Dear Apple, Please Copy This Notification System For The iPhone Immediately | Hacker News Reader

Dear Apple, Please Copy This Notification System For The iPhone Immediately

techcrunch.com

47 pointsevo_914 comments

I was disappointed Apple didn't address notifications in iOS 4 but like copy & paste I think they want to get it right. Whatever system they put into place is going to be around for many years. I would be surprised if they don't deliver in iOS5. Probably integrated with the multi-tasking switcher since notifications are points at which you might decide to multitask or switch applications. Makes sense to group them together. The trickiest part is figuring out how to do Growl/HUD style notifications. WebOS is the high water mark for this. Android's system is not so good. The notification tray itself is fine but the HUD of a new notification is easy to miss. If you can't memorize what all the tiny icons are for you just have to check the tray constantly instead.

> like copy & paste I think they want to get it right

This "they want to get it right" thing is nothing but apologetic stupidity.

Apple is not a magic company, they have a priority list and a limited number of resources to address that list.

Sometimes, features have to fall off the wayside. I suspect that copy and paste and notifications have been judged less important than other features, because frankly, Android's notifications have been perfect since day one, so it's not like there is no precedent.

The notification on WebOS is _fantastic_. As a dual iPhone/Pre user, I cringe when i see one of those ridiculous boxes come up (and cringe again if it's important and I need to see it again).

Up voted and seconded.

WebOS' got the usability right. Sadly, their execution with the Pre and Pre 2 was late and poor.

Now if only Apple stole WebOS' style for multitasking...

I'm really waiting for the WebOS Tablets. The launch looked promising and the product looked well designed. What tips it for me in favor of Web OS vs. Android is the better execution of UI and support for DRM aps like Netflix.

I have iPad and android phone (G2). I like the G2 notification, it helps me sorting out messages, updates, and such.

But then again I don't miss it much on my iPad, because I do different stuff with it - I concetrate on reading mails there (or even newsgroups), rather than expect to be notified.

But with iPhone I would love some notification system.

It's interesting to notice that in the past couple days, this topic about the notification system on iOS re-appear. The most recent if I recall was: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2275227

Clearly there is a need for iOS to improve the notification system which is currently terrible. I really hope that iOS 5 will have that topic revisited, and more important provide a third party API to hook into it.

This makes me cringe. Looks more like an advertisement. I like the concept but needs to be more polished and less obtrusive. Half that size and somewhere on top would be ideal.

They can do better than this

The bottom of the screen (where it partially blocks the dock with the most-used apps) is the worst place to place a notification bar. I think Apple is more likely to make a notifications app which will get permanently pinned to the home screen.

What happens to the notification when I'm typing something on the keyboard? Does the whole keyboard shift up or does it block the keyboard. Either way, it sounds like a usability nightmare to put notifications at the bottom of the screen...

Looks like a rip-off of MobileNotifier, which incidentally is free and Open Source: http://bit.ly/gIke2q

Please don't copy this notification system. It's too cumbersome.

Instead, copy Android's (preferably) or WebOS's.

One small feature, one huge ruckus.

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