Developer shows off iOS notifications that don’t suck [video]

By on Feb 28, 2011 at 11:22 AM
mobile February 28, 2011

Simply put, Apple’s iOS notification system is horrible. Terrible. In fact, in our opinion it’s the worst smartphone notification system on the planet. We’ve written as much in the past on numerous occasions, and we’ll continue to harp on the issue until Apple fixes the problem. Of course many iOS users share our opinion, and some developers have even gone as far as offering up their own solutions. One such developer is Peter Hajas, who built MobileNotifier for iPhone and iPod touch users with jailbroken devices. MobileNotifier is a complete rewrite of Apple’s system, and it certainly represents a far superior solution compared to the current official implementation. Apple is expected by many to unveil a revamped notification system this summer when it reveals features from the next major revision of its mobile platform, iOS 5. The solution is expected to work in a similar fashion to MobileNotifier, though the UI will likely be more elegant and better integrated in the OS. Hit the break for a video demo and a pair of screen shots.

[Via 9to5 Mac]

Read

Tags:
, , , , , , , , , , , ,
48 Comments

Related Articles

  • http://twitter.com/Davva360 David Moore

    Apple please read this, we need a central notifications area.

    One swipe to the left would be good, list all notifications in order so we can deal with them or dismiss them as we please. Two swipes would still take you to the spotlight search. You could even make the OS skip the notifications screen if there were none. That combined with mini icons on the lock screen that showed how many emails, missed calls, SMS, you had missed.

    All of this with the ability to turn notifications on or off for different apps and I would be set.

    • http://twitter.com/antonioj antonio

      that and replace the stupid popups with notifications on the doubleheight statusbar

      • http://www.facebook.com/peterf Peter Fares

        I’ve never used an iPhone while on a call. How does the double height status bar work? Do applications reflow themselves to fit everything on the now smaller screen space or does the bottom get cut off?

    • Anonymous

      I’m quite sure you can turn off notifications for different apps in your settings application under “notifications”

      • http://twitter.com/Davva360 David Moore

        Yes you can but I would want to be able to chose to turn some completely off, leave some as badges only, and pick the ones I wanted to appear on the lock screen. That would be ideal.

  • Norrandy

    I wish the iPhone would give an option of vibrations for email and text and calls such as the Blackberry and the screen light up when a new email or sms is received.

    • Brian

      I just wish it had a notification light. I’m not too crazy about my screen lighting up every notification. lol

      • http://www.facebook.com/peterf Peter Fares

        Android really does have the best notification system. The drawer comes down from the top bar by dragging down and most have notification lights. The Nexus One had an awesome RGB notification light in the trackball so you could configure a different color for each kind of notification!

  • http://twitter.com/ChazClout ChazClout

    Less intrusive. iLike!

  • SF

    LockInfo coupled with pop-up blocker is much better. My iphone only vibrates or sounds an alert when I get notifications. I can see on the status bar whether I got a sms, mail, push notification or missed call. On the lock screen, i can a list of all notifications I missed and I can open the app directly or dismiss it. On the home screen, I can pull down the status bar to reveal the same list of notifications.
    MobileNotifier is still intrusive to some extent. Blocking the first row of icons and it wont go away until you dismiss it. Also, while playing a game, it will block some visual content of the game.

    • Luke Abp

      Hells yeah!!

  • Desjones4ever

    It seems to me that Apple pushes the iOS further along in all other areas quicker than with notifications which is insane if you ask me. I hope that they read these posts because like I have always said notifications are horrible is an understatement. I hope they preview something when they show iPad 2. New Device New Features. At least I hope!

    • Jroc869

      look how long it took them to put a flash on the camera, add mms, and multi-tasking.

  • Anonymous

    Sounds like all you crApple owners just iWish your phones were different!???

    • Anonymous

      The solution to the notfication system is to get a droid. Its that easy!

      • Anonymous

        You said it NORM_4G_LTE!
        Then, and only then, will their soooo many problems be resolved.
        What I loved most about the iWhiny article is that Zach used a screenshot showing CinguCrap’s much needed MicroCell tower connection!

      • Anonymous

        get a life, you fuckin tard

    • Brian

      Just as Android owners wish their operating system worked.

      Really though, after using android for the last year and now back on iOS there are a BUNCH of things both operating systems could learn/borrow from one another. Always room for improvement.

      • Jroc869

        please list how the android os doesnt work.

      • Evadssor

        Yes, please elaborate…

      • Brian

        I was mainly being sarcastic. I absolutely loved Android notification system. What I hated were inconsistencies across different devices. How one application would work great on my Droid X but not so hot on the Fascinate. Or the million different skins OE’s are putting on android. If Google cared more about the end user they’d put something into place, sort of how (hate to say it) WP7 has done.

