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> Notifications in Chrome are a useful feature... They lost me right there. They are not a useful feature and should not exist.

hedora 1y ago
Here is proof that it is an intentionally-bad feature: Web pages can tell if you enabled notifications. The last time I checked, Slack used this to break unrelated functionality until you gave it browser notification permission, and re-broke itself if you disabled permissions after enabling them. Otherwise, there is no reason to enable it or install the app. (You can deny notifications per app, at least on apple platforms).
- jlund-molfese 1y ago
  Same with iOS (and I presume Android)! So many apps will add extra nags inside the app until you enable notifications. But then as long as you do, they'll send you spam notifications on a frequent basis.
  - buccal 1y ago
    Microsoft 365 [whatever/copilot] apps on Android. If you enable notifications in Outlook you course get notifications when it updates to new version. Or the Office app shows a notification that it can open every PDF you download.
    - kirenida 1y ago
      And yet, you don't get an Outlook notification if you receive new mail that gets sorted in to a Inbox subfolder. Because nobody would ever want that.
- jbverschoor 1y ago
  Apps do the same when you ensure limited access to photos out contacts. Some block accounts created with iCloud/hide my email. It’s toxic and should be banned
technion 1y ago
One of the most impactful things I've done with enterprise security, and I mean moreso than buying any expensive product, was deployed a browser policy that disabled browser notifications (and deployed ublock). Service desk calls from people claiming to have been hacked because their browsers kept popping up scare ware ads dropped to nothing overnight, with a notable drop in complaints and absolutely zero complaints logged about people who wanted notifications on something. It's obscene, the desktop notification feature has generated more work for security people than active directory and it's lack of mfa support.
afavour 1y ago
They’re plenty useful when used by a service you engage with. I run Slack as a tab in my browser rather than as a standalone app and browser notifications make that usable.
- callmeal 1y ago
  I run slack as a tab in a browser too, and in my case _disabling_ browser notifications has made slack a joy to use.
  - rs186 1y ago
    Can't imagine myself doing that at work. People still ask me why it always takes me hours before responding to their messages, many of which are time-sensitive.
  - afavour 1y ago
    I guess every org uses Slack differently. Removing the notifications would remove 90% of the utility for me vs just using email.
trinsic2 1y ago
I was thinking the exact same thing. Nobody want notifications. It's just a way for sites to spam ads. The fact that you have to have a seperate warning for spam messages proves that the notifications system itself is a design flaw.

hedora 1y ago

Here is proof that it is an intentionally-bad feature: Web pages can tell if you enabled notifications. The last time I checked, Slack used this to break unrelated functionality until you gave it browser notification permission, and re-broke itself if you disabled permissions after enabling them. Otherwise, there is no reason to enable it or install the app. (You can deny notifications per app, at least on apple platforms).

jlund-molfese 1y ago
Same with iOS (and I presume Android)! So many apps will add extra nags inside the app until you enable notifications. But then as long as you do, they'll send you spam notifications on a frequent basis.
- buccal 1y ago
  Microsoft 365 [whatever/copilot] apps on Android. If you enable notifications in Outlook you course get notifications when it updates to new version. Or the Office app shows a notification that it can open every PDF you download.
  - kirenida 1y ago
    And yet, you don't get an Outlook notification if you receive new mail that gets sorted in to a Inbox subfolder. Because nobody would ever want that.
jbverschoor 1y ago
Apps do the same when you ensure limited access to photos out contacts. Some block accounts created with iCloud/hide my email. It’s toxic and should be banned

technion 1y ago

One of the most impactful things I've done with enterprise security, and I mean moreso than buying any expensive product, was deployed a browser policy that disabled browser notifications (and deployed ublock). Service desk calls from people claiming to have been hacked because their browsers kept popping up scare ware ads dropped to nothing overnight, with a notable drop in complaints and absolutely zero complaints logged about people who wanted notifications on something. It's obscene, the desktop notification feature has generated more work for security people than active directory and it's lack of mfa support.

afavour 1y ago

They’re plenty useful when used by a service you engage with. I run Slack as a tab in my browser rather than as a standalone app and browser notifications make that usable.

callmeal 1y ago
I run slack as a tab in a browser too, and in my case _disabling_ browser notifications has made slack a joy to use.
- rs186 1y ago
  Can't imagine myself doing that at work. People still ask me why it always takes me hours before responding to their messages, many of which are time-sensitive.
- afavour 1y ago
  I guess every org uses Slack differently. Removing the notifications would remove 90% of the utility for me vs just using email.

trinsic2 1y ago

I was thinking the exact same thing. Nobody want notifications. It's just a way for sites to spam ads. The fact that you have to have a seperate warning for spam messages proves that the notifications system itself is a design flaw.