;string/app_name" &gt;
    &lt;intent-filter&gt;
        &lt;action android:name="android.intent.action.MAIN" /&gt;
        &lt;category android:name="android.intent.category.LAUNCHER" /&gt;
    &lt;/intent-filter&gt;
&lt;/activity&gt;
&lt;activity
    android:name=".ResultActivity"
    android:parentActivityName=".MainActivity"&gt;
    &lt;meta-data
        android:name="android.support.PARENT_ACTIVITY"
        android:value=".MainActivity"/&gt;
&lt;/activity&gt;
</pre>
    </li>
    <li>
        Create a back stack based on the {@link android.content.Intent} that starts the
        {@link android.app.Activity}:
        <ol style="list-style-type: lower-alpha;">
            <li>
                Create the {@link android.content.Intent} to start the {@link android.app.Activity}.
            </li>
            <li>
                Create a stack builder by calling {@link android.app.TaskStackBuilder#create
                TaskStackBuilder.create()}.
            </li>
            <li>
                Add the back stack to the stack builder by calling
                {@link android.support.v4.app.TaskStackBuilder#addParentStack addParentStack()}.
                For each {@link android.app.Activity} in the hierarchy you've defined in the
                manifest, the back stack contains an {@link android.content.Intent} object that
                starts the {@link android.app.Activity}. This method also adds flags that start the
                stack in a fresh task.
                <p class="note">
                    <strong>Note:</strong> Although the argument to
                    {@link android.support.v4.app.TaskStackBuilder#addParentStack addParentStack()}
                    is a reference to the started {@link android.app.Activity}, the method call
                    doesn't add the {@link android.content.Intent} that starts the
                    {@link android.app.Activity}. Instead, that's taken care of in the next step.
                </p>
            </li>
            <li>
                Add the {@link android.content.Intent} that starts the {@link android.app.Activity}
                from the notification, by calling
                {@link android.support.v4.app.TaskStackBuilder#addNextIntent addNextIntent()}.
                Pass the {@link android.content.Intent} you created in the first step as the
                argument to
                {@link android.support.v4.app.TaskStackBuilder#addNextIntent addNextIntent()}.
            </li>
            <li>
                If you need to, add arguments to {@link android.content.Intent} objects on the
                stack by calling {@link android.support.v4.app.TaskStackBuilder#editIntentAt
                TaskStackBuilder.editIntentAt()}. This is sometimes necessary to ensure that the
                target {@link android.app.Activity} displays meaningful data when the user navigates
                to it using <i>Back</i>.
            </li>
            <li>
                Get a {@link android.app.PendingIntent} for this back stack by calling
                {@link android.support.v4.app.TaskStackBuilder#getPendingIntent getPendingIntent()}.
                You can then use this {@link android.app.PendingIntent} as the argument to
                {@link android.support.v4.app.NotificationCompat.Builder#setContentIntent
                setContentIntent()}.
            </li>
        </ol>
     </li>
</ol>
<p>
    The following code snippet demonstrates the process:
</p>
<pre>
...
Intent resultIntent = new Intent(this, ResultActivity.class);
TaskStackBuilder stackBuilder = TaskStackBuilder.create(this);
// Adds the back stack
stackBuilder.addParentStack(ResultActivity.class);
// Adds the Intent to the top of the stack
stackBuilder.addNextIntent(resultIntent);
// Gets a PendingIntent containing the entire back stack
PendingIntent resultPendingIntent =
        stackBuilder.getPendingIntent(0, PendingIntent.FLAG_UPDATE_CURRENT);
...
NotificationCompat.Builder builder = new NotificationCompat.Builder(this);
builder.setContentIntent(resultPendingIntent);
NotificationManager mNotificationManager =
    (NotificationManager) getSystemService(Context.NOTIFICATION_SERVICE);
mNotificationManager.notify(id, builder.build());
</pre>
<!-- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -->
<h3 id="ExtendedNotification">Setting up a special activity PendingIntent</h3>
<p>
    The following section describes how to set up a special activity
    {@link android.app.PendingIntent}.
