Microsoft fails again on Notification Center

[pjs37]

I never used the notification window on my iPhone I find the live tiles a much better system

Sent from my Lumia 900 using Board Express

 

[GoodThings2Life]

I've changed my mind about notification center this week. I used to think it would be a nice addition, HOWEVER, I'm beginning to see that it's already there.

When I think back to my time with Android, I remember having a constant barrage of notifications in the notification tray, and all I ever did was swipe down, tap a notice to launch the app, then back to home; rinse and repeat until they were gone... or worse, I just cleared all the notifications, in which case the whole thing was pointless.

On Windows Phone, I turn it on and see all of my notification counts on the lock screen... exactly the same kind of information I saw on Android. The only thing I lose is the ability to launch directly into an app. But you know how I solve that? I put the live tile on my home screen for those apps I care about, and I tap into the app.

In other words, I really don't lose anything, and in fact, I save myself the time of having to go into a notification center and clear them. I see the notices and unlock, and everything I'm about to see is right there in front of me.

On top of that, once I upgrade to WP8, I can better arrange the start screen to feature more of my apps that might trigger notifications. Additionally, I can pick the 5 apps that I genuinely care about seeing.

I think if any improvement is to be made, it would be having more than 5 on the lock screen or being able to open directly to the app of choice.

I tried to think what I was missing, and I suppose that Me tile notifications stood out, but then I thought about the privacy implications... I don't want my FB/Twitter status updates right out on the home screen in case I'm demoing my phone.

 

[Daakkon]

yeah but what about apps like Facebook? The fb app has some of the buggyest toast notifications I've experienced and rarely updates correctly. What if I was not near my phone, or couldn't view my phone at that specific moment, but someone sent me a message and I missed it?

 

[StefEBear]

I think all that is needed is an enhancement to the ME tile. Fix those little glitches and let any Toast notification also go in there. Maybe as a separate Toast screen, or just in the list of notifications.
That way it's using what's already there and not having to add anything 'extra' to the OS itself.

 

[vp710]

Apps don't get that kind of access. Either impossible or incredibly hacky.

I don't know about that. I thought the whole point of WP8 was to make an OS devs could exploit to the fullest and be easily ported to W8.

If a dev manages to make a worthy notification center app, the returns are almost guaranteed .

 

[smoledman]

I've changed my mind about notification center this week. I used to think it would be a nice addition, HOWEVER, I'm beginning to see that it's already there.

When I think back to my time with Android, I remember having a constant barrage of notifications in the notification tray, and all I ever did was swipe down, tap a notice to launch the app, then back to home; rinse and repeat until they were gone... or worse, I just cleared all the notifications, in which case the whole thing was pointless.

On Windows Phone, I turn it on and see all of my notification counts on the lock screen... exactly the same kind of information I saw on Android. The only thing I lose is the ability to launch directly into an app. But you know how I solve that? I put the live tile on my home screen for those apps I care about, and I tap into the app.

In other words, I really don't lose anything, and in fact, I save myself the time of having to go into a notification center and clear them. I see the notices and unlock, and everything I'm about to see is right there in front of me.

On top of that, once I upgrade to WP8, I can better arrange the start screen to feature more of my apps that might trigger notifications. Additionally, I can pick the 5 apps that I genuinely care about seeing.

I think if any improvement is to be made, it would be having more than 5 on the lock screen or being able to open directly to the app of choice.

I tried to think what I was missing, and I suppose that Me tile notifications stood out, but then I thought about the privacy implications... I don't want my FB/Twitter status updates right out on the home screen in case I'm demoing my phone.

Wrong. Let's say you have 100 items pinned to the start screen and 80% support toast notifications. Are you going to scroll up and down trying to find notifications or wouldn't it be far superior to swipe to the right and get a time-sorted list of missed toasts? Come on, stop trying to justify a crap implementation.

Then there's the fact that you can't fit a toast description string on a tiny tile.

 

[rider2040]

I have a notification center on my iPhone. I never use it. The WP live tile implementation looks more useful to me. That's why I'm considering WP8 for my next phone.

 

[blehblehbleh]

Wrong. Let's say you have 100 items pinned to the start screen and 80% support toast notifications. Are you going to scroll up and down trying to find notifications or wouldn't it be far superior to swipe to the right and get a time-sorted list of missed toasts? Come on, stop trying to justify a crap implementation.

