FamilyTree app - persistent notification dot. How do I dismiss it?

JulianBrown38

In the Android FamilyTree app, I see a red notification dot attached to the main menu hamburger button at the top left of the screen. It has been there continuously for several weeks. I have no notifications or unread chats at present. How do I dismiss it?

sc woz

@JulianBrown38

My first step would be to clear your cache and cookies. This is different depending on which browser you are using. I would go to Trouble shooting help for FamilySearch. See if that helps and if not please advise. Thank you.

Lars van Ravenzwaaij

@sc woz The Android App has nothing to do with a browser. So your suggestion is not helpfull at all as no classic cache or cookies are involved.

@JulianBrown38 I have the same Problem since the last update of the App. Tried "refresh the app" and tried deleting the App with reinstall from the Google App Store. The red dot remains. I simply ignore it. The techs will certainly find a way to solve this bug.

JulianBrown38

@Lars van Ravenzwaaij Thank you for confirming this. This is a relatively trivial issue of inconvenience, but I guess that the point is that it seems to take a post like this (plus moderator intervention) to get the attention of FS Engineering.

Ashlee C.

@JulianBrown38 You say you have no notifications or unread chats. What do you see when you go into the notifications area?

Lars van Ravenzwaaij

@Ashlee C. As I'm seeing the same, I can confirm I have absolutely no unread chats and notifications either. I do have notifications, but none of them are in the bold lettertype which would be if a notification is unread.

JulianBrown38

@Ashlee C. As I have deleted all my notifications, this is what I see:

ColinCameron

I also have the same issue.

I very rarely use the app and only opened it to see if I could add anything to help, only to find I have the same problem.

Lars van Ravenzwaaij

@Ashlee C. To be sure, I've deleted my notifications just like @JulianBrown38 did. It makes no difference. The red dot remains.

Alan E. Brown

@Lars van Ravenzwaaij and @JulianBrown38 , what do you see when you sign in to the FamilySearch website? Specifically, do you see a red dot on either the chat icon or the notification (bell) icon?

If you do, what happens when you click on that icon? Do you see anything appearing unread, and if so, what kind of item is it?

Lars van Ravenzwaaij

@Alan E. Brown No, on the website I don't see the red dot and I don't have unread items there either. IMHO it's simply and only a bug within the Android App created by the last update to version 5.1.2

Edit: I deactived all notifications in the App. Logged out and in. Refreshed the App. Guess what? The red dot still remains.😱 Me thinks the App-Symbolindicator isn't functional any more.

Alan E. Brown

@Lars van Ravenzwaaij Thanks for the info. That is indeed curious. It's certainly not the case that the red dot indicator is simply not functional anymore. It works fine for me with this sequence:

1. I see the red dot indicator on the hamburger icon
2. I open the drawer and see that I have unread chats or notifications (a dot by Chats or a number by Notifications)
3. I read the messages
4. The dot or number goes away in the drawer
5. The dot goes away on the hamburger icon
6. At some later date, the red dot indicator appears again when it should, and I can repeat the above.

That's exactly how it should work and has worked and how it still works for me with version 5.1.2. So there is something about your data (and you are clearly not the only one) that causes the red dot to be shown on the hamburger icon when there are no unread messages. Yet I have checked with my wife and two other friends who use the Android Tree app and it works correctly for them.

P.S. This issue has nothing to do with whether you have enabled or disabled Notifications in the app — that is referring to Android Notifications, which are quite different from FamilySearch Notifications, in spite of the unfortunate reuse of that word. But it was certainly good to sign out and back in and to refresh your data. Those steps showed that it is not a problem with corrupted local data. But what it actually is remains a mystery.

Lars van Ravenzwaaij

@Alan E. Brown What Android version are you on? Mine is 15 on a Samsung SM-S918B.

Out of curiosity a installed the app an my android tablet. There the red dot is also there. The same with my wifes phone an her account. And if you read back, I even tried deinstall and reinstall. Nothing makes a difference.

Are you a LDS-member? I'm not. If yes, there could be something going on there.

BTW, on the website the red dot works for me also as designed.

Alan E. Brown

I and the three people who report it is working correctly are all on Android 15; the devices are OnePlus, 2 Pixels, and a Samsung.

But you might have something with your question about having an LDS Church-linked account. I'll look into that. Thanks for your diligence in seeking a solution.

JulianBrown38

My phone is an older Samsung on Android 13. The app version is current, 5.1.2. I am not a LDS church member.

ColinCameron

My app has now updated to 5.2.0 and the red dot has gone.

Lars van Ravenzwaaij

@ColinCameron @Alan E. Brown @JulianBrown38

I can confirm that the update to 5.2 solved it.

JulianBrown38

The app on my phone also updated to 5.2.0 a couple of days ago, and the red dot had disappeared. I was waiting for a chat and/or a FamilySearch application notification to check whether the app was acting as expected. By today, the app had been updated again to 5.2.1.

Today, I noticed that the app icon on my home screen had a badge displayed indicating an Android notification. I opened the app directly from the home screen, rather than looking at the notifications drop-down list. As I expected, the app's notification dot was showing. On the app's main menu, the Chat item also had a red dot. The dots disappeared once I had opened the incoming Chat. All this is what I was expecting.

However, once I returned to the Android home screen, I noticed that the app icon still had a badge displayed. When I looked at the Android notifications dropdown, I saw that there was a Family Tree notification for a weekly message I get about changes to profiles that I follow. When I opened the app from the home screen again, there was not a red dot to be seen, either on the hamburger menu icon or on the main menu's Notifications item. When I clicked the Notifications item, the message was there.

So, at no time did I see any indication within the app that there was a new FamilySearch message available. Maybe this is another issue.

Lars van Ravenzwaaij

@JulianBrown38 As my phone updated the app just this morning I do have a newer version as you. I now have 5.2.2 (not 5.2.1).

JulianBrown38

I received a FamilySearch notification today (Changes to People You Follow). The number of notifications was shown in red on the app's menu. It disappeared when I looked at the notifications, as did the dot on the hamburger menu.

So, @Ashlee C., it seems that normal service has resumed.

Ashlee C.

@JulianBrown38 I'm glad to hear that! Thanks for letting us know.