Add Optional minimal foreground notification for Android

[Samuel12321]

Issue Details

AdGuard runs as a foreground VPN service, so it must show a persistent notification.
However, the current notification is large, interactive (Disable / Assistant buttons), and displays live stats. This makes it easy for users to accidentally disable filtering or interfere with the service, especially on family, managed, or non-technical user's devices.
Android does not require foreground notifications to be large or interactive — this is a UX choice.

Proposed solution

Add an opt-in “Minimal foreground notification” mode for the VPN foreground service that uses the smallest, least intrusive notification Android allows.

The minimal notification should use:

• Dedicated NotificationChannel with IMPORTANCE_MIN
• No sound, vibration, badge, or lock-screen visibility
• setOngoing(true) (non-dismissable)
• setSilent(true) and setOnlyAlertOnce(true)
• No PendingIntent (tap does nothing)
• No action buttons, no expanded layout, no counters or stats
• Notification.CATEGORY_SERVICE

Example display:

AdGuard — Protection active

This keeps the VPN service alive while making the notification effectively invisible and non-interactive.

This is functionally equivalent to WireGuard/Tailscale “VPN active” style notifications.

Alternative solution

Allow disabling stats and action buttons on the existing notification, but a dedicated minimal notification channel is preferred for clean separation and correct Android behavior.

[TPS]

To prevent accidental interaction, &c, why are Android's internal settings for minimizing/disabling AGa's notifications insufficient?

[Samuel12321]

To prevent accidental interaction, &c, why are Android's internal settings for minimizing/disabling AGa's notifications insufficient?

Because what you can change on the device itself is limited and very device dependent.

Additionally disabling notifications prevents them from running as a foreground notification to prevent the app from being killed by the OS. How important this is, is again very dependent on the device. Some devices will happily allow AdGuard to keep running with the notification disabled - others will aggressively kill the app without the foreground notification.

[maxikuzmin]

@Samuel12321 technically, a minimal foreground notification (similar to WireGuard or Tailscale) is possible on Android.
The main challenge is device-specific behavior: on some OEM firmwares (MIUI, EMUI, ColorOS, etc.), minimal or hidden foreground notifications can cause the OS to aggressively stop the VPN service. This would lead to unstable protection and additional support issues.

I understand your problem, but these changes could lead to instability in AG protection. Perhaps in the future we will be able to improve this functionality somehow. Thank you for your feedback!

[maxikuzmin]

@Samuel12321 It is important to understand why this notification works in WireGuard/Tailscale and doesn't affect stability:

WireGuard and Tailscale work more reliably on aggressive Android systems because they are pure VPN clients. Their only task is to maintain a network tunnel, so the system sees them as simple, predictable foreground services with minimal background activity.

AdGuard works differently: it not only creates a VPN tunnel, but also actively inspects and filters traffic (DNS filtering, HTTPS filtering, app-level rules). This requires more processing, more wake-ups, and more interaction with the system, which makes aggressive Android firmware more likely to restrict or interfere with it.

Because of this, approaches that work safely for “simple” VPN apps (like extremely minimal notifications) are not always directly applicable to AdGuard without risking stability on some devices.

[Samuel12321]

@maxikuzmin Thanks for the response.

Under Android’s design, a service is treated as “foreground” based on the existence of an ongoing, user-visible notification, not on how much information that notification displays. Once a service is in the foreground with an ongoing notification, it receives the same foreground priority regardless of whether that notification is large, small, or contains actions. Counters, buttons, and expanded layouts are purely UI choices by the app, not a signal to the OS.

If the real concern is that some OEMs may kill AdGuard when the notification is “too low priority,” then the solution doesn’t need to be a large, interactive card — it just needs to avoid using a lower-priority channel. A minimal notification could still use an appropriate importance level while removing stats, buttons, and tap actions.

My request isn’t to completly hide the notification — only to reduce the UI, interactivity, and accidental touch points while keeping the same foreground status.

If OEM behaviour is still a concern, offering this as an opt-in option (with a warning) would be a reasonable compromise rather than dismissing it entirely.