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My solution for notifications, was disabling all of them, including noises. Keep the little badge icon that you can only see when logged in. Quality of life wen

My solution for notifications, was disabling all of them, including noises. Keep the little badge icon that you can only see when logged in. Quality of life went up.

ghaff 8y ago
I don't disable all of them but I tend to agree that the best approach to notifications is to disable pretty much everything that isn't relatively low volume and/or something you actually want/need to deal with or know about more or less immediately. Social media, news. etc. definitely does not qualify.
- overcast 8y ago
  It would be nice if there was something more granular, show notifications from your girlfriend.
  - ghaff 8y ago
    In messages/phone you can put people in a group that you can set to bypass Do Not Disturb which is almost the same thing as you're asking for. In other apps, I'm not sure how iOS would have the identity information to do what you ask.
    - dpark 8y ago
      Is there some magic to make that work? So far as I can tell, this is only honored for phone calls. I don’t get texts from my wife when my phone is in DND mode, and she is in my allowed group.
      - ghaff 8y ago
        It's possible :-) that I'm wrong. I knew the feature existed for phone calls and I assumed that meant it worked for texts as well. But I haven't personally tried it. [ADDED: I could see the thinking being that if it's really urgent, someone will call and, if you're sleeping, a message notification won't reliably wake you up.]
  - oldcynic 8y ago
    I often run in DND, with some of my contact list set to bypass DND and notifications off for nearly every app. That combined with notifications set to repeat on messages (like old feature phones used to) means I'll get a few pings from people I'd like to hear from. Everything and everyone else is silence until I decide to unlock and look. The only thing I miss on iPhone is a notification LED as even with repeat I occasionally miss a message or call from friends. Then again perhaps I don't: in all my years on Android, and paying for several LED apps, I never once got the simple notification behaviour I sought from an LED. Not once. Android always overwrote it with something else, or Google's preferred colour or different behaviour. My old feature phones and early GSM mobiles managed to do LEDs sanely enough.
matt-attack 8y ago
I do this too. I found an iPhone on the sidewalk a few months ago. It was locked but I could see notifications. I was absolutely aghast at what people allow to disturb them. This phone had pages and pages of notifications. Countless random apps alerting you of pointless new events occurring. Things going on sale, enticing you to buy things, friends posting things, etc. It was fascinating to see how other people live their lives.
- overcast 8y ago
  That was the initial reason I disabled them, because I don't want personal messages coming through, or even who is sending them. Now it's a sanity reason. All must go.
wodenokoto 8y ago
The article starts out by saying that Android is much better at notification and that Apple is slowly catching up, however, what you describe is what I want on my Samsung S7 and can't have. So maybe Apple isn't as bad at notifications as some would say ...
- wvenable 8y ago
  I just discovered that the unread message count badges were a Touchwiz only feature that went away with the Oreo update on my S7. The default Android Oreo way (which is now the only way) is awful; the count is just the number of undismissed notifications. It amazes me that iOS has had this from day one, third party Android vendors including Samsung, Sony, and HTC have all created they own solutions, and yet Android made it to the letter "P" still without this feature. I just upgraded to Oreo this week it remains to be seen just how many emails and messages I'm going to miss now that I can't see whether or not I have anything unread in these applications. It's frustrating.
  - cptskippy 8y ago
    The current belief is that constantly engaging with our smartphones has damaged our lives. We're unable to focus because we allow constant interruptions and we habitually check our phones instead of being present. The current trend is to do away with these distractions and allow people to focus. What you're arguing for is the exact opposite. You're asking for the distraction. Persistent reminders that you are neglecting a particular App.
    - wvenable 8y ago
      You have it backwards. A badge on an icon is a passive indicator not a notification! When I look at my phone, I want to see if I have an unread message. The Oreo model means I either have to have notifications (which are actual distractions) or I simply have no clue if something needs to be dealt with. For a device designed for communication, this is important. It's not a distraction, it's literally the reason I have the device.
zwily 8y ago
I’ve even disabled badges for most things, including anything social. The badges are too enticing.
- overcast 8y ago
  Oh see, my solution to that was just removing those apps, and deleting my social accounts.
swah 8y ago
Are you marco.org ? Because Marco has explained something similar in the podcast.
- princetman 8y ago
  Very likely they’re. Username seems to be in reference to Marco’s Overcast app.
- overcast 8y ago
  negative
ballenf 8y ago
I recently started taking a new approach. Say yes to any new app that requests notifications. If the app sends me annoying notifications, I delete the whole app. That was my solution to having a bunch of apps on my phone that I don't use.

