5 ms·

iOS notifications are as disruptive as notifications on a mobile device can possibly be. A box pops up in the middle of the display, interrupts whatever might b

iOS notifications are as disruptive as notifications on a mobile device can possibly be. A box pops up in the middle of the display, interrupts whatever might be taking place at the time, and prevents the user from doing anything else with the device until one of two things happens — the user must either interact with the notification (dismiss it or open the related app) or turn the display off and back on. I've never used an iPhone before, so I had no idea this was the case. This seems like a fatal design flaw. How can you just interrupt the user like that? Edit: after reading about it a little online, it appears that the iPhone doesn't have an LED light that blinks when you have a SMS, email, missed call, etc. - do you really have to turn on the screen just to see if there's anything new?

cscheid 16y ago
It is incredibly painful, and there are some egregious offenders which I find hard to believe went through any testing (I'm looking at you, New York Times iPad app).
- smackfu 16y ago
  Are there any people in the world that want headlines to be alerts? And not even very important headlines.
- chrisbolt 16y ago
  It's not hard to disable push notifications for any given app.
sudont 16y ago
It's part of a bad trend at Apple. Used to be the best part of their operating system was how unintrusive it was: non-focused applications could never overlay a notification over a focused app. However, that behavior was changed with the Spaces feature, or at the same time.
AndrewDucker 16y ago
I believe that notifications is one are where Android does it better. You have a bar at the top (where the clock and signal strength is), and any sms or emails or any other notifications appear at the top. You can then drag this bar down to see more details, and selecting (for instance) the sms notifications will then open the sms app.
- w1ntermute 16y ago
  Yeah, I have an Android phone and love the notification system, which is why I'm so astonished by the way iOS handles it. I frequently leave notifications to be dealt with later, so the idea that you have to either deal with or ignore a notification as soon as it's received seems absurd. Even my old Razr showed a notification for new SMSes rather than requiring me to immediately deal with it.
  - rimantas 16y ago
    For some applications you can configure notifications and turn "sounds","alerts","badges" on or off. Messages does not have this config option for some reason :(
- locopati 16y ago
  Sounds like webOS does it much better too - little icon(s) at the bottom of the screen. Tap icon see message. Multiple notifications can stack up. Swipe notification to remove it.
jsz0 16y ago
The iOS notification system was originally used only for phone calls and SMS. Things you would want to interrupt the user for in most cases. It hasn't scaled well with push/local notifications. I was disappointed they didn't address this in iOS 4 but at the same time I would rather they get it right so the end user experience can be consistent until iOS9 when it has to be reworked again to scale. I generally don't mind that Apple takes their time to get things right since the payoff is usually worth the wait.
slantyyz 16y ago
Didn't Apple hire the guy responsible for WebOS' notifications? Hopefully we'll see some progress in this area.
- hogu 16y ago
  I love webOS's notification system
mmorris 16y ago
Do you really have to turn on the screen just to see if there's anything new? Yes, but I don't think the turning on the screen is the big problem. If I'm wondering if I have messages, updates, etc., turning on the screen is a very minor hassle (I'm already taking it out of my pocket or picking it up). That being said, the notifications are one of the two major shortcomings (albeit very major) of iOS relative to the base Android install and other mobile OSes -- the notification system and the built in turn-by-turn directions. There are other issues, but those are the two really big ones that don't involve the network it runs on (at least in the US).
- w1ntermute 16y ago
  Yes, but I don't think the turning on the screen is the big problem. If I'm wondering if I have messages, updates, etc., turning on the screen is a very minor hassle Hmm, I would find it to be a big hassle. When I'm seated at my desk, I can just glance out of the corner of my eye at my phone to see if the LED is blinking. Having to remove my hands from my keyboard and physically pick it up would be a huge hassle.
gte910h 16y ago
You don't have to use the popup as a developer. Blame the app dev, not apple. You can just use the sound or number on the app.

cscheid 16y ago

It is incredibly painful, and there are some egregious offenders which I find hard to believe went through any testing (I'm looking at you, New York Times iPad app).

smackfu 16y ago
Are there any people in the world that want headlines to be alerts? And not even very important headlines.
chrisbolt 16y ago
It's not hard to disable push notifications for any given app.

sudont 16y ago

It's part of a bad trend at Apple. Used to be the best part of their operating system was how unintrusive it was: non-focused applications could never overlay a notification over a focused app. However, that behavior was changed with the Spaces feature, or at the same time.

AndrewDucker 16y ago

I believe that notifications is one are where Android does it better. You have a bar at the top (where the clock and signal strength is), and any sms or emails or any other notifications appear at the top. You can then drag this bar down to see more details, and selecting (for instance) the sms notifications will then open the sms app.

w1ntermute 16y ago
Yeah, I have an Android phone and love the notification system, which is why I'm so astonished by the way iOS handles it. I frequently leave notifications to be dealt with later, so the idea that you have to either deal with or ignore a notification as soon as it's received seems absurd. Even my old Razr showed a notification for new SMSes rather than requiring me to immediately deal with it.
- rimantas 16y ago
  For some applications you can configure notifications and turn "sounds","alerts","badges" on or off. Messages does not have this config option for some reason :(
locopati 16y ago
Sounds like webOS does it much better too - little icon(s) at the bottom of the screen. Tap icon see message. Multiple notifications can stack up. Swipe notification to remove it.

jsz0 16y ago

The iOS notification system was originally used only for phone calls and SMS. Things you would want to interrupt the user for in most cases. It hasn't scaled well with push/local notifications. I was disappointed they didn't address this in iOS 4 but at the same time I would rather they get it right so the end user experience can be consistent until iOS9 when it has to be reworked again to scale. I generally don't mind that Apple takes their time to get things right since the payoff is usually worth the wait.

slantyyz 16y ago

Didn't Apple hire the guy responsible for WebOS' notifications? Hopefully we'll see some progress in this area.

hogu 16y ago
I love webOS's notification system

mmorris 16y ago

Do you really have to turn on the screen just to see if there's anything new? Yes, but I don't think the turning on the screen is the big problem. If I'm wondering if I have messages, updates, etc., turning on the screen is a very minor hassle (I'm already taking it out of my pocket or picking it up). That being said, the notifications are one of the two major shortcomings (albeit very major) of iOS relative to the base Android install and other mobile OSes -- the notification system and the built in turn-by-turn directions. There are other issues, but those are the two really big ones that don't involve the network it runs on (at least in the US).

w1ntermute 16y ago
Yes, but I don't think the turning on the screen is the big problem. If I'm wondering if I have messages, updates, etc., turning on the screen is a very minor hassle Hmm, I would find it to be a big hassle. When I'm seated at my desk, I can just glance out of the corner of my eye at my phone to see if the LED is blinking. Having to remove my hands from my keyboard and physically pick it up would be a huge hassle.

gte910h 16y ago

You don't have to use the popup as a developer. Blame the app dev, not apple. You can just use the sound or number on the app.