Notification Center concepts. We need to start over.

[Averry]

A lot of very talented people have made some very very good notification center concepts.

But as Dieter Bohn pointed out on a late Mobile Verge cast.....both Android and iOS (which basically use the same concept) allow you to see your notifications without having to leave what ever app you're in.


I think all of the concepts that I've stumbled on involve some form of an app or showing them on the home screen only. So while all arguments against a notification center involve the existence of Live Tiles, we should most definitely keep that reason in play.

The lock screen doesn't cut it, because obviously the phone has to be locked. Using anything that resembles having to open an app to get to the notifications isn't worth implementing.

The window shade simply doesn't make sense obviously. About all I can think of is that the notification hub always lives to the left. On the home screen you pull from the left (like the N9 and Meego) but it has to also work with in apps. It may become an issue with people doing it on accident form within an app though, so I thought perhaps it has to be a a two finger gesture, but again, kind of cumbersome.

I fear that Windows Phone should have been designed from the ground up with this is mind for it to work as intuitively as it should. But having to go back to the home screen and then into the notification center isn't worth implementing at all. It needs to be accessible quickly and easily no matter what you're doing.

 

[aventador779]

Well my concept is to have the notification center in a different way. For example when you're at the start screen, if you move to the right you get your app list. BUT if you were to move to the LEFT, you would have all your notifications there. Just my idea.

 

[Getintothegame]

Well my concept is to have the notification center in a different way. For example when you're at the start screen, if you move to the right you get your app list. BUT if you were to move to the LEFT, you would have all your notifications there. Just my idea.

Right, which is exactly his point - he doesn't want that.

I have to agree with his post. I wish we could have a similar pull down menu.

 

[AngryNil]

Here's my opinion - what's the big deal?

Having it on the left of the tiles means one more button press than a drop-down drawer. Reality check - the app list is similarly a two-step procedure on Android as well as Windows Phone. Are people complaining about that?

 

[Averry]

Argument number one for the not needing a notification center is the live tiles.

So why implement something that forces you to first go back to the live tiles, and then the notification center. A Notification center, if implemented, should always be accessible no matter what you're doing without having to leave that app or process.

So think...with the window shade, no matter what you're doing you can always drag that down, and then drag it back up like nothing ever happened.

So you're saying that....If I'm in the Facebook app, then I have to go home, then swipe over, see the notifications, swipe back and then either open up the multitasking menu or launch the shortcut again is okay. I'm not saying it's the worst thing ever, it's just not worth implementing at all given what Windows Phone already is.

 

[ALpHa.Q.RoUgH]

Here is my idea. You know when you hold down the home screen button, you have the option to speak to the phone kind of like siri? Well instead of that or by the use of another button like the back button, if you hold down the button long enough, it shows your notifications. That way a separate window shows up buy whatever app your in still is in the background like how it works for the home button currently.

 

[Averry]

They could implement a scrolling block of notifications as the first card of the multitasking menu.

Actually, Eff it. The lock screen is already a window shade. The notification center version just needs to have the extra functionality that Android and iOS does instead of just being the lock screen again.

Unless they kind of did a neat little 3-D transition where when you drag down from the top, it swings the lock screen card down over top and becomes your notifications.

Either way, if Microsoft does implement it, it needs to be done in an intuitive way where we can have a lot of control, and keep it from becoming redundant with the live tiles.

 

[aventador779]

On Android/iOS you can't launch the notification center when you're playing a game like angry birds, etc.

My idea, + (so that it could be launched anywhere) remove TellMe from the Windows button being held, and have it launch when you hold down the SEARCH button. So when the Windows/Home button is held, your notification center launches.

 

[ALpHa.Q.RoUgH]

My idea, + (so that it could be launched anywhere) remove TellMe from the Windows button being held, and have it launch when you hold down the SEARCH button. So when the Windows/Home button is held, your notification center launches.

Exactly like what I had just said earlier. Great minds think alike.

 

[SnailUK]

Why does everyone think their requested feature is far more important than everything else?

Why should Microsoft redesign their interface just because a feature you want isn't where you want it?
Sent from my RM-821_eu_euro1_342 using Board Express

 

[JohnDoes]

AW: Notification Center concepts. We need to start over.

Well my concept is to have the notification center in a different way. For example when you're at the start screen, if you move to the right you get your app list. BUT if you were to move to the LEFT, you would have all your notifications there. Just my idea.

Move to the left for notifications is the best idea. I said this in the past in other forums also
Sent from my RM-821_eu_euro2_248 using Board Express

 

[shinygerbil]

Why does everyone think their requested feature is far more important than everything else?

Why should Microsoft redesign their interface just because a feature you want isn't where you want it?
Sent from my RM-821_eu_euro1_342 using Board Express

Why shouldn't they, if it works better than before?

You can say "if it ain't broke don't fix it," but that's what Apple have done with iOS...and just look at it

 

[Xsever]

My idea, + (so that it could be launched anywhere) remove TellMe from the Windows button being held, and have it launch when you hold down the SEARCH button. So when the Windows/Home button is held, your notification center launches.

This is perfect since the hold search button isn't assigned to anything now. wasted resource.

