With this app, any device can get the new heads-up notifications introduced in the new Android 5.0 “Lollipop”. I already had most of the code I needed to fetch and display the notifications in another project I’m working on, so I got the app ready for launch in no time. During the first week, the app was downloaded over 5 000 times, and now it’s racing past 100 000 active users. How is that possible? As I Love Free Software put it:
The final implementation in Android Lollipop is only partial and doesn’t display notifications from all apps. This app, however, will give you heads-up even on old versions of Android. Not just that, you can customize the looks and tweak it to your liking as well.
Hi everyone!
As you might have noticed, I don’t really have time to work on Heads-up anymore. Heads-up will keep working, but I won’t add any new features. Maybe someday in the future, but right now I’ve got too much other exciting stuff going on :)
I’d like to say thank you for using Heads-up, leaving over 30,000 awesome reviews on Google Play, sending me thousands of emails with feedback, and translating it into 30 languages. And of course a huge thank you to those who donated as well!
Seems like you’ve been busy telling your friends about Heads-up too, we’ve been getting over 1,000 new users daily for a total of over a million downloads!
I’d never be able to pull this off without you!
Cheers, Simen
What does it do, exactly?
Displays the latest notification as a floating popup, complete with full text and quick actions (4.1+). Works on everything running Android 3.1 and newer. You’re in charge: five pages of customization means you’ll get notified your way. Pocket detection / active display - when you get a text, it’ll turn the screen on if you take your phone out of your pocket! (Kinda like AcDisplay. Note: this causes a tiny increase in battery usage if you get a ton of notifications) Privacy on the lock screen (and in general - this app doesn’t even have internet permission, so it can’t send your private data anywhere) Oh, and it’s known to work on rooted smartwatches.
Does it speak my language?
Heads-up notifications is available in almost 30 languages! If you want to help translate, head to Crowdin. Email me if you need help translating.
Problems?
If no popups appear, please make sure that Heads-up shows up in the list of running services. If it doesn’t, make sure you have enabled the service, and then reboot the phone.
If your device is running Android 4.2 or earlier, and you have other accessibility services running (such as Pushbullet), they might block Heads-up from receiving your notifications. Please try to disable them if Heads-up doesn’t work.
Huawei, XIAOMI and MIUI users: please allow Heads-up to display popups under Settings > Apps > Downloaded > Heads-up. It might also be necessary to reset the app data/settings.
Uninstalling: If you find that the uninstall button is disabled, go to System Settings > Security > Device administrators > Heads-up, and tap Disable.
Other: Facebook Messenger, AcDisplay and PushBullet notification mirroring conflicts with Heads-up. And no, it doesn’t display more than the latest notification (after all, this is meant for instant notifications when using the device, not as a lock screen).
If you experience any issues not solved by the above help page, or have feature requests, head to the GitHub issue page.
If the app crashes, please tap ‘Report’, then ‘Send’. This makes it far easier to find and fix the issue.
Open-source
Heads-up is open-source! If you want to help out, jump in at GitHub/SimenCodes/heads-up/