</p>
<p>
    A special {@link android.app.Activity} doesn't need a back stack, so you don't have to
    define its {@link android.app.Activity} hierarchy in the manifest, and you don't have
    to call
    {@link android.support.v4.app.TaskStackBuilder#addParentStack  addParentStack()} to build a
    back stack. Instead, use the manifest to set up the {@link android.app.Activity} task options,
    and create the {@link android.app.PendingIntent} by calling
    {@link android.app.PendingIntent#getActivity getActivity()}:
</p>
<ol>
    <li>
        In your manifest, add the following attributes to the
<code><a href="{@docRoot}guide/topics/manifest/activity-element.html">&lt;activity&gt;</a></code>
        element for the {@link android.app.Activity}
        <dl>
            <dt>
<code><a href="{@docRoot}guide/topics/manifest/activity-element.html#nm">android:name</a>="<i>activityclass</i>"</code>
            </dt>
            <dd>
                The activity's fully-qualified class name.
            </dd>
            <dt>
<code><a href="{@docRoot}guide/topics/manifest/activity-element.html#aff">android:taskAffinity</a>=""</code>
            </dt>
            <dd>
                Combined with the
                {@link android.content.Intent#FLAG_ACTIVITY_NEW_TASK FLAG_ACTIVITY_NEW_TASK} flag
                that you set in code, this ensures that this {@link android.app.Activity} doesn't
                go into the application's default task. Any existing tasks that have the
                application's default affinity are not affected.
            </dd>
            <dt>
<code><a href="{@docRoot}guide/topics/manifest/activity-element.html#exclude">android:excludeFromRecents</a>="true"</code>
            </dt>
            <dd>
                Excludes the new task from <i>Recents</i>, so that the user can't accidentally
                navigate back to it.
            </dd>
        </dl>
        <p>
            This snippet shows the element:
        </p>
<pre>
&lt;activity
    android:name=".ResultActivity"
...
    android:launchMode="singleTask"
    android:taskAffinity=""
    android:excludeFromRecents="true"&gt;
&lt;/activity&gt;
...
</pre>
    </li>
    <li>
        Build and issue the notification:
        <ol style="list-style-type: lower-alpha;">
            <li>
                Create an {@link android.content.Intent} that starts the
                {@link android.app.Activity}.
            </li>
            <li>
                Set the {@link android.app.Activity} to start in a new, empty task by calling
                {@link android.content.Intent#setFlags setFlags()} with the flags
                {@link android.content.Intent#FLAG_ACTIVITY_NEW_TASK FLAG_ACTIVITY_NEW_TASK}
                and
                {@link android.content.Intent#FLAG_ACTIVITY_CLEAR_TASK FLAG_ACTIVITY_CLEAR_TASK}.
            </li>
            <li>
                Set any other options you need for the {@link android.content.Intent}.
            </li>
            <li>
                Create a {@link android.app.PendingIntent} from the {@link android.content.Intent}
                by calling {@link android.app.PendingIntent#getActivity getActivity()}.
                You can then use this {@link android.app.PendingIntent} as the argument to
                {@link android.support.v4.app.NotificationCompat.Builder#setContentIntent
                setContentIntent()}.
            </li>
        </ol>
    <p>
        The following code snippet demonstrates the process:
    </p>
<pre>
// Instantiate a Builder object.
NotificationCompat.Builder builder = new NotificationCompat.Builder(this);
// Creates an Intent for the Activity
Intent notifyIntent =
        new Intent(new ComponentName(this, ResultActivity.class));
// Sets the Activity to start in a new, empty task
notifyIntent.setFlags(FLAG_ACTIVITY_NEW_TASK | FLAG_ACTIVITY_CLEAR_TASK);
// Creates the PendingIntent
PendingIntent notifyIntent =
        PendingIntent.getActivity(
        this,
        0,
        notifyIntent
        PendingIntent.FLAG_UPDATE_CURRENT
);

// Puts the PendingIntent into the notification builder
builder.setContentIntent(notifyIntent);
// Notifications are issued by sending them to the
// NotificationManager system service.
