The Verge:
There were a lot of great features announced last week at Apple’s WWDC, but the one that’s going to have the biggest effect on my day-to-day life is the overhaul to how notifications are managed in iOS 12.
I suspect that the features Apple added to iOS 12 will go a very long way toward helping people get control over their notifications. Dealing with notifications was one of the iPhone’s most glaring UI deficiencies compared to Android, and I am glad to see something a little closer to parity coming.
I don’t get nearly the amount of notifications Bohn has (mostly because I manage them better than he does) but anything that helps tame them will be a big help.
Ewww the Verge. I’d click on the link but I’d rather not be digitally molested.
Bohn seems to cover that issue with the desire to be able to shut off notifications from an app directly from the notification. There’s a lot of overhead to change your mind about notifications and being able to do it when the notification annoys you is a good change.
A good example of this. I thought I wanted notifications from ESPN because I thought I wanted sports scores. The problem is that 2/3s of them were about stupid things being said on First Take and were more like TMZ headlines than basic sports scores. It would be nice to silence when you realize an app is egregiously notifying you.
I sent this to a coworker who shared the post with me, and it still sums up how i feel about it:
I’m actually not liking what I see of iOS 12 notifications, but I’m hoping it will work better than it seems to. The secret is to be unafraid to say “no” when the OS asks if an app should receive notifications. Maybe the OS should even encourage that somehow. If over time you realize you want notifications, go turn them on. I’m convinced grouping goes the wrong way. It will make important notifications stand out less, and encourage people to turn on more needy notifications. We’ll see, though.
…all because users can’t say no. Something funny about that.
Having blocking option easily available from the offending content would make it much easier to manage these things effectively. With Facebook Messenger I can force tap a notification and a mute option is presented. It would be nice to have similar notification management on all notifications. iOS 12 does this the first time a new app sends a notification, but often I need to see how useful the notifications are before I decide, so having this option always available would be useful.
I like the one comment that finally hit the nail on the head – don’t mindlessly click Yes to every app that wants to send you notifications and, if you do approve them from a given app and then find them overwhelming… use Notification Center to manage what can send you notifications.
Most people who complain about this are looking for a solution to a problem that they’ve created. I think the new features are a good thing for people who legitimately get notifications from various apps and for whom the new interactions will save time. But if you’re getting spammed with notifications from a news site… turn them off. Almost no one needs to see every headline from the NYT, CNN etc. Most of that feels like it’s driven by FOMO (“But what if I get an email and don’t see it the moment it arrives!?!?”)
Something familiar about that, too. Windows trained users to say “okay” far too often, for years.
Yeah that does make that slightly more streamlined but is it REALLY that hard to open Settings, Notification Center and turn off whatever you want off? It’s not like you’re doing this a lot.
What I’d like are more granular settings… not just on or off but (say, for ESPN): All, Breaking News Only, Scores Only.
Depends how many apps you have. It’s 2 extra clicks and searching through a long list of apps. Also, being able to do it will makes one more likely to take a chance, give access and then remove access if an app acts egregiously.
Rick,
You miss the flaw in your method. At the time the app asks, you don’t exactly know what type of notifications you’re going to get. Is the app occasionally going to nudge you with a useful tip, nugget of info, or reminder, or is it going to spam you nonstop with useless crap, that then requires you digging through menus to the miles long notifications lists to disable. Until you actually see how the app handles the notifications, a blanket policy of just saying “no” whenever asked isn’t helpful.
This isn’t a user created problem. Android has shown there is a much, much better way to handle notifications, and it’s long past time Apple made this easier and more intuitive on iOS.
If you have a lot of apps, yeah, it’s a PITA. Much simpler and FAR more obvious just to turn them off from the actual app that’s assaulting you hourly. Also, I’ll be damned if they don’t always pop up when I’m not in a place or moment to go digging, then I forget.
i don’t get why Loop posts so many links to Verge, the most nortiously biased apple troll rag of the bunch. won’t click. no value for me as a reader here.
i don’t get why Loop posts so many links to Verge, the most nortiously biased apple troll rag of the bunch. won’t click. no value for me as a reader here.
Sure, but then… zoom into Notification Center and manage it. I’ve done this (I suspect we all have allowed notifications that we regret).
But perhaps I’m not being clear. I *like* the change. But if you read Bohn’s article you get the impression that notifications are somehow forced on you and it’s incredibly hard to manage them and it’s just NOT. Yes, the ios12 way is easier and it’s an improvement, but when I read about someone holding up notifications as some make or break feature I just laugh.
As the poster of this story, I’ll say that, while I generally agree with your assessment of The Verge and think that Patel is a little whiner, if they post something I think has value, I’ll link to it here on The Loop.