Android 11 brings with it a new way of dealing with notifications. They’re called Chat Bubbles and work just like the Chat Heads you might well be familiar with from Facebook Messenger.
Upgrading to Android 11 appears to have ‘broken’ Chat Heads for Messenger users so here’s how to fix it. It’s not broken as such, but switches off this functionality by default with no warning.
This simple guide will get you back up and running and as a bonus, you can switch it on for other apps too like WhatsApp and Slack to get the same experience.
How to enable Chat Bubbles
If you get a new notification that supports the feature, then you’ll see a circle icon at the bottom-right. Tap it and you’ll immediately get a Chat Bubble, easy.
No notification? No problem, as you can control all of this in the settings.
- Open settings
- Click Apps and notifications
- Click ‘See all apps’ if the one you want isn’t under recent
- Select the app you want
- Click notifications
- Click Bubbles
- Then choose from ‘All’ or ‘Selected’ conversations
An easier way from Facebook Messenger is to tap on your profile icon to reveal the menu, scroll down to the Preferences section and click on Bubbles. This is essentially a shortcut to the same place.
If you want to bubble a conversation, open it, click the ‘i’ icon at the top-right, then hit the three dots that are in the same spot and select ‘Show as bubble’.
If there’s a particular conversation you don’t want to bubble then open it, click ‘Manage’ in the bottom-left and choose ‘Don’t bubble conversation’.
Author: Chris Martin, Reviews Editor, Tech Advisor
Chris got his break as a reporter at infamous site The Inquirer and has been at Tech Advisor for more than 12 years. With a BA degree in Music Technology, audio is his specialism, but over the years he has reviewed all kinds of gadgets, from smartwatches to mesh Wi-Fi to coffee machines.