NotificationManager mNotificationManager =
    (NotificationManager) getSystemService(Context.NOTIFICATION_SERVICE);
// Builds an anonymous Notification object from the builder, and
// passes it to the NotificationManager
mNotificationManager.notify(id, builder.build());
</pre>
    </li>
</ol>
<!-- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -->
<!-- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -->
<h2 id="Progress">Displaying Progress in a Notification</h2>
<p>
    Notifications can include an animated progress indicator that shows users the status
    of an ongoing operation. If you can estimate how long the operation takes and how much of it
    is complete at any time, use the "determinate" form of the indicator
    (a progress bar). If you can't estimate the length of the operation, use the
    "indeterminate" form of the indicator (an activity indicator).
</p>
<p>
    Progress indicators are displayed with the platform's implementation of the
    {@link android.widget.ProgressBar} class.
</p>
<p>
    To use a progress indicator on platforms starting with Android 4.0, call
    {@link android.support.v4.app.NotificationCompat.Builder#setProgress setProgress()}. For
    previous versions, you must create your own custom notification layout that
    includes a {@link android.widget.ProgressBar} view.
</p>
<p>
    The following sections describe how to display progress in a notification using
    {@link android.support.v4.app.NotificationCompat.Builder#setProgress setProgress()}.
</p>
<!-- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -->
<h3 id="FixedProgress">Displaying a fixed-duration progress indicator</h3>
<p>
    To display a determinate progress bar, add the bar to your notification by calling
    {@link android.support.v4.app.NotificationCompat.Builder#setProgress setProgress()
    setProgress(max, progress, false)} and then issue the notification. As your operation proceeds,
    increment <code>progress</code>, and update the notification. At the end of the operation,
    <code>progress</code> should equal <code>max</code>. A common way to call
    {@link android.support.v4.app.NotificationCompat.Builder#setProgress setProgress()}
    is to set <code>max</code> to 100 and then increment <code>progress</code> as a
    "percent complete" value for the operation.
</p>
<p>
    You can either leave the progress bar showing when the operation is done, or remove it. In
    either case, remember to update the notification text to show that the operation is complete.
    To remove the progress bar, call
    {@link android.support.v4.app.NotificationCompat.Builder#setProgress setProgress()
    setProgress(0, 0, false)}. For example:
</p>
<pre>
...
mNotifyManager =
        (NotificationManager) getSystemService(Context.NOTIFICATION_SERVICE);
mBuilder = new NotificationCompat.Builder(this);
mBuilder.setContentTitle("Picture Download")
    .setContentText("Download in progress")
    .setSmallIcon(R.drawable.ic_notification);
// Start a lengthy operation in a background thread
new Thread(
    new Runnable() {
        &#64;Override
        public void run() {
            int incr;
            // Do the "lengthy" operation 20 times
            for (incr = 0; incr &lt;= 100; incr+=5) {
                    // Sets the progress indicator to a max value, the
                    // current completion percentage, and "determinate"
                    // state
                    mBuilder.setProgress(100, incr, false);
                    // Displays the progress bar for the first time.
                    mNotifyManager.notify(0, mBuilder.build());
                        // Sleeps the thread, simulating an operation
                        // that takes time
                        try {
                            // Sleep for 5 seconds
                            Thread.sleep(5*1000);
                        } catch (InterruptedException e) {
                            Log.d(TAG, "sleep failure");
                        }
            }
            // When the loop is finished, updates the notification
            mBuilder.setContentText("Download complete")
            // Removes the progress bar
                    .setProgress(0,0,false);
            mNotifyManager.notify(ID, mBuilder.build());
        }
    }
// Starts the thread by calling the run() method in its Runnable
).start();
</pre>
<p>
    The resulting notifications are shown in figure 6. On the left side is a snapshot of the
    notification during the operation; on the right side is a snapshot of it after the operation
    has finished.
</p>
<img
    id="figure6"
    src="{@docRoot}images/ui/notifications/progress_bar_summary.png"
    height="84"
    alt="" />
<p class="img-caption">
<strong>Figure 6.</strong> The progress bar during and after the operation.</p>
<!-- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -->
<h3 id="ActivityIndicator">Displaying a continuing activity indicator</h3>
<p>
    To display an indeterminate activity indicator, add it to your notification with
    {@link android.support.v4.app.NotificationCompat.Builder#setProgress setProgress(0, 0, true)}
    (the first two arguments are ignored), and issue the notification. The result is an indicator
    that has the same style as a progress bar, except that its animation is ongoing.
