My thoughts on WP Notification centre

a5cent

New member
Nov 3, 2011
6,622
0
0
Visit site
Although devs are far more likely to be time constrained than lazy, or maybe just ignorant, Rockstarzzz is right. Extending the OS to compensate for the failings of particular apps is one of the worst ways to evolve any OS. All that achieves is to encourage more developers to release lousy apps, while MS incorporates more and more functionality to counteract others failings. Over time, such a development process leads to an OS full of compromise and mediocrity, that loses touch with its founding principles (simple, fast, reliable and free of technical micromanagement)

So, assuming MS is delivering a notification system, I'm sure they do see a legitimate need for it, and that it isn't just viewed as a way to compensate for app developer failings. It may also be where MS implements universal search.
 
Last edited:

Padmasali

New member
Nov 26, 2012
50
0
0
Visit site
in my view Notification center is required for wp... still we don't like it, but we need it to show the smartphone world WP has all feature and all so attract more user towards wp...
 

Padmasali

New member
Nov 26, 2012
50
0
0
Visit site
if i am dev of wp8 than, i like long press search button to launch notification center and all so include universal search too...
 

ikhfa

New member
Dec 23, 2012
15
0
0
Visit site
As a user, I think MS is making it difficult for devs by restricting it too much. The idea of putting numbers on tiles, helps only to a certain degree. Add the 30 min constraint, and we have confusion. We must remember that smartphones are about flow of information. We look at MS and we ask, "What flow?"
Once information of any kind fails to flow naturally, users get irritated. This is where a notification centre is important. Ultimately users wants to be informed. Tiles limit information, and this is so when they actually work smoothly. Users understand that this is a big problem with WP8. And as said, the bigger culprit here is MS. Until they work something out, talented devs will be restricted to mediocrity (sadly how users see it). To all devs here, keep up the good work.
 
Sep 25, 2011
710
0
0
Visit site
hey justin, this also is my first post/reply, because i think you are worth replying/registering for! :D
i personally think that a notification center is NOT necessary for WP.

i am an android developer, but i personally use a windows phone.
i think that startscreen is the notification center. if you want to access your notification from anywhere, just press to homebutton. want to go back? press & hold back button. what annoys me about android is the constant gesture of swiping down from the top part of the screen for notifcication. it really grows tiresome. blackberry has a gesture from the bottom, I think that is better, but may grow tiresome too.

i also agree that swiping to the left might not a good idea to show notifications. i think swiping left in the homescreen should show quicksettings such as wireless.

thats my 2 cents :)
Seriously how many times are people going to beat this dead horse of 'start screen is a notification centre'? How hard is it to know that people don't pin every single app they have on the start screen? It might be ok if you have like 5-10 apps but when you have 50 are you going to pin all of them on the start screen? It looks bad and messy and some apps which are barely used are not worth the start screen estate HOWEVER that does not mean we miss their notifications. And don't even get me started on the number of developers who have failed miserably in implementing live tiles properly. They are NOT reliable and they update too slowly. I get 1 mention on Twitter and my MeTweet tiles shows 8.
 

th0mas96

New member
Dec 7, 2012
434
0
0
Visit site
I think we sould be able to customize the use for the search button. in this case, long hold for missed notifications? this would be ugly, what I'd propose:
long hold on the windows button: notification center
long hold on search: "voice control", it's not much more than a search, so this would suit the best I think..
 
Sep 25, 2011
710
0
0
Visit site
I think the incredible amount of wasted space in the multi-tasking menu can be put to better use. Maybe put a shortcut to the notification center there along with toggles to things like cellular data, BT etc etc.
 

