Notification about a new message while in the message-list view

[StR]

Kostya,

I had observed this situation before, but hadn't paid attention how it was happening. Yesterday, I had a chance of taking a note about that.

I am on mobile network and the automatic synchronization is disabled through settings.
I am in the message-list view (Inbox). I manually sync by pulling and releasing at the top of the list. Aquamail syncs and gets one new message (actually, only the first 5 kB). There is a notification in the status bar for that message.
That seems to be a normal logic: new message yields a notification.
(Just in case: pulling down the notifications screen and pushing it back up didn't clear the notification.)

Lets compare it to a different "standard" scenario. A scheduled sync brings in two new messages, and a notification appears in the status bar (while I am not in Aquamail at all). I open the notification, and press on it. That gets me to the message list view. The notification is gone (yet before I open the actual message).

So, we get two different situations leading to the same state: being in the message-list view with new message(s), and in one case the notification is there, in the other, - not.
(I haven't seen if it would be the same if I had more than one message in the first case.)


Since that, I've actually tested that being on mobile network is irrelevant. It's only the sync (manual or automatic) happening while the screen is on and I am in the message-list view is what matters. 
Yet another observation: switching off the screen and then switching it back on (thus getting back to the message list view) clears the notification.  So, if syncing happened while the screen was off, but the phone was on the message-list view screen, unlocking the screen clears that notification off.

So, essentially, the apparent "inconsistency" is due to unlocking of the lock screen event clearing the message notification: If the screen is active, there is a notification, if a time out happens, and the screen lock comes on, the notification will not be there when I get back to that screen.
And there is a secondary "inconsistency": if you get to the message list view after the notification is posted, that clears that notification.

I see these possible solutions:
1. If Aquamail is on the message-list view of the particular folder (inbox), the notification should not be posted, or it is posted only for a limited period of time, if during that time you are still on that view.
If not:
2. The screen-lock opening (or whatever actually preceding that event) should not clear the notification. {*}

------
{*} I understand that from the OS/apps point of view, it is switching from a different app (screen lock) to Aquamail. But for the user it feels: I was in this view, I turned off the screen to save the battery while ....  (or it timed out), and I am turning the phone on, so, I should be back in exactly the same state.


Obviously, this issue is very minor. But my OCD is voting for consistency.

[Kostya Vasilyev]

Yes, a notification about one message will take you to that message.

A notification about two or more messages in same folder will take you to that folder's message list.

A notification about two or more messages in different folders will take you to the app's main screen and expand the account.

--

Normally, the app doesn't post notifications while it's open on the screen, since the user is "driving" the app, he/she knows what he's doing (i.e. refreshing a particular folder or account and watching the message list or counts in the account list).

--

Locking the screen is one of the several types of "suspending" an Android app -- and unlocking the screen then results in a "resumt" event (the app came up on the screen).

And AquaMail does clear its upon the resume event (this too would be triggered if you previously exited it with Back or minimized with Home).

[StR]

(oops, I see that my original post got mis-formatted)

Normally, the app doesn't post notifications while it's open on the screen, since the user is "driving" the app, he/she knows what he's doing (i.e. refreshing a particular folder or account and watching the message list or counts in the account list).

I am not sure if by "normally" you mean the default settings (I may have changed that, I don't remember and would need to check that), or the expected behavior. It consistently does in my case.

[Kostya Vasilyev]

I mean with default settings. You must have enabled app settings -> message notifications -> "when the app active"

( maybe could use better wording, "when the app is open" )

[StR]

Yes, I have enabled that.
The rational is to be aware of the new messages arriving to other accounts while I am reading or composing message(s) in one of the accounts.

So, my suggestion in the original message in this thread is essentially to have the behavior of Aquamail with respect to the notification to be consistent throughout.

I.e. with the notifications enabled "when the app {is} active", if I am in the view (state) to which pressing on the notification would've brought me (i.e. the view/state that would clear that notification if the app had not been open at the time of notification), the notification should not appear. (At the same time, notifications for other accounts/folders should show up.)
An alternative (albeit somewhat weaker one) would be to have that notification disappearing quickly, say, within N seconds (N=3? 5?) if I am still on that view.