My solution for notifications, was disabling all of them, including noises. Keep the little badge icon that you can only see when logged in. Quality of life went up.

ghaff 8y ago

I don't disable all of them but I tend to agree that the best approach to notifications is to disable pretty much everything that isn't relatively low volume and/or something you actually want/need to deal with or know about more or less immediately. Social media, news. etc. definitely does not qualify.

overcast 8y ago
It would be nice if there was something more granular, show notifications from your girlfriend.
- ghaff 8y ago
  In messages/phone you can put people in a group that you can set to bypass Do Not Disturb which is almost the same thing as you're asking for. In other apps, I'm not sure how iOS would have the identity information to do what you ask.
  - dpark 8y ago
    Is there some magic to make that work? So far as I can tell, this is only honored for phone calls. I don’t get texts from my wife when my phone is in DND mode, and she is in my allowed group.
    - ghaff 8y ago
      It's possible :-) that I'm wrong. I knew the feature existed for phone calls and I assumed that meant it worked for texts as well. But I haven't personally tried it. [ADDED: I could see the thinking being that if it's really urgent, someone will call and, if you're sleeping, a message notification won't reliably wake you up.]
- oldcynic 8y ago
  I often run in DND, with some of my contact list set to bypass DND and notifications off for nearly every app. That combined with notifications set to repeat on messages (like old feature phones used to) means I'll get a few pings from people I'd like to hear from. Everything and everyone else is silence until I decide to unlock and look. The only thing I miss on iPhone is a notification LED as even with repeat I occasionally miss a message or call from friends. Then again perhaps I don't: in all my years on Android, and paying for several LED apps, I never once got the simple notification behaviour I sought from an LED. Not once. Android always overwrote it with something else, or Google's preferred colour or different behaviour. My old feature phones and early GSM mobiles managed to do LEDs sanely enough.

matt-attack 8y ago

I do this too. I found an iPhone on the sidewalk a few months ago. It was locked but I could see notifications. I was absolutely aghast at what people allow to disturb them. This phone had pages and pages of notifications. Countless random apps alerting you of pointless new events occurring. Things going on sale, enticing you to buy things, friends posting things, etc. It was fascinating to see how other people live their lives.

overcast 8y ago
That was the initial reason I disabled them, because I don't want personal messages coming through, or even who is sending them. Now it's a sanity reason. All must go.

wodenokoto 8y ago

The article starts out by saying that Android is much better at notification and that Apple is slowly catching up, however, what you describe is what I want on my Samsung S7 and can't have. So maybe Apple isn't as bad at notifications as some would say ...

wvenable 8y ago
I just discovered that the unread message count badges were a Touchwiz only feature that went away with the Oreo update on my S7. The default Android Oreo way (which is now the only way) is awful; the count is just the number of undismissed notifications. It amazes me that iOS has had this from day one, third party Android vendors including Samsung, Sony, and HTC have all created they own solutions, and yet Android made it to the letter "P" still without this feature. I just upgraded to Oreo this week it remains to be seen just how many emails and messages I'm going to miss now that I can't see whether or not I have anything unread in these applications. It's frustrating.
- cptskippy 8y ago
  The current belief is that constantly engaging with our smartphones has damaged our lives. We're unable to focus because we allow constant interruptions and we habitually check our phones instead of being present. The current trend is to do away with these distractions and allow people to focus. What you're arguing for is the exact opposite. You're asking for the distraction. Persistent reminders that you are neglecting a particular App.
  - wvenable 8y ago
    You have it backwards. A badge on an icon is a passive indicator not a notification! When I look at my phone, I want to see if I have an unread message. The Oreo model means I either have to have notifications (which are actual distractions) or I simply have no clue if something needs to be dealt with. For a device designed for communication, this is important. It's not a distraction, it's literally the reason I have the device.

zwily 8y ago

I’ve even disabled badges for most things, including anything social. The badges are too enticing.

overcast 8y ago
Oh see, my solution to that was just removing those apps, and deleting my social accounts.

swah 8y ago

Are you marco.org ? Because Marco has explained something similar in the podcast.

princetman 8y ago
Very likely they’re. Username seems to be in reference to Marco’s Overcast app.
overcast 8y ago
negative

ballenf 8y ago

I recently started taking a new approach. Say yes to any new app that requests notifications. If the app sends me annoying notifications, I delete the whole app. That was my solution to having a bunch of apps on my phone that I don't use.