I’m sure that’s very frustrating. There are a number things that can affect how a sensor reports. Here’s the usual troubleshooting checklist. You might take a look at that first before you start uninstalling everything from the smart apps, that’s not usually necessary.
As far as testing the vibration sensor, you probably meant this, but just to be clear, this is a sensitive measuring device. You shouldn’t be banging or shaking the sensor itself in any way. Instead, put the sensor in the middle of the table where it can’t fall off and then knock on the table near the sensor. That should normally trigger it. Essentially this is an acoustic monitoring feature. The sensor “hears” the vibrations that are nearby. Or you can think of it as feeling the vibrations the same way you would if you put your hand on a refrigerator or washing machine that was running. Your hand doesn’t have to move in order to feel the vibration.
If you’re not getting a vibration notification from the sensor, use the same check list above. Fail to report is fail to report so many of the same issues apply.