How to update Notification with RemoteViews?

Question

I\'m creating a notification with RemoteViews from a custom Service, which is running with notification in a foreground mode (that is, service will remain activ

Answer 1

Here's a detail example for you to update the notification using RemoteViews:

private static final int NOTIF_ID = 1234;
private NotificationCompat.Builder mBuilder;
private NotificationManager mNotificationManager;
private RemoteViews mRemoteViews;
private Notification mNotification;
...

// call this method to setup notification for the first time
private void setUpNotification(){

    mNotificationManager = (NotificationManager) getSystemService(Context.NOTIFICATION_SERVICE);

    // we need to build a basic notification first, then update it
    Intent intentNotif = new Intent(this, MainActivity.class);
    intentNotif.setFlags(Intent.FLAG_ACTIVITY_CLEAR_TOP | Intent.FLAG_ACTIVITY_SINGLE_TOP);
    PendingIntent pendIntent = PendingIntent.getActivity(this, 0, intentNotif, PendingIntent.FLAG_UPDATE_CURRENT);

    // notification's layout
    mRemoteViews = new RemoteViews(getPackageName(), R.layout.custom_notification_small);
    // notification's icon
    mRemoteViews.setImageViewResource(R.id.notif_icon, R.drawable.ic_launcher);
    // notification's title
    mRemoteViews.setTextViewText(R.id.notif_title, getResources().getString(R.string.app_name));
    // notification's content
    mRemoteViews.setTextViewText(R.id.notif_content, getResources().getString(R.string.content_text));

    mBuilder = new NotificationCompat.Builder(this);

    CharSequence ticker = getResources().getString(R.string.ticker_text);
    int apiVersion = Build.VERSION.SDK_INT;

    if (apiVersion < VERSION_CODES.HONEYCOMB) {
        mNotification = new Notification(R.drawable.ic_launcher, ticker, System.currentTimeMillis());
        mNotification.contentView = mRemoteViews;
        mNotification.contentIntent = pendIntent;

        mNotification.flags |= Notification.FLAG_NO_CLEAR; //Do not clear the notification
        mNotification.defaults |= Notification.DEFAULT_LIGHTS;

        // starting service with notification in foreground mode
        startForeground(NOTIF_ID, mNotification);

    }else if (apiVersion >= VERSION_CODES.HONEYCOMB) {
        mBuilder.setSmallIcon(R.drawable.ic_launcher)
                .setAutoCancel(false)
                .setOngoing(true)
                .setContentIntent(pendIntent)
                .setContent(mRemoteViews)
                .setTicker(ticker);

        // starting service with notification in foreground mode
        startForeground(NOTIF_ID, mBuilder.build());
    }
}

// use this method to update the Notification's UI
private void updateNotification(){

    int api = Build.VERSION.SDK_INT;
    // update the icon
    mRemoteViews.setImageViewResource(R.id.notif_icon, R.drawable.icon_off2);
    // update the title
    mRemoteViews.setTextViewText(R.id.notif_title, getResources().getString(R.string.new_title));
    // update the content
    mRemoteViews.setTextViewText(R.id.notif_content, getResources().getString(R.string.new_content_text));

    // update the notification
    if (api < VERSION_CODES.HONEYCOMB) {
        mNotificationManager.notify(NOTIF_ID, mNotification);
    }else if (api >= VERSION_CODES.HONEYCOMB) {
        mNotificationManager.notify(NOTIF_ID, mBuilder.build());
    }
}

Layout for the Notification, i.e. res/layout/custom_notification_small.xml:

Hope this example helps you a lot!

NOTE: You can't update the custom NotificationCompat on pre-Honeycomb, so I added an alternative way to update it on pre-Honeycomb, i.e. checking the API level first and use the deprecated Notification instead.