Tutorial Android Widget and Notifications

Tutorial: Android Home-Screen Widget & Notifications on macOS

This page covers two distinct features split by platform: adding the Android home-screen widget to glance at your recovery at a glance, and routing notifications to your strap on macOS so you can feel app alerts on your wrist without looking at your Mac.

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Part 1: Android Home-Screen Widget

The NOOP widget sits on your home screen and displays today's recovery (colour-banded), live heart rate, and strap battery — all without draining the app. It updates whenever NOOP syncs new data.

What the widget shows

• Recovery score (e.g. "65%") in a large, colour-coded number
  • Green (≥67) when recovery is strong
  • Orange (34–66) when steady
  • Red (<34) when depleted
• Live heart rate (♥ symbol + BPM) — the most recent reading from your strap
• Battery % (⚡ symbol) — the strap's current charge
• Connection status — "Connected" if live, or the time of the last sync (e.g. "3:42 PM")

Tapping anywhere on the widget opens the NOOP app.

Adding the widget to your home screen

On Android 8 (API 26) or later:

1. Press and hold your home screen until the customization menu appears.
2. Tap the "+" button (or "Add widgets" / "Widgets" depending on your OEM).
3. Search for "NOOP" in the widget list.
4. You'll see "NOOP widget" — tap and hold it, then drag it to a spot on your home screen (or tap to place).
5. Release. The widget appears and immediately shows your latest recovery, heart rate, and battery.

If NOOP hasn't synced any data yet, the widget shows "—" for metrics and "Open NOOP to connect."

What's shown in the widget

The widget pulls from a snapshot of your latest metrics — not live, not pulling from the database every second. This snapshot updates whenever:

• NOOP connects and offloads a new night's data.
• You manually sync (pull-to-refresh, or tap the strap status in Data Sources).
• The app runs any routine re-analysis.

The snapshot includes:

• Recovery score (if one exists for today)
• Smoothed heart rate (if your strap is connected)
• Strap battery level (if your strap is bonded)
• Timestamp of the last update

If your strap is offline, the widget shows the time of the last sync ("3:42 PM") so you know when the data aged.

Why the widget doesn't drain the battery

NOOP's widget is read-only — it pulls data from a cached snapshot in Android SharedPreferences, not from the SQLite database or Bluetooth. This means:

• The widget works even if the app is closed or backgrounded.
• It costs zero CPU, zero database queries, zero BLE overhead.
• It updates via the app's existing sync cycle — there's no separate widget watcher.

That's why you can glance at recovery and battery without any performance cost.

Troubleshooting the widget

Widget shows "—" or old data:

• Open the NOOP app and connect your strap (tap Live, then Scan & Connect).
• Go to Data Sources and check the strap status — it should say "Connected" or "Bonded".
• Once synced, the widget updates within seconds.

Widget doesn't appear in the widget menu:

• Confirm you're running NOOP v1.69+.
• On some OEMs (Samsung, Huawei), you may need to restart your device for the widget to register.
• Try removing and re-adding the app from the home screen — the widget catalog refreshes on app install.

Widget shows wrong recovery or heart rate:

• This is the snapshot — it updates when NOOP syncs. Go to Data Sources and verify your strap is bonded and recently synced.
• If the app shows correct data but the widget lags, wait a few seconds for the snapshot to write.

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Part 2: Notifications on macOS

Route notifications from your Mac apps (Mail, Slack, Teams, Messages, etc.) to your WHOOP strap so you feel a buzz on your wrist instead of glancing at the screen.

Status: Configuration (per-app choices, patterns, quiet hours) is saved now. Wrist delivery is coming in an update — the settings screen explains that delivery needs a small on-device notification listener to read macOS system notifications, which is nearly complete. Your choices apply automatically once it ships. Everything runs on this Mac.

What you can buzz for

NOOP auto-discovers notification-capable apps on your Mac and groups them:

Category	Apps
Email	Mail, Outlook, others
Messaging	Slack, WhatsApp, Messages, Telegram, Discord, Signal, Messenger, others
Meetings & Calls	Teams, Zoom, FaceTime, others
Calendar & Reminders	Calendar, Reminders, others

Only apps installed on your Mac appear.

Setting up wrist alerts

1. Open NOOP and go to Settings → Notifications.

You'll see three sections: Wrist alerts, app categories, and Behaviour.

2. Enable the master "Wrist alerts" toggle.

This gates all buzzing. Until it's on, nothing happens (even if you enable individual apps). You'll see:

• A status pill showing whether your strap is "Connected", "Idle", or "Not connected".
• A count of how many apps are enabled.
• A "Test buzz" button (only works if your strap is bonded and connected).

3. Choose which apps buzz your wrist.

Under each category (Email, Messaging, etc.), you'll see installed apps with toggles. Flip the toggle on for any app you want to feel on your wrist.

When an app is enabled:

• A pattern picker appears — choose Single, Double, Triple, or Long to customize the buzz feel.
• A test button (▶ icon) lets you fire a test buzz immediately so you know what it feels like.

Example: flip Slack to on, pick Triple (three buzzes), and test it to confirm you like the pattern.

4. Set quiet hours (optional).

Flip "Quiet hours" on to mute wrist buzzes overnight. Set From and To times (e.g. 22:00 to 07:00 so you sleep undisturbed).

Scroll down to the Behaviour section:

• Tap the From time to pick when quiet hours start.
• Tap the To time to pick when they end.

During quiet hours, no notifications buzz your wrist — but they still arrive in the app normally.

5. (Optional) Enable "Only buzz when worn".