</p>
<p>
    Issue the notification at the beginning of the operation. The animation will run until you
    modify your notification. When the operation is done, call
    {@link android.support.v4.app.NotificationCompat.Builder#setProgress setProgress()
    setProgress(0, 0, false)} and then update the notification to remove the activity indicator.
    Always do this; otherwise, the animation will run even when the operation is complete. Also
    remember to change the notification text to indicate that the operation is complete.
</p>
<p>
    To see how activity indicators work, refer to the preceding snippet. Locate the following lines:
</p>
<pre>
// Sets the progress indicator to a max value, the current completion
// percentage, and "determinate" state
mBuilder.setProgress(100, incr, false);
// Issues the notification
mNotifyManager.notify(0, mBuilder.build());
</pre>
<p>
    Replace the lines you've found with the following lines:
</p>
<pre>
 // Sets an activity indicator for an operation of indeterminate length
mBuilder.setProgress(0, 0, true);
// Issues the notification
mNotifyManager.notify(0, mBuilder.build());
</pre>
<p>
    The resulting indicator is shown in figure 7:
</p>
<img
    id="figure7"
    src="{@docRoot}images/ui/notifications/activity_indicator.png"
    height="99"
    alt="" />
<p class="img-caption"><strong>Figure 7.</strong> An ongoing activity indicator.</p>

<!-- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -->
<!-- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -->
<!-- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -->

<!-- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -->
<h2 id="CustomNotification">Custom Notification Layouts</h2>
<p>
    The notifications framework allows you to define a custom notification layout, which
    defines the notification's appearance in a {@link android.widget.RemoteViews} object.
    Custom layout notifications are similar to normal notifications, but they're based on a
    {@link android.widget.RemoteViews} defined in a XML layout file.
</p>
<p>
    The height available for a custom notification layout depends on the notification view. Normal
    view layouts are limited to 64 dp, and expanded view layouts are limited to 256 dp.
</p>
<p>
    To define a custom notification layout, start by instantiating a
    {@link android.widget.RemoteViews} object that inflates an XML layout file. Then,
    instead of calling methods such as
    {@link android.support.v4.app.NotificationCompat.Builder#setContentTitle setContentTitle()},
    call {@link android.support.v4.app.NotificationCompat.Builder#setContent setContent()}. To set
    content details in the custom notification, use the methods in
    {@link android.widget.RemoteViews} to set the values of the view's children:
</p>
<ol>
    <li>
        Create an XML layout for the notification in a separate file. You can use any file name
        you wish, but you must use the extension <code>.xml</code>
    </li>
    <li>
        In your app, use {@link android.widget.RemoteViews} methods to define your notification's
        icons and text. Put this {@link android.widget.RemoteViews} object into your
        {@link android.support.v4.app.NotificationCompat.Builder} by calling
        {@link android.support.v4.app.NotificationCompat.Builder#setContent setContent()}. Avoid
        setting a background {@link android.graphics.drawable.Drawable} on your
        {@link android.widget.RemoteViews} object, because your text color may become unreadable.
    </li>
</ol>
<p>
    The {@link android.widget.RemoteViews} class also includes methods that you can use to easily
    add a {@link android.widget.Chronometer} or {@link android.widget.ProgressBar}
    to your notification's layout. For more information about creating custom layouts for your
    notification, refer to the {@link android.widget.RemoteViews} reference documentation.
</p>
<p class="caution">
    <strong>Caution:</strong> When you use a custom notification layout, take special care to
    ensure that your custom layout works with different device orientations and resolutions. While
    this advice applies to all View layouts, it's especially important for notifications because
    the space in the notification drawer is very restricted. Don't make your custom layout too
    complex, and be sure to test it in various configurations.
</p>
<!-- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -->
<h4>Using style resources for custom notification text</h4>
<p>
    Always use style resources for the text of a custom notification. The background color of the
    notification can vary across different devices and versions, and using style resources
    helps you account for this. Starting in Android 2.3, the system defined a style for the
    standard notification layout text. If you use the same style in applications that target Android
    2.3 or higher, you'll ensure that your text is visible against the display background.
</p>