element-x-android
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element-hq
Since few weeks EXA shows only generic "You have new messages" in notification area
Steps to reproduce
- Where are you starting? What can you see? ntfy 1.17.8 (latest, released on Sep 20 2025) for unifiedpush via adminforge.de Both ntfy and exa are unrestricted for battery, no noticeable delays in receiving messages
- What do you click? Receive any message from anyone
- More steps… I couldn't recall any changes in eax re privacy, the app has necessary permissions in the system. I'm using my account only on mobile.
Please help me to diagnose the issue.
Outcome
What did you expect?
Few updates back (hopeful it's not OS updates) it was actual message content in notification area (and thus on my wearable), like "Hi! How are you?"
What happened instead?
Since few weeks EXA shows only generic "You have new messages" notification and not the actual text of the received message.
Your phone model
Pixel 8a
Operating system version
Android 16
Application version and app store
Element X Android 25.11.0 from github
Homeserver
matrix.org
Will you send logs?
No
Are you willing to provide a PR?
No
I will be happy to share logs if it turns out it's not the OS-caused and there is no obvious/known solution to that.
I've tried to delete ntfy subscription to re-create it, but it hasn't changed anything. All tests shows passed
I've tried to delete ntfy subscription to re-create it, but it hasn't changed anything. All tests shows passed
@onetimecontributor is this how it looks like if you go to Apps -> element-X -> Notifications ?
I've got the same problem, ~~id say for about two weeks(?)~~. Additionally I also sometimes get the "reverse", with one notification showing the same message content twice. I'm using the playstore build v25.11.0 with ntfy as the notification backend.
is this how it looks like if you go to Apps -> element-X -> Notifications ?
As the Pixel UI looks different, the answer would be "no", but also "yes" as all categories are active and notification content is not blocked anywhere.
I'm also using ntfy for unified push and am also only getting a "You have new messages" notification.
When I long press on the notification, I see that it's categorized as "Silent notifications". I wonder if messages started getting miscateorized in a recent update?
Edit: I'm using version 25.10.1 installed via F-Droid. The 2025-11-01 release date on that lines up with about when I started seeing the issue myself.
Edit2: The issue is also there with 20.10.0. But I get messages properly again when I go back to 25.09.2.
For anyone else who wants to downgrade, in F-Droid you have to uninstall then it'll give you the option to install older version from the version list at the bottom. (You'll have to login again, FYI.)
It may be that the change of behavior is caused by Conversations feature/behavior in Notifications (maybe this one https://developer.android.com/develop/ui/views/notifications/conversations). It has something to do to "Silent notifications" and "Not a conversation" settings. I've tried to play with all notification-related settings in Android (smart notification actions etc) and at least some of notifications have started to pass through, though not all. As usually there is no magic, it's primary misunderstanding how advanced features work, I hope I'll figure out my lack of knowledge.
It just started happening on version 25.09.2 now too. Hmm, now I'm really not sure what's going on.
A friend of mine and myself, we have the same issue using SUNUP. I described it here: https://github.com/element-hq/element-x-android/issues/5384 We thought we fixed it after re-registering element-x in sunup, but the issue keeps sneaking back. Most messages are noisy, but some come in silent with the same "You have new messages" notification
Ok, I've checked the changelog, it may be there since Element X Android v25.09.1 and https://github.com/element-hq/element-x-android/pull/5192 "Set shortcut ID on received notifications to make them appear as a Conversation" (to adress https://github.com/element-hq/element-x-android/issues/1547) Now I need to figure out how this thing works to address new behavior)
I can confirm that:
- Closing Element X
- Deleting Every 'Subscribed Topic' in nfty that says
io.element.android.x (Unified Push) - Opening Element X Again
Does get me notifications with message content again, at least temporarily. (Still on 25.09.2, in case it matters.)
One interesting thing I've noticed: Every time I start getting this notification again io.element.android.x has more than one subscribed topic in ntfy.
Is the push history also showing TimelineEvent object has already been destroyed for you?
In case anyone is unaware, the push history can be viewed in the developer settings: Tap the version number at the bottom of the settings 7 times, a new menu named "Developer options" will appear. In there you can find the push history.
Oh, I wish I'd known about that menu sooner.
I'm not seeing that error, but I am seeing a bunch of Unable to resolve event: Unknown Error: error sending request for url (https://$MY_HOME_SERVER/_matrix/client/v3/rooms/$A_ROOM_IM_IN/context/$SOMETHING_RANDOM_LOOKING?limit=0&filter=%7B%22lazy_load_members%22%3Atrue%7D) - Showing fallback notification. Weirdly, I don't see any request in my synapse logs that matches up with that.
I do have other entries in the history that say Success - Push handled successfully for the same room too.
Oh, I see. Then you're probably affected by this issue: https://github.com/element-hq/element-x-android/issues/5647
Yep, that seems to be what I was seeing myself. Thanks for the pointer to that.
Is the push history also showing
TimelineEvent object has already been destroyedfor you?
This error has been mitigated by https://github.com/element-hq/element-x-android/pull/5675, which is included in coming release 25.11.02.
I had to remove previously stored stuff for Element X from ntfy after upgrading and then kill and restart Element X, but then my notifications were fixed.