Then there's the fact that you can't fit a toast description string on a tiny tile.

I say if it shows you a preview or specifies a party or specific content, then yes it can be useful. On the other hand, if a notification center just shows you based on time of arrival that you have something awaiting you then it's about as useful as the live tiles, I'd say.

 

[jgservices]

There's an easy solution to all of this if MS would just listen to me!

You know the notification number that appears at the top right corner of a live tile when you receive a notification?

Well if you place that number next to the app in the app list when swiping to the right, all apps with notifications could appear at the top under "Pending Notifications" category, sorted by name of course

This would keep it clean without introducing a new section to use and give you the ability to see if you have notifications for a specific application even when the live tile is not pinned. Anyone have some good photoshop skills? Feel free to bring my idea to life!

 

[GoodThings2Life]

yeah but what about apps like Facebook? The fb app has some of the buggyest toast notifications I've experienced and rarely updates correctly. What if I was not near my phone, or couldn't view my phone at that specific moment, but someone sent me a message and I missed it?

You can't blame Microsoft (nor would having a notification center) for developer's buggy application. THEY need to fix it (accepting that a Microsoft team develops the FB app, but you know what I mean, generally speaking).

I mentioned in another thread that turning on FB chat in messaging hub turns FB messages into a VERY good solution. I would also like it if the Me hub generated toasts, but then again, I don't want those popping up for privacy reasons either... plus I get A LOT of them. It would be disruptive.

Wrong. Let's say you have 100 items pinned to the start screen and 80% support toast notifications. Are you going to scroll up and down trying to find notifications or wouldn't it be far superior to swipe to the right and get a time-sorted list of missed toasts? Come on, stop trying to justify a crap implementation.

Oh goody the unrealistic hypothetical scenario. I love those. But I already addressed it... I keep my important apps on there, and the not-so-important ones I check as I see fit. Which in 20 years of observation from IT support suggests that's how everyone does it. Priorities differ, but behaviors not so much.

There's an easy solution to all of this if MS would just listen to me!

You know the notification number that appears at the top right corner of a live tile when you receive a notification?

Well if you place that number next to the app in the app list when swiping to the right, all apps with notifications could appear at the top under "Pending Notifications" category, sorted by name of course

This would keep it clean without introducing a new section to use and give you the ability to see if you have notifications for a specific application even when the live tile is not pinned. Anyone have some good photoshop skills? Feel free to bring my idea to life!

That's actually an intelligent solution! That's really brilliant, and a balanced hybrid approach. Thank you!

 

[N8ter]

I have a notification center on my iPhone. I never use it. The WP live tile implementation looks more useful to me. That's why I'm considering WP8 for my next phone.

No offense, but I don't believe you. I don't think any other rational person would believe you don't use Notification Center on the iPhone. Thatsblike someone saying they don't use the Notification Bar on Android, except more iPhone apps support badges (basically what most live tiles are).

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using Tapatalk 2

 

[1jaxstate1]

Looks can be deceiving, it's not more useful. It's more work.Not "glance and go" at all.

I have a notification center on my iPhone. I never use it. The WP live tile implementation looks more useful to me. That's why I'm considering WP8 for my next phone.

 

[1jaxstate1]

So what, it's on MS phone. If it's not up to par or work correctly, then MS should ban it from the marketplace

A workaround? LOL. You have 15 years in IT and you suggest a workaround instead of a solution? WOW. I mean, a workaround is fine for today and the immediate future, but how about fixing the problem.

It just doesn't work, admit that and breathe in and out. Telling people how "the best way" to arrange their apps is silly. It reminds me of Steve Jobs telling people how they should hold their phones.

You can't blame Microsoft (nor would having a notification center) for developer's buggy application. THEY need to fix it (accepting that a Microsoft team develops the FB app, but you know what I mean, generally speaking).

I mentioned in another thread that turning on FB chat in messaging hub turns FB messages into a VERY good solution. I would also like it if the Me hub generated toasts, but then again, I don't want those popping up for privacy reasons either... plus I get A LOT of them. It would be disruptive.



Oh goody the unrealistic hypothetical scenario. I love those. But I already addressed it... I keep my important apps on there, and the not-so-important ones I check as I see fit. Which in 20 years of observation from IT support suggests that's how everyone does it. Priorities differ, but behaviors not so much.



That's actually an intelligent solution! That's really brilliant, and a balanced hybrid approach. Thank you!

