My Notification Center Frustration

[the92playboy]

I have been meaning to post this for a while, but haven't had the push until today and reading about BB10's "Super Notification Center". On this forum occasionally, and all over Gizmodo, Engadget, etc I read about users complaining (to the extreme) about Windows Phone not having a notifications center, how much of a fail it is, how am I supposed to know that someone Facebook messaged me, etc. Most of these comments are from people who have never even used Windows Phone.

Windows Phone DOES NOT NEED a notification screen/center. It already has it. In fact, it has the most efficient one available. Its also extremely customizable.

Your home screen is the notification center. You need to know if someone messaged you on Facebook? Pin the live tile on your home screen. Done. You turn on your phone, slide up your lock screen, and bam, there you go. You instantly see if you have any Facebook notifications. Twitter? Easy, same thing, pin it on your home screen. Any app with notifications and a live tile you can do this with. Why would anyone need or want another screen to go to just to see the same information?

It's fantastically simple, so much so that it seems a lot of people just don't "get it". If you care very little about what your twitter responses are, then either don't pin it or turn off the live tile. But you need eBay notifications? Great, pin it! Put it right at the top, or dead center, with the largest tile setting. Now you have the ultimate notification when you simply turn on your phone and go to the home screen.

Sorry if I come across jerkish but I just find myself frustrated that people complain so much about this when in truth it is a very well thought out and executed system. Or at least in my opinion.

 

[stmav]

I don't have the need for a notification system and am happy with what is there. But there are users that would like things in one central location. Nothing wrong with that. I think the main thing is that you have options. It's your choice to use them or not. But more options is not a bad thing.

 

[aubreyq]

Microsoft themselves acknowledged that they were working on a notification center but "ran out of time." That in itself tells you that Microsoft recognizes that some people will find a notification center useful.

What you are saying is that if you want notifications on the Start screen, you need to pin a tile for each app that you want to see notifications from. A couple of issues with this:

1) The tiles cannot be small in size (to the best of my knowledge).
2) You are pinning tiles for apps which you'd rather not pin, just to see the "toasts" on the screen.

You say the Windows Phone has the most efficient notification center? This is how I would catch up on notifications using a Windows Phone:

1) Look at the Start screen, hunting for tiles that have a count.
2) Tapping on the tile to launch the app.
3) Finding/reading the notification within the app.
4) Go back to the Start screen. Repeat the process for the next notification.

Separate from this, if you hear an alert and didn't catch which app triggered the alert, better look at that Start screen to find which app triggered it! EFFICIENT??? Not by a long shot.

Here's how you catch up with notifications on iOS (not sure how Android works):

1) Slide down the screen from the top to display a summary of notifications from ALL of your apps.
2) Read the actual notifications right there on the summary screen! Decide if you want to go inside the app or not. Done.

If you hear an alert and didn't catch which app triggered it, it'll be there in the notification center for your viewing pleasure. That's what I call "glance and go."

iOS' version of tile count is what they call "badges." So iOS is bringing the best of both worlds. Microsoft will follow suit. They already said they will. They know people want this. You'll probably have the option to NOT use the notification center when it becomes part of the OS. It will happen and nobody will stop it from happening. That will be a great day to current and future WP owners. It only makes sense.

 

[ballanda]

Totally agree. But...
1) Most people are ******s
2) Not everybody wants to pin every app that can notify you to the Start screen

 

[JerseySal]

It will happen and nobody will stop it from happening.

Is that a threat or a promise?! LOL Either way, a notification center would be pretty cool.

 

[philpeeps]

I have been meaning to post this for a while, but haven't had the push until today and reading about BB10's "Super Notification Center". On this forum occasionally, and all over Gizmodo, Engadget, etc I read about users complaining (to the extreme) about Windows Phone not having a notifications center, how much of a fail it is, how am I supposed to know that someone Facebook messaged me, etc. Most of these comments are from people who have never even used Windows Phone.

Windows Phone DOES NOT NEED a notification screen/center. It already has it. In fact, it has the most efficient one available. Its also extremely customizable.

Your home screen is the notification center. You need to know if someone messaged you on Facebook? Pin the live tile on your home screen. Done. You turn on your phone, slide up your lock screen, and bam, there you go. You instantly see if you have any Facebook notifications. Twitter? Easy, same thing, pin it on your home screen. Any app with notifications and a live tile you can do this with. Why would anyone need or want another screen to go to just to see the same information?

It's fantastically simple, so much so that it seems a lot of people just don't "get it". If you care very little about what your twitter responses are, then either don't pin it or turn off the live tile. But you need eBay notifications? Great, pin it! Put it right at the top, or dead center, with the largest tile setting. Now you have the ultimate notification when you simply turn on your phone and go to the home screen.

Sorry if I come across jerkish but I just find myself frustrated that people complain so much about this when in truth it is a very well thought out and executed system. Or at least in my opinion.

But you know what you don't get? Some apps support push toast (banner) notifications but not live tile notifications (Alarm.com app for example), so if you miss it, you will never know unless you open the app.

 

[aubreyq]

Is that a threat or a promise?! LOL Either way, a notification center would be pretty cool.

LOL yeah I guess I got a little bit passionate about it, but let's go with "promise", LOL!

 

[tekhna]

I have been meaning to post this for a while, but haven't had the push until today and reading about BB10's "Super Notification Center". On this forum occasionally, and all over Gizmodo, Engadget, etc I read about users complaining (to the extreme) about Windows Phone not having a notifications center, how much of a fail it is, how am I supposed to know that someone Facebook messaged me, etc. Most of these comments are from people who have never even used Windows Phone.

Windows Phone DOES NOT NEED a notification screen/center. It already has it. In fact, it has the most efficient one available. Its also extremely customizable.