Flip this on if you take your strap off sometimes. When it's on, NOOP skips wrist alerts if the strap isn't on your wrist (detected via the strap's motion sensor).

Buzz patterns explained

When an app notifies you and "Wrist alerts" is enabled, NOOP buzzes your strap with the pattern you chose:

Pattern	Feel	Good for
Single	One buzz	Quick glance — low priority
Double	Two buzzes	Default; standard notification
Triple	Three buzzes	Important / meeting starting
Long	Five buzzes (longer loop)	Urgent; breaks through noise

Test before you set a pattern in the wild — if you pick Long for every app, you'll feel exhausted.

How to grant Notification Access (required for delivery)

Once the on-device delivery ships, NOOP will need Notification Access so it can read which app notified you. This is a one-time setup:

1. Open System Settings (macOS System Preferences on older versions).
2. Search for Notifications in the settings search bar (or go to Privacy & Security → Notifications).
3. You'll see a list of apps; look for NOOP in the list.
4. If NOOP is not listed, click the + button and browse to /Applications/NOOP.app, then select it.
5. Once NOOP appears, ensure the Allow checkbox is checked.

After this, NOOP can read your notifications and buzz your strap when your rules say to. Nothing leaves your Mac — NOOP is sandboxed and reads only notification metadata (app name, title, priority), never contents.

What triggers a buzz?

NOOP buzzes your wrist when:

1. An app you've enabled fires a notification (e.g. a new message in Slack, an email in Mail).
2. Your strap is bonded and connected (Wrist alerts master toggle is on).
3. The strap is on your wrist (if "Only buzz when worn" is on).
4. It's outside quiet hours (if quiet hours are enabled).

The buzz fires with the pattern you chose for that app. If multiple notifications arrive while the strap is buzzing, they queue.

Testing a pattern before enabling it

Before you commit an app to always buzz, fire a test:

1. In the Notifications screen, enable an app and pick a pattern.
2. Put your strap on and make sure it's bonded (check the connection pill — it should say "Strap connected" or "Strap idle").
3. Click the test button (▶) next to the pattern.
4. Feel the buzz. Does it feel right? Too strong? Too subtle?
5. If not, pick a different pattern and test again.

Once you're happy, leave it enabled. From then on, every notification from that app buzzes that pattern.

Disabling wrist alerts

To turn off just one app: flip its toggle off in its category card. It won't buzz anymore, but other apps still do.

To turn off all buzzing: flip the master "Wrist alerts" toggle at the top. All apps are silenced instantly, but your per-app settings are saved. Flip it back on to resume.

To turn off quiet hours: flip the "Quiet hours" toggle off in the Behaviour section. Buzzes run 24/7.

Troubleshooting

"Test buzz" button is greyed out:

• Your strap is not bonded or not connected. Open Live, tap Scan & Connect, and wait for it to bond (the status pill should turn green or turn into "Strap idle"). Then try the test again.

Strap buzzes but no notification happened (or vice versa):

• Notification Access not granted: follow "How to grant Notification Access" above. Until NOOP can read your notifications, buzzing won't work.
• App is muted in macOS: check System Settings → Notifications for the specific app. If its notifications are off or set to "Off", NOOP won't see them.

Buzzing feels inconsistent or delayed:

• Quiet hours are active: check the time and your From/To settings. If the current time is inside quiet hours, buzzing is muted.
• Strap is off your wrist: if "Only buzz when worn" is on, NOOP silences buzzes when the strap detects it's not being worn.
• Strap is offline: if the strap is bonded but not connected, buzzing is queued until the strap reconnects. Check Settings → Strap → Re-scan to reconnect.

I don't see my app in the list:

• NOOP scans for apps at startup. If you installed a new app after opening NOOP, restart the app (close and re-open) to see it in the Notifications settings.
• If the app is there but greyed out, the master "Wrist alerts" toggle is off. Flip it on.

Platform note: macOS vs. Android

macOS (this section):

• Per-app notification routing via a curated list of common Mac apps (Mail, Slack, Teams, etc.).
• Buzz patterns customized per app.
• Quiet hours to mute overnight buzzes.
• "Only buzz when worn" to respect your presence.
• Delivery coming in an update — once it ships, every notification you get in those apps will buzz your strap.

Android:

• No per-app notification routing yet (incoming in a future release).
• Focus on calls (phone + VoIP) instead — tap your wrist for incoming calls, with best-effort VoIP detection.

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Cross-platform tips

Combine with automations

On macOS, Automations has its own haptic features (HR-zone coaching, resting-stress nudge, smart alarm). Notifications are separate — they let you feel app alerts. You can use both:

• Automations buzzes you when you hit zone 5 during a workout (coaching).
• Notifications buzzes you when Slack messages arrive (alert routing).

Both respect "Only buzz when worn" and quiet hours globally.

Using with Apple Health data

Notifications and the widget don't depend on your WHOOP export or Apple Health import — they work from live strap data. But if you've imported data, the widget may show recovery from your latest day, which updates once the app re-analyzes your night.

See also

• Strap Support and Pairing — how to bond your strap on macOS or Android.
• Getting Started — first-run onboarding and what to expect.
• Features — overview of all screens and what each does.
• Troubleshooting — common issues with connection, syncing, and scoring.

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Disclaimer

Not affiliated with WHOOP. NOOP is independent interoperability software. "WHOOP" is used only to identify the hardware NOOP talks to. NOOP is not a medical device; every metric (HR, HRV, recovery, strain, sleep) is an approximation and must not be used to diagnose or treat. Notifications and widgets are convenience features, not health alerts.