You seem to have a excuse for the mishaps of every problem with WP7. Are you Steve Ballmer?

 

[power5]

There's an easy solution to all of this if MS would just listen to me!

You know the notification number that appears at the top right corner of a live tile when you receive a notification?

Well if you place that number next to the app in the app list when swiping to the right, all apps with notifications could appear at the top under "Pending Notifications" category, sorted by name of course

This would keep it clean without introducing a new section to use and give you the ability to see if you have notifications for a specific application even when the live tile is not pinned. Anyone have some good photoshop skills? Feel free to bring my idea to life!

Not sure if this is what you meant. I did not spend much time on it. just grabbed a few app list images from bing.

 

[brmiller1976]

No offense, but I don't believe you. I don't think any other rational person would believe you don't use Notification Center on the iPhone.

I'm not the OP, but when I use an iPhone (for app tests), I have it for days at a time, and use it as my daily driver.

The only notifications I ever look at are the badges on the folders that I cluster important content into. The only time I ever look at the Notification Center is to clear all the notifications when the phone gets slow from too many piling up there.

With a proper targeted notification system using the Live Tile concept, you don't need to waste time sorting through dozens of irrelevant notifications ("Grandma has liked your cake photo on Facebook!") to get to the ones that matter. You put the ones that matter front-and-center.

The Notification Center is a symptom of bad UI. It vomits massive amounts of notifications at you without regard to whether you care about them or not. There are plenty of people who actively dislike it.

If you want a spammy notification center, Android's your device. Go with it!

 

[1jaxstate1]

That's silly. Why say go to android. I've yet to see a app that didn't have a way to turn off notifications. So if you have so many apps notifying you that it makes your phone sluggish or it annoys you. Well that's a cockpit problem.

 

[brmiller1976]

No, it's a usability problem. I shouldn't have to waste hours and hours and hours customizing apps to ensure that they don't vomit data at me.

With Windows Phone, I put the notifications I care about on the home screen. It takes about eight to ten minutes. With Android or iOS, you have to spend at least an hour (more like two or three if you use more than 20 core apps) flipping around in settings, jumping between the app and the control panel, etc.

Even after you do that, you'll still get unwanted notifications, since iOS and Android are "all or nothing" propositions, not targeted ones like WP.

That's poor user experience.

 

[blehblehbleh]

No offense, but I don't believe you. I don't think any other rational person would believe you don't use Notification Center on the iPhone. Thatsblike someone saying they don't use the Notification Bar on Android, except more iPhone apps support badges (basically what most live tiles are).

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using Tapatalk 2

Pfft. I know someone that doesn't use the notification center at all. The thing is she's not as technologically centered as some people on this forum. Is it really that hard to get out of your bubble? Some people just like the iPhone cuz it's a cool looking phone and allows them to do specific stuff they want or gives them a better experience over a feature phone but that doesn't mean per se that they use all features or give a crap.

So yeah I believe this person.

 

[brmiller1976]

Notification Center is a crutch. It's like early PCs that had no folder and tree filing system -- you saw EVERY file on a disk/drive when you asked for a directory.

When Macs, MS-DOS, Atari STs and Amigas introduced nested filing, you had a number of users who complained it was "dumbing down" the UI, etc.

I want to see only what's relevant to me. I don't want to see EVERYTHING, all the time, without a clear hierarchy of notifications.

 

[tk-093]

No offense, but I don't believe you. I don't think any other rational person would believe you don't use Notification Center on the iPhone. Thatsblike someone saying they don't use the Notification Bar on Android, except more iPhone apps support badges (basically what most live tiles are).

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using Tapatalk 2

I'm actually going to go with the others. For whatever reason I never use the notification on an iPhone, or my iPad. The fact that you can't swipe away individual lines like you can on Android make it a piece of crap. Plus you have to hit that little X then hit clear to make them go away... no thanks. Plus on my iPhone I kept all the icons to one screen, some were by themselves but the bulk were in folders. The badge notifications were all that I needed. iOS notification center is worthless.

On my GS3 I currently do close to the same thing. I have all my icons on one page. When I wake up my GS3 if I have a new text message, I have a text message icon on my lock screen which I just swipe that and I pop right into my message. The NotCenter on Android is a lot easier to use and to swipe away things.. I still don't need it that much.

Now, that's just how I work. I know some people love having pages and pages of things setup on their home screens so having a central location probably makes more sense.