Your home screen is the notification center. You need to know if someone messaged you on Facebook? Pin the live tile on your home screen. Done. You turn on your phone, slide up your lock screen, and bam, there you go. You instantly see if you have any Facebook notifications. Twitter? Easy, same thing, pin it on your home screen. Any app with notifications and a live tile you can do this with. Why would anyone need or want another screen to go to just to see the same information?

It's fantastically simple, so much so that it seems a lot of people just don't "get it". If you care very little about what your twitter responses are, then either don't pin it or turn off the live tile. But you need eBay notifications? Great, pin it! Put it right at the top, or dead center, with the largest tile setting. Now you have the ultimate notification when you simply turn on your phone and go to the home screen.

Sorry if I come across jerkish but I just find myself frustrated that people complain so much about this when in truth it is a very well thought out and executed system. Or at least in my opinion.

No, you don't get it. Live tiles give you next to no useable data compared to a notification center. Sure, you know you got a facebook message. But on Android or iOS in the notification center you know who sent it, when they sent it, and a preview of the message, in addition to giving the basic notification that you've received a message. iOS and Android provide the exact same functionality as live tiles in the form of badges and widgets, and then a substantially more useful notification center.

Compare the amount of useful information on these respective screens.






It's not even close in terms of giving you information about your notifications.

 

[the92playboy]

Thank you for the responses; I am glad to be getting additional info and view points.

RE: Apps that don't show notifications on live tile but "ding" when a notification comes up- I feel this isn't the fault of MS but of the devs of that specific app. And if the devs didn't utilize the live tile notification flag/banner, we can't assume they would utilize the notification center.

RE: Too many tiles on homescreen- I had thought about this, but it seems like an odd argument to me. If something is so important that you need instant access to its notifications, then isn't it important enough to have a place on your home screen? Again, lets use eBay as an example. 90% of the time a notification isn't needed for it (or not as a priority). But after bidding on an item, and you want constant notice of that status, pin it. End of auction, un pin. To me that works the best, instead of having a notification center that you have to go to, which ultimately gets cluttered all up. Remember, the whole idea behind Windows Phone is to "get in, get out".

RE: reduced amount of info compared to other notification systems- I understand what you are saying, and I agree, that for some people that is important. It sounds like I am in the minority, but I don't require a ton of information in regards to who sent it, when, etc. What I consider the "vital" notifications, email, text and calls, are all very quick to access, and the other notifications I get to when I feel like it. But, I am realizing that other users put a stronger priority on those other app notifications than I do and do require a more elaborate notification center option.

 

[ballanda]

Shoot, I'd settle for a calendar tile that SHOWS MORE THAN ONE UPCOMING EVENT!!! God forbid I have 2 things to do on a given day. Either that or just open up the calendar API already so 3rd party devs had have at it.

 

[uselessrobot]

The funny thing is that it wasn't all that long ago that iOS didn't have a notifications center. And when they finally introduced the thing it was essentially a clone of Android's. Not that I can blame them, Android did a pretty good job of it.

Something similar for Windows Phone would be nice, but I can't say I've once felt the need for it. In both iOS and Android if I saw that I had calls, messages or whatever I went straight for the app in question. I didn't waste my time going through notifications first just to be sent back to the app. From my perspective, the assumption is that if you want the notification you're also going to want to respond to it, and you can't do that from a notifications center. But I do agree that it was handy when I had multiple updates and wanted a quick overview.

I like how Windows Phone strikes a reasonable balance between a page of full of uninformative icons in iOS and the risk of information overload of Android. I'm not one of those people who needs to be bombarded with every shred of data on my home screen. Email count, latest message and next appointment are enough. If I want more they're a single screen press away.

Think about it, a notification center adds and extra step. You can't have it persistent so inevitably you're left with a tab or icon of some sort. So you have to press to expand notifications, choose the ones you want and then deal with that particular item. Then you back out and start the process again. Having the option is great, but I have trouble seeing how it's essential given the functionality tiles offer.

Blackberry's solution is intriguing but I don't think it's a better solution. Apparently navigating in and out of notifications is cumbersome and doesn't even necessarily take you right where you expect that to go. But I think they need it because the home screen seems to consist of 4 screenshots. It sounds neat until you consider that you're barely going to make out what's being displayed. It isn't optimized like a tile or Android widgets. You're getting a full screen app crammed down into a tiny graphic. Thumbnails of apps are already next to useless in Windows or OSX for anything more than a vague reference. Imagine how much worse it is on a 4.2" display.

 

[tebugg]

count me in the category of wanting a notification center on wp8. this is the one thing that i like about android that wp8 doesnt have. the thing i use the most on my galaxy s3 is the notification center. and there are plenty of times where i missed a toast notification with my lumia 920. i heard it but didnt know where it was from because i couldnt check it within the 10seconds that it stays up. lots of times i have numbers on more than 3 apps. this means i have to go inside each app just to see what the notifications are. opening and closing 3 apps one after another isnt very appealing. so yes the start page in wp8 does give you notifications, but for most apps they are limited and it takes some work to see them all. it would be so nice for me to swipe to the right with my finger and there be 1 center that told me everything that went on with what app at what time and with whomever. yes apps that dont take advantage of live tiles or toast notifications arent MS fault, but if MS can take that frustration away from users by just making a notification center, why not do it? it just adds to the overall appeal and flexibility of the OS.

 

[RuleOfSines]

Being forced to use live tiles as the sole means of seeing notifications reduces the value of the customizability of the start screen. Users shouldn't feel forced to pin something to start for fear of never see notifications. I have several apps on my start screen that are there solely because I want to see if they have a notification, not because I want them to be on my start screen.

 

[FinsUpDNC]

I have no doubt that we will soon have a "toast" history section. Swipe right for apps, left for your history.