        Truth is, I had to Jailbreak my iPhone to get it to do what I absolutely wanted to. Then again, I was rooted too be able to add BETTER running ROMs on my android devices.
        iOS may not be as customizable out of the box but it does work, and 99% (total estimation here) of apps from the appstore work on all iOS devices.

        Like I said, both devices could learn from one-another. I’m not hating on either OS so please don’t take it as that. I just use what works best for me.

      • life

        it feels like a dinosaur compared to the iphone..the widgets look shitty, and the UI is terrible

      • http://www.facebook.com/peterf Peter Fares

        I love my Desire Z. It works exactly like I expect. Everything I want is available for it. I don’t play high end games on my phone so if those aren’t available I wouldn’t notice.

        Notifications aren’t in my face. If I’m doing something and I get an email, no problem. The notification bar animates, with the usual status icons rotating up off the screen and the notification rotates into place. It stays there for a couple seconds and then rotates back down revealing the normal status icons.

        When I want to interact with the notification, I just slide the bar down. I can either click the notification to go to it or press clear to get rid of it. Also, I’m not sure if this is a CyanogenMod feature or not, but I can swipe individual notifications to the left to clear them.

    • numetheus

      Apple does have a horrible notification system, but amazing apps. Android has an amazing notification system, but needs a better apps ecosystem. Blackberry is an awesome communication device, but has an aging OS and crappy apps. It depends on what you want from a device. One has to wonder why a crabby old fart even reads these articles. Trolling much?

      • Anonymous

        Actually, I wish sometimes I looked like a TROLL; it would then be a whole lot easier to relate to someone like you or your offspring. And, yes, I am as ancient as you would want me to be but, I can still look at someone like you and just….

        ROTFLOL!

      • numetheus

        I’m not going to ROFL at you. You are just a pathetic old man who thinks you know better than everyone else. You feel the need to bash people because they like things you don’t. I actually feel pitty for you. While others are using things they enjoy, you feel the need to read articles you clearly don’t like the topic of just to troll and bash them. I feel pitty because something in your decrepit life caused you to be this way. So, I’m not going to laugh at a pathetic old geezer. I will however, speak up for people who have opinions … and shun trolls like yourself that feel people shouldn’t have one.

    • http://twitter.com/Davva360 David Moore

      So I guess you think everything about your device, whatever it may be, is absolutely perfect and can not be improved upon. iOS is a great OS but most people agree that notifications is an area that could be much better.

      Android is great in the notifications area but has it’s own issues and is far from perfect. Both of them could learn from each other.

  • Viktorcode

    Good idea is to use currently vacant area above the task switcher. The rest is meh…

    The bar shown on top when a notification arrives requires additional click just to get to the menu where you can get rid of it. Why not present two buttons straight away?

    Bigger drawback: the bar is not modal, meaning “you can continue to interact with your phone”. Now imagine playing a game with controls positioned right there, under this notification bar. When a notification arrives the game app is still running and this pop up just gets into the way, and still is requiring two clicks to get rid of it.

    What many homebrew designers don’t get is the incompability of some user interface aspects. Either you draw a big modal popup, which is putting everything else on pause, or you draw a non-modal tiny or semi-transparent (or both) bar in a place where it doesn’t get in the way. You can’t have both at the same time.

    Also, another thing many designers missing is information consistency. Look at the lock screen – there are two “1”. Can you tell me without trying the software what those numbers are for? Can your dad guess it? I guess “no” will be the answer for many people.

    I’m not trying to defend current Apple’s notifications system, it’s the weakest point of iOS UI IMO. But passing a mutant in its place just because it’s different…. ewwwww.

    There’s a good saying: Rules are made to be broken, but you shouldn’t try breaking them before you learn them. Peter is not following this one, obviously.

    • Anonymous

      I think his project is smart idea just not fully formed. What he should have done is create 2 notification systems. An intrusive one like what we have for phone calls and text messages.
      And a non intrusive one that uses the battery meter bar to flash notifications as well as keep a count. Like an rss reader notified. Because of consistency I don’t feel you should ever be able to touch it. Create an entirely new app that collects all these notifications so you can peruse at your pleasure.

      Personally I don’t even like the battery meter/AT&T signal statusline. The front is all glass anyways…how hard is it to put 3 led lights. A notified led that flashes when I’m on silent mode. If the app notifying me is on my first page it flashes brighter and longer. If the app is notifying me multiple times in the span of 3 minutes it flashes red.

