Touch and hold Notification previews have stopped working. (Instagram and Twitter photo notifications)

Question

Level 1

22 points

Touch and hold Notification previews have stopped working. (Instagram and Twitter photo notifications)

Since the last few updates, touch and hold Notification previews have stopped working on my iPhone and also on my iPad. I use Instagram and Twitter push notifications where most of them are photo notifications. Before I used to just hold the notification for one second and it would show me a preview of the full photo. But now when I touch and hold, it tries to open the notification but then immediately collapses. Only when there’s some text in a Twitter notification, it opens but for photo notifications it just won’t open.

I have checked my settings and in the notification settings I have show previews turned on for when my device is unlocked. I’ve even tried setting it to always but that didn’t solve it either. I have even tried uninstalling and then reinstalling Instagram and Twitter but without any luck.

iPhone 12 Mini

iPad Pro 11 (3rd gen)

Software version 14.7.1

iPhone 12 mini, iOS 14

Posted on Aug 7, 2021 6:56 PM

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Answer 1

Eric_G1

Community Specialist

Aug 8, 2021 1:28 PM in response to iayan7

Hi iayan7,

We see you're having some issues with notifications, and we'd be happy to help get that headed in the right direction.

As it's occurring across multiple devices, and with select notifications, it's possible that this may be something the developer of the apps would be able to provide guidance on. This page can help with reaching out to an app's developer: How to contact an app developer

However, you may also try a few different things first. Sometimes restarting the device may help with software issues, by giving it a quick refresh: Restart your iPhone

You can also try swiping left on the notification, select View, and see if the same expected action is available here: View and respond to notifications on iPad

Lastly, be sure to check for any available updates in the App Store for the affected apps. You may also try uninstalling and reinstalling them as well: Delete apps on your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch

Take care.

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Answer 2

tohaklim

Level 1

16 points

Aug 25, 2021 1:54 PM in response to iayan7

I am also seeing the same behaviour with the Instagram app, both on iPhone X and 6s running 14.7.1.

On the 6s, the notifications opened correctly (with the image preview) before an update to version 201.0 (which contained "bug fixes and performance improvements", as usual - they should get updates rejected for not doing proper change logs). I am yet to test version 202.

My assumption is this is some sort of growth hacking by Instagram (and presumably Twitter) to force app launches, or an honest bug. Doesn't seem to be iOS related

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Answer 3

iayan7 Author

Level 1

22 points

Sep 7, 2021 3:20 PM in response to iayan7

Fortunately, it's been fixed on the latest 204.0 version.

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Answer 4

tohaklim

Level 1

16 points

Sep 8, 2021 4:43 AM in response to iayan7

Yep, can confirm on my two devices as well - maybe spamming their feedback channels does help

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Answer 5

iayan7 Author

Level 1

22 points

Aug 25, 2021 7:54 PM in response to tohaklim

Twitter is working now it seems. But one update after the other, instagram is not fixing it. This is so annoying. I used to just glace and close push notifications and only used to open the ones that really caught my attention but too bad instagram is not fixing it. And the weird thing is not many people are talking about it. Instagram is a big platform for a lot of celebs and influencers. How come nobody is talking about this bug? This is driving me crazy as I use instagram every minute. By the way I just checked the same thing on my Android 11 device and they have implemented the same features as iOS. And on Android 11 this feature is working just fine. Go figure!

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Answer 6

tohaklim

Level 1

16 points

Aug 26, 2021 2:54 AM in response to iayan7

Well, maybe the plan is working and people that are really hooked on Instagram simply open the app to see the content. Or they are technically-minded/bothered, and just fed back to Instagram, who are probably automatically sending all bug reports to the bin.

Either way you're stuck with the official Instagram app since they limited their API. Gotta pay the price for free content.

Andoid has a very different notification stack, and mine also works on Android 6/7, so maybe they haven't figured out how to disable full previews there

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