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As a user notifications are a problem, but as an app developer they absolutely work to drive engagement, which is why so many apps use them. So if you’re trying

by orev 8y ago

As a user notifications are a problem, but as an app developer they absolutely work to drive engagement, which is why so many apps use them. So if you’re trying to run a business that’s a pretty important thing.

username223 8y ago
> As a user notifications are a problem, but as an app developer... So do you develop apps but not use them? I can't think of a way the hypocrisy isn't shocking here. "Do unto others" and all that.
- scarface74 8y ago
  I’ve developed software all of my career that I personally have no use for. I develop software to pay my bills. We are talking about notifications, not killing puppies.
  - username223 8y ago
    We're not talking about whether or not you are killing puppies -- I don't think you're a sadist. Just "make stuff you would want to use." Or "do unto others as you would have them do unto you." Or, if you prefer, "act only according to that maxim whereby you can, at the same time, will that it should become a universal law."
    - JohnFen 8y ago
      > Just "make stuff you would want to use." So I should quit my job developing enterprise software because I don't personally have a use for enterprise software?
wuliwong 8y ago
You think notifications are universally "a problem"? I find many notifications to be quite useful. Appointment reminders are VERY important to me and not at all a problem.
- fromdowntown 8y ago
  They probably mean generally a problem. Things like reminders seems like a good use case, but with all the apps trying to increase engagement, it seems necessary to mute notifications to an app right after downloading it.
  - ryanwaggoner 8y ago
    You don’t need to “mute” them, just don’t approve the notifications permission request. Out of the 100+ apps I have installed, I have zero that annoy me with notifications.
askafriend 8y ago
Notification management is the problem. Not notifications themselves. One part is on the system to provide the right management tools, the other is on the user to tell the system what notifications are important.
- JohnFen 8y ago
  > Notification management is the problem. Not notifications themselves. Notification abuse is the problem. Notifications have been so heavily abused by apps (and increasingly now by websites themselves) that makes the notification system itself look terrible.
ryandrake 8y ago
Users don’t care about “driving engagement”. If your product’s user experience is important, or if is made with any empathy at all for the user, it won’t be spamming him with notifications purely to juice a startup vanity metric.

by orev 8y ago

username223 8y ago

> As a user notifications are a problem, but as an app developer... So do you develop apps but not use them? I can't think of a way the hypocrisy isn't shocking here. "Do unto others" and all that.

scarface74 8y ago
I’ve developed software all of my career that I personally have no use for. I develop software to pay my bills. We are talking about notifications, not killing puppies.
- username223 8y ago
  We're not talking about whether or not you are killing puppies -- I don't think you're a sadist. Just "make stuff you would want to use." Or "do unto others as you would have them do unto you." Or, if you prefer, "act only according to that maxim whereby you can, at the same time, will that it should become a universal law."
  - JohnFen 8y ago
    > Just "make stuff you would want to use." So I should quit my job developing enterprise software because I don't personally have a use for enterprise software?

wuliwong 8y ago

You think notifications are universally "a problem"? I find many notifications to be quite useful. Appointment reminders are VERY important to me and not at all a problem.

fromdowntown 8y ago
They probably mean generally a problem. Things like reminders seems like a good use case, but with all the apps trying to increase engagement, it seems necessary to mute notifications to an app right after downloading it.
- ryanwaggoner 8y ago
  You don’t need to “mute” them, just don’t approve the notifications permission request. Out of the 100+ apps I have installed, I have zero that annoy me with notifications.

askafriend 8y ago

Notification management is the problem. Not notifications themselves. One part is on the system to provide the right management tools, the other is on the user to tell the system what notifications are important.

JohnFen 8y ago
> Notification management is the problem. Not notifications themselves. Notification abuse is the problem. Notifications have been so heavily abused by apps (and increasingly now by websites themselves) that makes the notification system itself look terrible.

ryandrake 8y ago

Users don’t care about “driving engagement”. If your product’s user experience is important, or if is made with any empathy at all for the user, it won’t be spamming him with notifications purely to juice a startup vanity metric.