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Whispr v1.1.11 — Whispr v1.1.11 — quieter background notification

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@pointbreaklab-byte pointbreaklab-byte released this 07 May 11:27
· 80 commits to main since this release
v1.1.11
35bedd0

Quieter notifications

The persistent "Whispr" notification can't be removed entirely —
foreground services on Android 8+ are legally required to show one,
and Whispr's serverless model means we run our own Tor + BLE mesh
daemons (no Google Play Services / FCM piggyback like WhatsApp). But
this release pushes it as close to invisible as the platform allows.

What changed

Both the Tor keepalive and BLE mesh foreground services now emit
notifications with the full minimization stack:

  • IMPORTANCE_MIN channel — drops out of the status bar icon row,
    no heads-up, no peek, no sound, no vibration.
  • VISIBILITY_SECRET — hidden from the lock screen entirely.
  • setSilent(true) + setLocalOnly(true) + setOnlyAlertOnce(true)
    — explicit "do not alert, do not mirror to wearables".
  • setShowWhen(false) — no timestamp.
  • Channel-level enableLights(false), enableVibration(false),
    setSound(null, null), setShowBadge(false).
  • Bare Whispr text — no descriptive subtitle (was "Routing
    privately · tap to open" / "Encrypted messaging active").
  • Neutral lock icon instead of the share-arrow icon.

Result on stock Android: the notification only appears at the
bottom of the notification shade if the user pulls it down and
scrolls. No status-bar icon, no lock-screen entry, no sound or
buzz. Closer to WhatsApp's UX without giving up serverless privacy.

What this can't fix

  • Aggressive OEMs (Xiaomi MIUI, Samsung One UI, Honor MagicOS)
    sometimes ignore IMPORTANCE_MIN and force-show foreground
    notifications. We can't override this without going server-side
    (FCM relay = adds infrastructure + a "who's online when"
    metadata leak).
  • Android 14+ in some configurations explicitly requires
    foreground services to show a visible notification. Stock
    behaviour on 14+ honours IMPORTANCE_MIN, but vendor variants
    may not.

Verification

  • Architecture: arm64-v8a
  • Signed: release keystore (CN=Whispr)

SHA-256: d36d8c8f3d6878b4f0af87a788fbc679a85758042ab749d9ff3ad166233d67a0

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