In this codelab, you will learn how to show your notifications in the Conversations section of the notification shade. You will also learn how to show those notifications as Bubbles.
Conversations are real-time communications that are bidirectional among two people or more. These conversations are presented in their own area in the system notifications shade. They can also be promoted as Bubbles. Bubbles are round icons that float on top of other app content and follow the user wherever they go. Bubbles are great for showing ongoing events and actions that users want to keep easy access to.
Bubbles are a great way to notify users of important ongoing information. You should, however, be mindful of when and when not to use Bubbles. They take up screen real estate and cover other app content. Use them only when it is important enough to draw the user's attention. Keep in mind that users can easily opt out of Bubbles and use normal notifications instead.
This codelab uses a proof-of-concept chat app as its starting point. The app shows new incoming messages, which we'll assume for the purposes of this codelab that users will want to keep in mind for a while.
Congratulations! You now know how to show a conversation notification and a bubble.