Whatsapp notification number incorrect

digitaldreams · 31 Aug 2021 at 21:52

Samsung Galaxy s10 and WhatsApp with all the latest updates. For the first time ever after years of using WhatsApp, the app icon badge count (notification number) is incorrect with every message received !. One new message and it shows "6" on the icon.

Phone restarted and no change. WhatsApp cheekily suggest it's usually a phone issue then go on to suggest uninstalling WhatsApp, clearing the apps data etc (I'm not interested in losing messages or fighting to get backups reinstalled !).

Anyone found a quick fix that works ?, thanks in advance....

Quartz · 31 Aug 2021 at 23:11

The notification for WA is the numb er of WA groups and contacts with new messages, not the number of new messages. If I have a group with 10 new messages it shows up as 1. If I have a contact with 2 new messages it still shows up as 1. Is this different for you?

digitaldreams · 31 Aug 2021 at 23:17

Quartz said:
The notification for WA is the numb er of WA groups and contacts with new messages, not the number of new messages. If I have a group with 10 new messages it shows up as 1. If I have a contact with 2 new messages it still shows up as 1. Is this different for you?

I have no groups at all.

Orcvader · 1 Sep 2021 at 13:49

Is this with the stock Samsung home launcher? Usually they get these numbers by seeing how many notifications the app has.

It would be worth backing up WhatsApp and resetting it, it should be able to restore instantly from the WhatsApp folder on the phone (which should remain even if you uninstall the app), but make sure the Google Drive backup is done first just in case.

Alternative option is to try a different launcher (eg Nova Launcher Prime) and see if the same issue crops up on there.

Confused Stu · 5 Sep 2021 at 17:41

I had a problem where every new message would show a 4 notification. Happened for weeks. Finally realised I had 3 missed calls from my Mum (I never use WhatsApp for calls, so never visited that tab). Clicked on the calls tab, which cleared the notifications, and next new message have me "1" again.

Might be worth checking the 'calls' tab for any notifications hiding there.

Edit:

Quartz said:
The notification for WA is the numb er of WA groups and contacts with new messages, not the number of new messages. If I have a group with 10 new messages it shows up as 1. If I have a contact with 2 new messages it still shows up as 1. Is this different for you?

Mine's the opposite. If there are 28 new messages in the family thread, it'll list 28 in the notification badge on the WhatsApp icon. Wonder if there's a setting to switch between the two?