It’s 2025, and Pixels still don’t seem to deliver notifications on time

Fresh reports from Pixel 10 users suggest that Google’s notification woes aren’t going anywhere. Users on Reddit say their new phones are struggling with severely delayed Google Home alerts, with some claiming that notifications only come in after unlocking the device.

If you’re a long-time Pixel user, you probably already know that this isn’t a new problem. Pixel owners have been complaining about delayed notifications for years now, spanning models from the Pixel 4 to the latest Pixel 10 series. It’s become one of those rolling Pixel problems that never seems to fully go away, no matter the software version or hardware generation.

“Got the Pixel 10 Pro on launch, and since then, it is impossible to get notifications on time,” wrote one user. “I have Google Home with camera notifications and Cradlewise for baby notifications, and all the notifications are delayed. Often, I would unlock the phone and see a flurry of notifications from Google Home about camera activity popping up. Funny enough, these notifications are not time-stamped to when the phone was unlocked, but when the event happened.”

Another user added, “Yeah, Doze has always been an issue for me, causing late notifications, but lately, EVERYTHING is delayed. Even text messages won’t actually notify me until I unlock the phone. It’s wild.”

Users suspect, and rightly so, that Android’s Doze and App Standby features are behind notification delays on Pixel phones. Doze is a battery optimization feature introduced years ago to extend standby time by restricting background network activity and CPU access when the device is idle. While it helps improve battery life, it can actually defer app activity, including push notifications.

The feature makes sense for most apps, but it can be a real pain for apps that have to deliver timely alerts, such as those from Google Home, security cameras, or messaging services.

Multiple users report that disabling Doze altogether using ADB (Android Debug Bridge) commands helped fix the delayed notifications problem on their Pixels. However, the process required a PC and some advanced knowledge and needs to be repeated after every restart, which is absolutely not ideal.

The issue still spans multiple Pixel models

As we said before, this isn’t a new problem for Pixel owners. While this new Reddit thread highlights the issue on the Pixel 10 series, reports about delayed notifications on Pixels are recurring. Several other threads on Reddit and Google’s own forums show reports from Pixel owners facing similar issues on their Pixel 9, Pixel 8, Pixel 8a, and even older models.

“My house has all Pixels, various models, and our Home notifications are often delayed if they even show up, and sometimes show up in droves. Is it a Pixel issue, or is it a Home issue?” one commenter asked.

“I had no issues with my 6a, but recently upgraded and get pauses and hiccups all the time now,” another user added.

Despite repeated reports, Google hasn’t issued an official fix for the problem. For now, Pixel users are left to experiment with battery settings, background app permissions, and ADB tweaks to get notifications to work properly, something that shouldn’t be necessary on a flagship phone in 2025.