Repeating audible alerts?

[Steve Thackery]

Hi folks,

I'm VERY keen to buy a Windows 10 phone but there is one showstopper feature I MUST have: repeating audible alerts for received SMS messages, missed calls, diary alerts, etc. For example, if an SMS comes in and I don't hear it for any reason, I want the phone to bleep every few minutes until I respond.

The flashing LED, or an on-screen prompt, is NOT an adequate alternative because it requires me to get the phone out of my pocket or bag to check it. I forget.

I've owned WP7 and WP8 phones before, but they don't come with the feature baked into the OS, nor do they surface the relevant APIs to allow an app to do it, so I had to get rid of them. In contrast, Android does surface the APIs and various apps are available for this purpose (look up "Repeating Notifications" in the Android app store).

Note that I need the repeating audible alerts to come back after the phone has been temporarily silenced and then unsilenced by a diary appointment, or if the alert is initiated during a silent period.

Does anyone know if W10 will make this feature available in the OS? Or at least surface the APIs so an app developer can provide the feature? Sheesh, I hope so - I've been waiting for years for this feature, meanwhile having to use an Android phone. Yuck!! I love WP and hate not being able to use it.

Thanks!

 

[Steve Thackery]

Nobody know one way or the other?

(No more bumps, I promise.)

 

[gomezz]

I think you are possibly unique in not getting your phone out at some point or other over time and then seeing there are notifications to deal with. Someone elsewhere suggested using an MS Band with your phone, one of its uses is to see notifications without digging out the phone.

Other than that the inbuilt Calendar app does support a snooze feature for items with reminders and I also use the separate Alarms app which also has snooze.

 

[Steve Thackery]

Thank you, gomezz. I know I'm not alone in wanting this feature, because a quick bing search reveals others asking for it over the past few years. The weird thing is that every dumbphone I've ever owned has this feature, as does my old Palm Treo 680 and every release of Android (via an app). That's why I think it may be quite a well used feature. I don't know about iOS and Blackberry, but I suspect that WP is the only phone OS to not offer it.

I've set my Android phone to beep every ten minutes if there's an unread SMS. There's a risk I might go much longer than that sometimes without remembering to get my phone out to check it. Do you really want to be doing this when you're socialising?

The band is an interesting idea, definitely - thanks.

 

[Nathan Bates]

You aren't the only one who would want this sort of thing, something slightly different(but even better) saw implemented on my galaxy s3 (and I believe subsequent models as well), one of their "S" features and it was specifically smart enough to sense when you picked up your phone (say you had left it in another room) and re-notify right then and there, one of the features I miss the most from that phone. I believe it used the accelerometer to sense when you picked the phone up.