rockstarzzz

New member
Apr 3, 2012
4,887
1
0
Visit site
As a user, I think MS is making it difficult for devs by restricting it too much. The idea of putting numbers on tiles, helps only to a certain degree. Add the 30 min constraint, and we have confusion. We must remember that smartphones are about flow of information. We look at MS and we ask, "What flow?"
Once information of any kind fails to flow naturally, users get irritated. This is where a notification centre is important. Ultimately users wants to be informed. Tiles limit information, and this is so when they actually work smoothly. Users understand that this is a big problem with WP8. And as said, the bigger culprit here is MS. Until they work something out, talented devs will be restricted to mediocrity (sadly how users see it). To all devs here, keep up the good work.
Most/many devs know how to push notifications for less than 30 min intervals eg few top weather apps
 

JustinXinLiu

New member
Aug 26, 2012
14
0
0
Visit site
Seriously how many times are people going to beat this dead horse of 'start screen is a notification centre'? How hard is it to know that people don't pin every single app they have on the start screen? It might be ok if you have like 5-10 apps but when you have 50 are you going to pin all of them on the start screen? It looks bad and messy and some apps which are barely used are not worth the start screen estate HOWEVER that does not mean we miss their notifications. And don't even get me started on the number of developers who have failed miserably in implementing live tiles properly. They are NOT reliable and they update too slowly. I get 1 mention on Twitter and my MeTweet tiles shows 8.
I agree with you on the first part. But you can't blame the devs for the incorrect notification number on the tiles. They are updated every 30 mins, this is restricted by the OS. :(
 

chadwick611

New member
May 24, 2011
45
0
0
Visit site
i am not that big on having a notification center. maybe i am not that busy in life to need to be notified of everything going on in my phone.
 

DontHate707

New member
Jan 3, 2011
347
0
0
Visit site
thats exactly why we need the notification center so we have a way to clear and organize are home screen why the **** would i as a user would i want to click into every app to clear notifications and like other users said i dont want every little thing on my home screen. one things forsure live tiles on windows phone arent as useful as we think/ as there promoted to be and they must be fixed.
there some notifications i just dont care about id like to be able to see them all in a unified list that i can clear each individuality with a swipe. i want to be able to control what i see in the center, and i want to be able to clear them all with one touch.
 

MDak280

New member
Nov 17, 2012
423
0
0
Visit site
long hold on the windows button: notification

I was thinking the same thing, except I'd rather keep the long hold for voice commands. Maybe Microsoft can make it so that a double tap on the home button will bring up the notification center. I know this would be confusing for new users but I can't think of any other way they could implement a notification center that can be accessed from anywhere on the phone, not just the home screen. Yes, I like the idea of swipe left but if it's only from the home screen then that takes away om the functionality. A notification center needs to be accessable from anywhere on the phone.

The problem with double tap the home button, though, is that it's not as convenient as simply pulling down like iOS and Android. For example, if you're in a twitter app and you want to bring up the notification center, you'd double tap the home button. But then, how would you exit? By pressing the back button? That doesn't seem ideal to me. It's not that bad, and it could work, but I'm not sure I would like it.

MS needs to come up with some sort of gesture that will bring up the notification center easily and exit it just as easily, and it has to be accessible from anywhere on the phone, not just the home screen. For the sake of being different, I don't think pulling down from the top of the screen will be implemented, and I would rather it not. If they can think of a way to get the swipe left to work anywhere on the phone, I'd be fine with that. However, the way that many WP apps are set up where swiping left/right brings up a different "section" or "column," like the people/me hubs, the store, and lots of apps, I don't think that would work out. I'm thinking they could do pull up from the bottom, or maybe they could do something cool like pull down or up from any corner of the screen.

I hope Microsoft knows what they're doing if they really are developing a notification center. If they give us the swiper left and it only works from the homescreen I'd consider it a failed attempt, and I really hope that doesn't happen because I love WP and I want it to succeed.
 

jmerrey

New member
Dec 9, 2010
1,790
2
0
Visit site
It's probably too late to change the button config, but I always thought that a long press of the windows key to bring up notifications, and a long press of the search key to bring up voice, would be the most intuitive arrangement.
 

thaman04

Member
Jul 4, 2011
157
0
16
Visit site
It's probably too late to change the button config, but I always thought that a long press of the windows key to bring up notifications, and a long press of the search key to bring up voice, would be the most intuitive arrangement.

