How to make a Facebook Messenger-like notification like this in Android

Solution 1:

Check out this link http://www.piwai.info/chatheads-basics. He provides information about how to add them on your screen.

The trick is to add a View to the WindowManager like following code

private WindowManager windowManager;
private ImageView chatHead;

public void addView()
{
  windowManager = (WindowManager) getSystemService(WINDOW_SERVICE);

  chatHead = new ImageView(this);
  chatHead.setImageResource(R.drawable.android_head);

  WindowManager.LayoutParams params = new WindowManager.LayoutParams(
    WindowManager.LayoutParams.WRAP_CONTENT,
    WindowManager.LayoutParams.WRAP_CONTENT,
    WindowManager.LayoutParams.TYPE_PHONE,
    WindowManager.LayoutParams.FLAG_NOT_FOCUSABLE,
    PixelFormat.TRANSLUCENT);

  params.gravity = Gravity.TOP | Gravity.LEFT;
  params.x = 0;
  params.y = 100;

  windowManager.addView(chatHead, params);
}

Don't forget to add the permission <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.SYSTEM_ALERT_WINDOW"/>