Why does everyone think their requested feature is far more important than everything else?

Why should Microsoft redesign their interface just because a feature you want isn't where you want it?
Sent from my RM-821_eu_euro1_342 using Board Express

Microsoft was going to add the notification centre but they ran out of time.

 

[Coolknight1968]

Very easy... We need a screen to the left of the main screen or lock screen. We got Kids corner or app list to the right... We need the notifications center to the left.

 

[shinygerbil]

Very easy... We need a screen to the left of the main screen or lock screen. We got Kids corner or app list to the right... We need the notifications center to the left.

You didn't read the OP. That idea has already been mentioned in this thread anyway. But that is not what the OP is asking for.

The OP's point is that we should be able to access our notification centre WITHOUT LEAVING AN APP. Android and iOS can manage this.

Having a notification centre on either the lock screen or the home screen is awkward. So I'm in the middle of an app, and I have to press the Lock button to turn the screen off, then press it again to turn the screen back on, then swipe to the left? Awful. And having it on the home screen is not much better.

One workaround would be to have an extra button on the little volume/music controls popup. So whenever you press the volume button you get the option to check your notifications by just tapping the icon. Then the volume box could just expand and show notifications. (The major downside to this is that using the volume buttons to get to your notification centre is a ridiculously unintuitive and clunky compromise.)

 

[gsquared]

Good suggesting OP. I like the fact your coming with your peeve and a solution to address it.

 

[downstevedown]

I've no problem with the idea of a Tile to hold notifications - then the user can decide whether and where to display it. If that's the approach that's taken, I'd like to see resizable tiles extended to allow more arbitrary sizes - so instead of 1x1, 2x2, 2x4, you could also have 1x4, 1x3, etc. 1 tall by 4 wide at the top of the screen would be great for me...

 

[NoIX]

I?m interested in what the WP8 team solution would be, because I believe that the swipe from the left (or from anywhere for that point) could be a problem based on how WP8 works.
Twitter for example, you can change tab by swiping from left or right, and scroll with up or down.
I think probably holding search, as many have said, or maybe a quick double tap of a button?

 

[Daniel0418]

On Android/iOS you can't launch the notification center when you're playing a game like angry birds, etc.

Actually in Android 4.2 you can see notifications while in games now. When you press the multitasking button it zooms out of the game without closing it so you can see and use your notification tray

actually in

 

[dawindbag]

Argument number one for the not needing a notification center is the live tiles.

People say this, but it seems to me they just don't get how most app makers use live tiles. The Me tile shows my last social update...so long as I only had one. Pinned People tiles show their last update. My ESPN app shows the last score of the 1 team that I chose to display. The USA Today app shows a collage of images. Now, those are all nice touches and all but they are very limited. First off, I get way more toast notifications than what can be shown on a live tile. Plus live tiles only show the most recent item and that's not helpful when my phone has been unattended for a long time. App developers often have been uses for their live time than to show their last toast, I prefer to see the temperature on my weather tile instead of the last severe weather alert. Live Tiles do not replace notifications, they augment them. Live tiles aren't all that great at displaying text, they are much better with images. Live tiles have no concept of a history, they strictly most recent info. A notification center is a must have for all these reasons.

So why implement something that forces you to first go back to the live tiles, and then the notification center. A Notification center, if implemented, should always be accessible no matter what you're doing without having to leave that app or process.

This insistence of yours is a bit bizarre to me. It might be nice to see some notifications from within a App, but generally I don't find myself needing to see more than the toast's banner until I'm really ready to launch the app that triggered the toast. A notification center launches apps that need attention, pausing an app and going to the home screen makes sense when you consider that I'm probably going to not multitask while I review missed notifications. The left swipe strategy is by far the most elegant solution. Introducing an entirely new UX concept that's foreign to Metro and a copy of a iOS/Android is a really tough sell.

All I want from my notification center is to pull up my phone and see a list of all the scores and injury updates from ESPN on Sunday that I missed while I was in the bar. I want to be able to see updates from apps that are pinned with small tiles that don't have live tiles. I want to see what was breaking news while I was driving and my phone was in my pocket without opening 5 apps to scan them all.

So think...with the window shade, no matter what you're doing you can always drag that down, and then drag it back up like nothing ever happened.

Window shades are not Metro. What you're basically saying is that you just want to steal ideas from other OSes instead of doing something that's in line with the establish Metro UX.

So you're saying that....If I'm in the Facebook app, then I have to go home, then swipe over, see the notifications, swipe back and then either open up the multitasking menu or launch the shortcut again is okay. I'm not saying it's the worst thing ever, it's just not worth implementing at all given what Windows Phone already is.

Again, WP doesn't even let you show the status bar within an app, why do you think they'd want you seeing notifications within an app? That's besides the point though, there's no reason that the left swipe notification area is mutually exclusive from your requirement here. MS can build the notification center left of the home page and just give you a second method for getting to it. Say, you hold the back button to show your open apps and one of them is the notification center. This isn't really different than pausing an app and pulling down a shade, you'll just pause an app and swipe left. Plus, with the Metro idea of full screen apps having a shade that swipes in could conflict with actions you need to be able to use within an app.