That actually makes a lot more sense!!! I like that idea, plus that would most likely be a software change, so I don't think it would be too late, especially while the userbase is still growing.
 

thaman04

Member
Jul 4, 2011
157
0
16
Visit site
If they give us the swiper left and it only works from the homescreen I'd consider it a failed attempt, and I really hope that doesn't happen because I love WP and I want it to succeed.

Umm... I wouldn't call it a failed attempt. Unlike the other mobile OS's... WP's home screen IS a notification centre in a basic sense using the live tiles, the swipe left would then just be a more detailed notification centre. But I do think the press+hold the Windows key idea would be an added plus.
 

a5cent

New member
Nov 3, 2011
6,622
0
0
Visit site
MS needs to come up with some sort of gesture that will bring up the notification center easily and exit it just as easily, and it has to be accessible from anywhere on the phone

At this point, MS no longer has the freedom to claim a gesture as their own (system wide) means of bringing up the notification centre. Doing so will break any number of the 150'000 existing apps, who relied on all possible gestures being their own. Frankly, it's just a generally bad idea... look at how many people are criticizing BB10 for the lack of gesture intuitiveness. WP on the other hand goes to great lengths to ensure that the use of gestures remains intuitive and is signalled consistently across all apps (often with the help of truncated text). Let us not start routing for an inferior approach, just because BB10 is the flavour of the hour.

I always thought that a long press of the windows key to bring up notifications, and a long press of the search key to bring up voice, would be the most intuitive arrangement.

The guy who thought of this press&hold approach is great! It's an example of the optimal solution sitting right in front of all of us, yet nobody seeing it because we all have preconceived notions about how bringing up the notification centre should work, due to our familiarity with iOS and Android.

I'm open to both suggestions. If Microsoft decides that the notification centre is also the right place to implement universal search, it might be better to use press&hold-search. Otherwise I like your opposite suggestion just as well!

Someone should really take this to MS, as they are just as susceptible to preconceived notions as we are.
 

MDak280

New member
Nov 17, 2012
423
0
0
Visit site
Umm... I wouldn't call it a failed attempt. Unlike the other mobile OS's... WP's home screen IS a notification centre in a basic sense using the live tiles, the swipe left would then just be a more detailed notification centre. But I do think the press+hold the Windows key idea would be an added plus.

Yes, but if you can only use the notification center when you're at the home screen that isn't very helpful. I guess I went a little to far by saying it would be a failed attempt, but a notification center needs to be accesible from anywhere.

Maybe they could do a combination. Swipe left when you're at the home screen and when you're in an app, browsing, etc. double tap/press+hold the Windows button could be used. Or maybe they could make the swipe left a multitasking screen and use the Windows button for a notification center.
 

MikeSo

New member
Dec 31, 2012
1,450
0
0
Visit site
That is the only way to do it. It's the Windows way really.
Absolutely. Make it an app, like Messaging etc - that way, those who want it can put it on their home screen, and those who don't can leave it in the Apps list and access it from there (or never access it, or uninstall it). Or if they don't want to do that, how about making it accessible the same way we switch when multitasking, holding down the left arrow button (there could be a small notification icon under the row of app screenshots there, for example).

It should work like the notifications in Facebook do (now that FB has finally gotten it right). If there's new notifications, put a number on it, if not, leave it empty. But always let the user access the notification history.

Seems like a really simple thing to have, so I assume the only reason they don't have it is what the OP of this thread alludes to... it potentially undermines the whole "live tiles" concept which is the linchpin of the WP concept both from a programming philosophy and a marketing standpoint. I can only imagine that that MS is afraid that if there's a way to simply put a notification into the "OS notification pool", developers will get lazy and completely stop caring about developing well thought out live tiles, and thus diminish that aspect of the OS. I hope they rethink it, because a notification center would be very useful.
 

Members online

No members online now.

Forum statistics

Threads
322,915
Messages
2,242,889
Members
428,004
Latest member
hetb