      So each led has their own way of guessing the urgency and category of the notification. That determines the frequency, duration and color. If I’m on 80 percent battery life I don’t need a notification. If I’m below 50% the led will be lit yellow then red at 30% and warn me more frquently. The freq and duration will tell me what to prioritize

  • Brian

    While, this is nice I still much prefer BiteSMS notifications. I like the way I am able to simply respond to and SMS via popup and reply, send, and close and I’m back to what I was doing before.
    Opening a message, will ultimately background (iOS4 capable apps) and open your messaging system. To get back, you either have to double click home, select your app or go back to the home screen and re-open. I think a notification system like this would work great for many other applications giving you a notification (as developers purpose) but i’m still on the edge with the messages.

  • Anonymous

    Yes, the iPhone notification system sucks so bad that the Boy Genius himself penned a piece earlier this month entitled “why I’m switching to the Verizon iPhone.” Zach Epstein also penned a piece regarding why he was keeping his AT&T iPhone. In other words, notifications don’t even matter to bloggers, because even though the iPhone’s are “the worst,” two of the three main contributors to this site use the iPhone (the third uses a BlackBerry Torch, which is a cry for help if I ever heard one).

    No wonder Android doesn’t make any money. . .it can’t even beat an iPhone with awful notifications.

  • Anonymous

    You know. It does suck, but I’m gonna throw this out there…. I think the keyboard is almost as worse. It’s so out of date.. All the letters are always uppercase no matter if i have CAPS on or off… I can’t long press to get numbers or special symbols. It’s terrible. That needs an update too.

  • Tarun

    Good: the notifications are modal and don’t pop up in front of you.

    Bad: They block the top row, they have an arrow that leads to a useless drop down menu. The later feature should just be a settable fade-out.

  • Teagadinho

    WHERE CAN I GET THIS WALLPAPER!?

  • ohheyitsme

    meh. bitesms is really all you need.

  • Anonymous

    I guess I’m in the minority then, I kind of like the notification system with the immediate popups. That way all I have to do is pull my phone out, and glance at the screen to see what the notification is. If I need to respond, I just slide to unlock the phone, if not then I just put it back in my pocket. No other gesture is necessary to see the notification, the screen immediately activates and I can read it right away. I like this, and much prefer it over Android’s method of hiding them all on the notification bars so you have to go through several steps to just read them.

    • Anonymous

      Yeah, it’s awesome how those polyps prevent you from doing what you were doing until you dismiss them.

  • Anonymous

    wow peter is annoying

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1001483324 Gerry Quaglia

    I going to go out on a limb here and predict no change to the notification system in iOS 5. There will be plenty of other BS changes that no one cares about, but notifications, like the weather widget won’t see any.

  • Kunal Sharma

    Awesome

  • Travis Sinclair

    Talert is way better for jailbreak app….and LockInfo…and they aren’t in beta mode.

    • ohheyitsme

      Really? I haven’t heard of those. I should check em out !

  • Anonymous

    why are their android users commenting on these articles? don’t you got some porn to jerk off too…you 12 year olds

  • http://www.facebook.com/baldilocks73 Steve Hartsock

    Lockinfo is 10 times better than this notification add-on…. just saying.

  • Obj_me

    Firstly I will agree, yes iOS needs a notification system revamp badly. While I wouldn’t say it’s the most horrible thing in the world there is a solution. Before I begin and have to read some trolls response; yes you shouldn’t have to jailbreak to get features. Guess what though… I would be willing to wager that the vast majority of people on this board either Jailbreak, Root or otherwise modify their devices. Also I don’t think I would know WTF I would do if I was unable to do that. Anyhow the solution that I have implemented on my i4 is a combination of the following: First native notifications have been turned off… LockInfo(Is great for widgets and notifications, also is nice for InfoShade to access info on the SpringBoard), GriP(Growl for iPhone), Status Bar Icons and Notified(Keeps track of notifications history and is accessed through a double-tap on the status bar) seems to do the trick for me! While I would love to see all of those integrated with eachother and iOS(hopefully they will be in iOS5) this has proven to be an excellent solution in the meantime. Just my two cents and don’t get me wrong I would absolutely love if Apple would use, modify and improve on all of the best elements from Android’s, RIM’s and WebOS’ notification systems. Hopefully it will be magical and revolutionary!!! ;-)

  • Alexander530

    Big deal. Current notifier works just fine for me. Do I really want to see those pop ups? NOPE. I can barely manage my FB messages. Those pop ups would annoy me.

  • David Merrill

    Poor kids with your iPhones, maybe they will have Android notifications sooner or later.   

  • Anonymous

    I think that what Apple needs to do, is integrate every good thing about Android (which is pretty much EVERYTHING..) and use THAT as the UI for notifications and all that..ESPECIALLY the maps!

    I want my free navigation in iOS!
    Google has had it for ages and all we have is a measly little dot showing where we are.  I want turn by turn notifications, Apple. 
    Get with it!

    I know this had nothing to do with the above article, but still…

blog comments powered by Disqus