wi-fi calling: continuous notifications it's available - how to stop it?

[cdl]

I have an unlocked Huawei P20 Pro, dual sim (CLT-L29). Wi-fi calling works with Vodafone, EE and Three, but Vodafone is the only network which causes constant notifications to pop-up on my phone, to let me know that wi-fi calling is available. I could maybe understand that a notification appears the first time I connect to a wi-fi network (even though no such notification appears with the other 2 mobile operators), but why I sometimes get 3 notifications in 5 minutes, when I am 2 metres from the wi-fi router and with a perfect wi-fi signal, is beyond me.

Does this happen to other people? Is it a Vodafone thing? Is it the combination of Vodafone + P20 Pro? Is there a way to stop it?

I limited it this way:

 setting -> apps -> more -> show system processes -> phone -> notifications -> wi-fi calling and disable all the options (display in status bar, etc.)

but some notifications still filter through.

Thanks!

[chistery]

Yes, it's only Vodafone, all other networks work the same way that wifi calling works on any ather phone.

Vodafone tech support just have no interest in resolving it.

[Jfyoung]

My Samsung A40 has the same problem too.

Thing is this is a Vodafone forum and there is nothing but silence from them. 

[Tash]

Hi everyone, apologies that there hasn't been an update on the thread here. 

I was last advised by our dedicated team that the notifications would be different from other network providers as rather than allowing calls when mobile network is still available (WiFi Preferred), we'll keep the call over our network while mobile signal is available (Cellular Preferred). 

Huawei's last feedback to date was that the way their notifications work is that this is by design. We're continuing to chase this up with them for an update or any kind of resolution. Once I hear anything back, I'll post it to the thread here.

[grsbanks]

Natasha, two things come straight to mind.

Firstly, Android was made customisable to hell and back because it is the belief of the development team that the end user should decide what normal behaviour is. Not a network operator or a phone manufacturer, the end user.

Secondly, the fact remains that a Huawei phone with the Vodafone additions to the firmware is ignoring the settings provided by the end user. Android gives you the ability to choose exactly what audio notification you want to hear when Wi-Fi calling becomes available. This series of Huawei phones when running with a Vodafone SIM ignores this setting and plays back the system default sound. This is a bug, pure and simple. There's no other way to put it. It isn't someone deciding exactly what the norm should be, it's a bug. You tell your Android phone to produce a specific sound when Wi-Fi calling becomes available and the phone ignores that choice you make. It is a BUG. It's a bug in the Vodafone-specific part of the phone's firmware that was brought to the attention of Vodafone over a year ago and hasn't even been recognised as such, let alone fixed.

If it is the intended behaviour that a notification is given every time the phone switches from cellular to Wi-Fi then so be it. That is not the basis for the complaint here. What is the basis for the complaint is the fact that it can't be silenced because of the bug.

[voda89]

Have you chased this? I'd never have switched to Vodafone had I know the contract would break my phone. I believe this is grounds for leaving the contract early as you list it as a sim only with no caveats that it can't be used on Huawei phones, everytime I touch my phone or the screen lights up it does a notification sound, I can only use it on silent. This is a major issue I've not had on any other network, I have a Mate 20 Pro. Please escalate this to someone senior.

[grsbanks]

Hi there.

The community has done nothing but chase it for the past 18 months. Vodafone have replied saying basically, "That's how it's supposed to work."

Vodafone will not fix this, that much is obvious now. If you want to terminate the contract early then you will probably have to undertake legal action because they will not agree that the behaviour is incorrect and they will not consider that they are at fault despite all the evidence that flies in the face of their opinion.

[deezle]

Yeah this is really crap. I could really really do with using WiFi calling whilst working from home but the notification Bug drives me crazy.

[hrym]

FWIW, I have a Sony L3 and wifi calling simply appears in the system area at the top right of the screen.  There's no separate notification.   The issue would appear to be the way in which the manufacturer version of Android interacts with the Vodafone SIM.

There has been a similar issue with Bluetooth in some cars, where you get a SIM insertion message every time it disconnects.

[grsbanks]

It is indeed a bug that only appears when using a Vodafone SIM.

It wouldn't be that annoying if there was a way to silence the notifications but, because of another bug, that is not possible. Android lets you choose which notification tone to play back when this specific notification occurs. You can set it to whatever you want but the phone ignores your setting and plays back the system default notification tone regardless of your selection, even if you select "None."

[kofsw4]

I still haven't had a single notification on my Mate 20 Pro since Oct 2019 despite having Wifi calling turned on (i can see the notification in the status bar) and through several phone firmware updates including to EMUI 10 since I did this:

https://forum.vodafone.co.uk/t5/Android/wi-fi-calling-continuous-notifications-it-s-available-how-to...

Prior to this, I was getting the annoying notifications every few minutes.

My phone was bought unlocked/sim free and doesn't seem to have any vodafone specific software other than the My Vodafone app which I installed from the Play Store. If you've already tried the above then maybe flashing a non-vodafone firmware for the phone might fix it?