Comments on: Facebook 3.1 Highlights All That’s Wrong With Push Notifications

By: tim

tim — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 18:09:44 +0000

Don’t worry guys.. Just heard from a credible source that a brand new notification engine will be out in 2013.. the same time a brand new Iphone with 5 megapixels will be out. Ahahahaha

By: Stefano Maffulli

Stefano Maffulli — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 15:23:09 +0000

There is nothing wrong with *push notifications*. There are problems with *iPhone push notifications* :) You should fix the title of the post.

By: antonio

antonio — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 11:16:50 +0000

They just have to look how Android and WebOS handle notifications, and improve it even more. That´s all.

By: Alex

Alex — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 08:24:11 +0000

Actually, the push notification (based on the example you have provided) has done it’s job. It has alerted your phone. Now what isn’t working is the manner in which the notifications are displaying. So a simple solution is to have a sequential list or history of the notifications that have arrived on your phone. I’m sure something like that in the works. Now, would you suggest a redevelopment of the entire notification system or just expand the popups into something like a list? I think List complete with when the alert arrived etc etc. Now it would be even more ingenious if we can keep going back to that list. All the previous smartphones have had this type of app/process built in.

By: Kha

Kha — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 01:54:06 +0000

There is an elegant solution to this in the jailbreak world that is called GriP, which is basically Growl notifications implimentation on the iPhone. I suggest you check it out.

This is one of the reasons why bloggers should side with jailbreaking rather than fear it. Apple is clearly taking its glacial time fixing glaring mistakes on the iPhone (MMS? Landscape messaging?). The jailbreak community have consistently found functional and esthetically-pleasing solutions to Apple’s shortcomings that should make people rethink their position in waiting for Apple to hand them a feature that should have been there in the first place. I wouldn’t put it past them to implement it as an exclusive feature for the next generation iPhone. They’ve done it already with the battery percentage indicator with the 3GS…

By: Phil Bowell

Phil Bowell — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 17:46:59 +0000

All I want with Facebook push notifications is the ability for the app to show a badge and make a sound, no box, when I receive a direct message. That means I can turn off the emails that get sent to me, so I will respond to the message when I read rather. I often forget to respond, having read the message in my emails. Same with Twitter and DM’s. That, to me at least, seems to be the most powerful reason to use push notifications in an app.

By: What to read on the GigaOM Network

What to read on the GigaOM Network — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 16:53:40 +0000

[...] Edit Staff | Wednesday, October 21, 2009 | 9:53 AM PT | 0 comments | 0 tweets retweet » Facebook 3.1 highlights all that’s wrong with push notifications (TheAppleBlog) e-Book ecosystem should look to open source (OStatic) BlackBerry gets a Bold refresh [...]

By: RK

RK — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 16:47:50 +0000

What you described seems to me a UI presentation problem not an OS problem. If one is to receive many frequent updates (via Twitter or Facebook), I am not sure putting something that pops up on the locked screen is a solution. Notification should be used for a relatively infrequent event (maybe once an hour on average). It becomes an annoyance if the event is occurring every minute.

By: zenwheel

zenwheel — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 16:07:32 +0000

My theory was 3.0 was laying the foundation for notifications, forthcoming would be a better UI for notifications, handling them better when in a call or when the phone is unlocked, history, notifications of emails, etc. Okay, maybe not a theory, I was just hoping.

By: Xairbusdriver

Xairbusdriver — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 15:13:44 +0000

Not only do I not need/want any “push” notifications other than what I have (see below), but I am one of those users you’d “be hard pressed to find an iPhone without it.” I suspect it may not be as hard as you might think, also.

I absolutely never visit FB or Twitter UNTIL I get an email saying something there has happened that I MIGHT be interested in. In my humble opinion that email IS my ‘push’ notification. AND I don’t worry about losing that notification with a window that might disappear, the Mail icon on my iPhone very conveniently indicates there is something there that I haven’t read. Doh!

BTW, don’t bother trying to text me, I have blocked that “service.” Best deal I’ve found from AT&T. ;-) Not widely enough known, IMHO. It is amazing to me that people try to “communicate” using tiny “real” keyboards or even the much easier to use iPhone method when they are holding in their hands a device that can provide nearly instantaneous TWO-WAY verbal communications (and without costing both parties extra)! Oh, I know, there are times when you can’t talk on the phone. OK, perhaps those are also time you should be composing/sending/reading a text message, also. Ever heard of email? It’s the original ‘text messaging’ and is really fast and you can use real words! What a concept! ;-P

And now, back to the REGULAR whining…

By: TCHe

TCHe — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 14:47:14 +0000

Totally agree.
Right now, the lock screen is pretty much useless, no information on new mails, appointments and so on. This is a functionality I really miss.
Something like Intelliscreen and the likes would be appropriate for a smartphone to come as a standard—without having to jailbreak one’s iPhone.

By: Champs

Champs — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 14:34:22 +0000

iDon’t have a decent notification system…

to be continued.

By: Charity

Charity — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 14:19:56 +0000

I got the GPush app before Gmail came out with its own push capability. I’ve actually gone back to GPush and shut off push for Gmail. GPush plays a nice sound and gives me a text box on top of my screen showing the sender and subject line. With Gmail, badges just showed up, and if I was in an app that was full screen, I might miss it. Plus having push turned on for Gmail ran my battery down! With GPush, I know when to go and fetch my email myself. Push is pretty cool, but for those of us who aren’t power emailers or texters it’s not worth the battery life.