Auto Unstack

Automatically expands grouped Samsung notifications using Android Accessibility Service.

Auto Unstack is a lightweight utility that monitors the notification shade and automatically expands grouped notification stacks on Samsung devices. Never miss notifications hidden behind a badge count again.

Features

• 🔄 Automatic expansion — Grouped notifications expand instantly when the notification shade opens
• 🔒 Lock-screen safe — Does nothing while the device is locked (avoids PIN pad / lock-screen conflicts)
• 🔋 Lightweight — Minimal battery impact with smart event filtering
• 🛡️ Privacy-first — No personal data collection or network access
• ⚙️ Simple settings — Single toggle to enable/disable
• 📱 Kotlin + Compose — Modern, maintainable Android code

How It Works

Auto Unstack uses Android's AccessibilityService to:

1. Skip all processing while the keyguard is locked
2. Monitor the notification shade when SystemUI is the active window
3. Detect numeric badges on grouped notifications (e.g., "2", "5", "12")
4. Identify clickable notification containers on the right side of the screen
5. Automatically tap once per shade open to expand grouped stacks
6. Ignore further events until the shade is dismissed (prevents re-open loops)

The service only acts when the unlocked notification shade is active. After expanding, it waits until you close the shade before acting again.

Accessibility Permission

This app requires the Accessibility Service permission to:

• Monitor notification shade state changes
• Access notification UI hierarchy
• Simulate user taps on notifications

This permission does NOT allow:

• Reading notification content or sensitive data
• Interfering with other app functionality
• Background activity outside the notification shade

See Android Accessibility Service documentation for more details.

Privacy Statement

Auto Unstack collects NO personal data:

• No analytics tracking
• No crash reporting with personal info
• No network requests
• No telemetry
• All processing happens locally on your device

The app only accesses:

• Notification UI structure (to find badges)
• Notification shade state
• Keyguard / lock state (to avoid acting on the lock screen)
• Screen dimensions

Installation

From APK

1. Download the latest app-release.apk from Releases
2. Enable Unknown Sources in Settings → Security (if needed)
3. Install the APK on your device
4. Open Auto Unstack and enable the service
5. Enable Accessibility Service in Settings → Accessibility → Auto Unstack

From Source

See Build Instructions below.

Usage

1. Install and open the app
2. Enable the toggle — "Enable Auto Unstack" in the app settings
3. Enable Accessibility Service — Go to Settings → Accessibility → Auto Unstack → toggle on
4. Pull down notification shade — Grouped notifications will expand automatically

That's it! The service runs in the background and monitors your notification shade.

Battery Optimization (Samsung)

On Samsung devices, battery optimization may block the Accessibility Service. If Auto Unstack stops working:

1. Go to Settings → Apps → Battery → Battery Optimization
2. Find "Auto Unstack"
3. Select "Don't optimize" or remove from optimization list
4. Restart the app

Build Instructions

Requirements

• Android Studio Koala or later
• Android SDK 29+ (for compilation)
• Kotlin 2.0+
• Gradle 9.4+

Building Debug APK

./gradlew assembleDebug

Output: app/build/outputs/apk/debug/app-debug.apk

Building Release APK

First, create a keystore (if you haven't already):

keytool -genkey -v -keystore auto-unstack-key.jks \
  -keyalg RSA -keysize 2048 -validity 10000 \
  -alias auto-unstack

Then, set environment variables and build:

export KEYSTORE_PATH=auto-unstack-key.jks
export KEYSTORE_PASSWORD=your_password
export KEY_ALIAS=auto-unstack
export KEY_PASSWORD=your_key_password

./gradlew assembleRelease

Output: app/build/outputs/apk/release/app-release.apk

Tech Stack

• Language: Kotlin
• UI Framework: Jetpack Compose
• Accessibility: Android AccessibilityService
• Storage: SharedPreferences
• Minimum API: 29
• Target API: 35

Project Structure

auto-unstack/
├── app/
│   ├── src/main/
│   │   ├── java/com/autounstack/app/
│   │   │   ├── MainActivity.kt           # Settings screen (Compose)
│   │   │   ├── NotificationExpandService.kt  # Core service
│   │   │   └── PreferencesManager.kt     # SharedPreferences wrapper
│   │   ├── res/xml/
│   │   │   └── accessibility_service_config.xml  # Service configuration
│   │   └── AndroidManifest.xml
│   └── build.gradle.kts
├── build.gradle.kts
├── gradle.properties
├── README.md
├── LICENSE
└── CONTRIBUTING.md

Limitations

• Works with Samsung notifications — Designed specifically for Samsung's grouped notification stacks
• Requires Accessibility Service — Cannot function without this permission
• Unlocked shade only — Does not expand stacks on the lock screen; pull down the shade after unlocking
• Limited to notification shade — Does not work when the shade is closed
• No root required — Uses standard Android Accessibility APIs

Known Issues

• Battery optimization may interfere on some Samsung devices (see Battery Optimization)
• Some third-party notification managers may not be compatible

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License. See LICENSE file for details.

Contributing

See CONTRIBUTING.md for guidelines.

Disclaimer

This app is provided "as-is" without warranty. Use at your own risk. The developer is not responsible for any device damage or data loss resulting from the use of this app.

Contact

Have questions or found a bug? Open an issue on GitHub.

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Made with ❤️ for Samsung users who hate grouped notifications