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Handle On-Call on Android

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Download our mobile app

If you would like the best possible experience as a responder, download the Harness On-Call app for Android.

When you are paged, we try to contact you according to your notification rules. By default, assuming you have enabled them, this will include:

  • Email
  • Slack
  • Push notifications to your phone
  • SMS messages
  • Phone calls

Receive notifications during Do Not Disturb​

For push notifications, phone calls, and SMS messages, there are steps you can take to ensure you get notified, regardless of how your phone's silent mode and Do Not Disturb settings are set up.

Save the Harness On-Call contact to your phone​

Add the Harness On-Call contact and mark it as a favorite so it can bypass silent mode:

  1. Download and save the Harness On-Call contact card to your contacts.
  2. Open the Contacts app and find the contact you just saved.
  3. Favorite the contact by tapping the star icon.

Configure Do Not Disturb exceptions​

Allow your favorite contacts to interrupt Do Not Disturb:

  1. Open the Settings app and search for Do Not Disturb.
  2. If you have Do Not Disturb enabled, go to Exceptions > Calls and/or Messages and allow Do Not Disturb exceptions for Favorite contacts only (this should have been done in step 3 above).

Note: Depending on your Android version, you may need to tap People and then, for both Message and Calls, ensure that Starred contacts can interrupt.

Grant Do Not Disturb access to Harness On-Call​

The Harness On-Call app can temporarily unmute your phone when sending critical notifications if you grant it Do Not Disturb access:

  1. Open the Settings app.
  2. Go to Apps or Applications.
  3. Find and tap Harness On-Call.
  4. Tap Notifications.
  5. Look for Do Not Disturb access or Override Do Not Disturb and enable it.
  6. If prompted, allow Harness On-Call to access Do Not Disturb settings.

How this works: When you receive a critical notification, and provided Harness On-Call has Do Not Disturb access, the app temporarily unmutes your phone and then sends the notification. The app re-mutes your phone 60 seconds later.

Note: If the app does not have Do Not Disturb access, it falls back to playing the sound using your alarm volume.

Samsung Focus modes​

Some Samsung devices have a feature called Focus modes which can add additional rules to your Do Not Disturb settings. If you are not receiving notifications while in a Focus mode (such as "Work" or "Sleep"), then you need to:

  1. Go to Settings > Modes and Routines.
  2. Select the Focus mode you use (e.g., "Sleep" or "Work").
  3. Edit the Do Not Disturb settings for that specific Focus mode.
  4. Add Harness On-Call to the Allowed Apps section.

Work profile setup​

If you are using Harness On-Call in a work profile and want to use the mute switch bypass feature, a workaround is available:

  1. Install Harness On-Call in a personal profile (outside the work profile).
  2. Grant Do Not Disturb access to the app in the personal profile.
  3. You do not need to sign in on the personal profile.
  4. This should allow the work profile to get that permission as well.

Customize notification sounds​

You can customize sounds for each notification channel through your device settings, using ringtones installed on your phone. To do this:

  1. Open Settings.
  2. Go to Apps or Applications.
  3. Find and tap Harness On-Call.
  4. Tap Notifications.
  5. Select the notification channel you want to customize (e.g., "Incident Alerts", "Escalations").
  6. Tap Sound and choose your preferred ringtone.

If you want a notification to make a sound for a long time, consider using longer ringtones or custom alert tones.

Test your setup​

After configuring these settings, test your notification setup:

  1. Open the Harness AI SRE module on the web.
  2. Go to On-Call from the menu, then the contact settings.
  3. Tap Test.
  4. Enable Do Not Disturb mode on your phone.
  5. Send a test notification to confirm it comes through with sound.

Important: If the test notification does not make a sound while in Do Not Disturb, double-check that you have:

  • Starred or favorited the Harness contact.
  • Allowed starred contacts to bypass Do Not Disturb in your Do Not Disturb exceptions.
  • Granted Do Not Disturb access to the Harness On-Call app.

Important notes about Android behavior​

Note the following:

  • If your phone was on silent before receiving a notification, Harness On-Call reverts it to vibrate mode rather than silent. This is due to an Android system limitation where the app cannot set your phone back to silent without inadvertently enabling Do Not Disturb.
  • Battery optimization settings can interfere with notification delivery. Make sure Harness On-Call is exempt from battery optimization in your phone's settings.
  • Some manufacturers (Samsung, Xiaomi, Huawei, OnePlus) have aggressive background process management that may affect notifications. You may need to add Harness On-Call to protected or allowed apps.

Device-specific instructions​

Samsung devices​

  1. Go to Settings > Apps > Harness On-Call > Battery.
  2. Select Unrestricted for background battery usage.
  3. Go to Settings > Device care > Battery > Background usage limits.
  4. Ensure Harness On-Call is NOT in the "Sleeping apps" or "Deep sleeping apps" lists.

Xiaomi and MIUI devices​

  1. Go to Settings > Apps > Manage apps > Harness On-Call.
  2. Enable Autostart.
  3. Under Battery saver, select No restrictions.
  4. Go to Settings > Notifications > Harness On-Call and ensure all channels are enabled.

OnePlus devices​

  1. Go to Settings > Apps > Harness On-Call > Battery.
  2. Select do not optimize.
  3. Enable Allow background activity.

Google Pixel devices​

  1. Go to Settings > Apps > Harness On-Call > Battery.
  2. Select Unrestricted.

Troubleshooting​

I am not receiving Harness On-Call notifications on my Android device.

Verify notification permissions are enabled for Harness On-Call, star the Harness contact and allow starred contacts to bypass Do Not Disturb, grant the app Do Not Disturb access, check battery optimization settings, confirm the device has internet, restart the app, review Focus mode or Modes and Routines settings on Samsung devices, and confirm you are logged into the correct Harness organization.

Harness On-Call notifications do not play a sound on Android while Do Not Disturb is enabled

Star the Harness contact, allow starred contacts to bypass Do Not Disturb, and grant the Harness On-Call app Do Not Disturb access.

If issues persist, contact support through the app or email support@harness.io.

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