Apple Acquiring iOS Developer to Revamp Notification System?

[adbe]

This far late into the game tells me notification overhaul won't be ready for iOS5. Being half a year away, I would assume that the feature list is pretty much set in stone by now.

Most likely, but:

Also, it would require some deep reworking of the plumbing for all apps, external and internal, to be reworked 100%.

I'm not sure I agree with this. AFAICT, all that really needs to happen is for alerts that are currently modal, instead be redirected to an onscreen message queue. The app wouldn't even need to know. I see this as a change at the presentation layer, not the messaging layer.

 

[macrumors12345]

This is basically the only significant weakness in iOS versus other mobile OSes. It's almost a given that they have to fix it, but the question is when. Unfortunately the timing of this news suggests we'll still be stuck with the current notifications for another 18 months. Still, it's good to know they are taking it seriously.

 

[redvettez06]

Again demonstrating the timeless Henry Ford quote ""If I'd asked my customers what they wanted, they'd have said a faster horse."

Um, that's not a good use for that quote. It's pretty much well established that the notification system in iOS is not good. Apple isn't giving an alternative product that is better here in this situation.

 

[DTphonehome]

About time. They should have fixed this in iOS4.

Surprised they need to do an acquisition for this though... the iOS development team has got to be huge by now. They couldn't fix it in-house?

While they're at it, I hope they fix the lock screen.... what a waste of space! I'm jailbroken and using LockInfo, along with BiteSMS for quick SMS replies within the popup notification. Works well, but I'd prefer an Apple-designed solution.

 

[mentholiptus]

I don't mind the notifications for text messages. I think they're perfect. As far as other apps go...3rd party apps, it can be irritating.

 

[baleensavage]

It's about time. Turning notifications off was one of the first things I did on my iPod touch because they are just plain annoying. As much as I love Apple, they really need to catch up to the competition in areas like this.

 

[vega07]

Wirelessly posted (iPhone: Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_2_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8C148 Safari/6533.18.5)

Way too late, Apple.

Thank God for a jailbreak and GRIP notifications.

 

[Torrijos]

This is the only thing that I feel needs to be changed. The rest of iOS I find perfectly efficient.

 

[saxamoophone]

I agree it needs to change but Apple can include a lot of those sorts of things without changing their stuff so much that it would alienate their base. I switched from iPhone to Android and they both have their strengths and weakness'. One of my problems with iOS was the notification system. version 2.1 of Android has a notification system and multitasking that is leagues ahead of iOS IMO. iOS is ahead of Android in many things as well (stability being one for sure not that iOS is completely stable either but it definately leads the pack). Anyways this isn't a Android vs. iOS vs. Windows 7 argument anyway. I'm happy to see a (possible) change in the notification system on iOS. Who knows...maybe I'll come back to iPhone!

Yeah I think each OS has their own pros and cons.

Competition is great though.

 

[TonyLukes3]

Please Apple, do this ASAP! I absolutely hate the notification system on iOS, it's just awful. I won't get into the reasons as they've been covered time & time again. I would think that they've been working on this since they acquired the WebOS guy, and am hoping they reveal this as part of iOS 5. I think it's possible, and I'm certain they could implement it without too much hassle. I'd love a notifications log & drop-downs!

 

[macduke]

Just saying—if Apple is just now getting around to buying some company to fix notifications, we won't see it this summer. Maybe a fall update, but even that is pushing it. Hopefully all the major pieces are in place, and the outside company would just be polishing up the look and possible interaction with the system.

Heck, even Win Phone 7 has a better notification system!

My thoughts on iOS 5:

Better notifications / connected services
UI color redesign / slight structure redesign
More customization options
Integrated payment system for new iPhones w/ RFID
AirPrint for everyone
Better system performance / lower memory usage with new xCode compiling
Some sort of further integration with Macs via Lion (and wireless sync?)
Ability to install certain, hub-style apps to the lock screen (think special section of app store, and you can only use one at a time, like changing wallpaper, you select from your list)
Some new gestures
There are more that escape me right now...

 

[jamesarm97]

I also hate that when I receive a couple of notification popups on the screen then unlock so I can look at them, most of the time they all go away then I have to find which app sent them to find out what they were (mainly news updates and such).

 

[BaldiMac]

Um, that's not a good use for that quote. It's pretty much well established that the notification system in iOS is not good. Apple isn't giving an alternative product that is better here in this situation.

I'm not sure you understand the connection to Ford's quote. I completely agree that the iOS notification system could use an overhaul. The quote referred to the fact that the proposals in the post I replied to were all specifically copying things that had already been done.

- smart" (like what Google is doing with their 3.0)
- Widgets (Android)
- Live Tiles (WP7)
- a file system for photos, videos, etc.

 

[chrmjenkins]

Just saying—if Apple is just now getting around to buying some company to fix notifications, we won't see it this summer. Maybe a fall update, but even that is pushing it. Hopefully all the major pieces are in place, and the outside company would just be polishing up the look and possible interaction with the system.

It could be that they already had a system in place and are hiring this company to add features in iOS5.x revisions.

Better system performance / lower memory usage with new xCode compiling

Can you elaborate on the current problem?

 

[jdechko]

My top 3 fixes for iOS are as follows:

3. Better notifications (I don't get that many now, but when I do, they're annoying).
2. Lockscreen info
1. Added support for background download of information (update Instapaper in the background. Also, The Daily badly needs this after the complaints of how slow it is).

 

[Telp]

Wirelessly posted (iPhone: Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_2_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8C148a Safari/6533.18.5)

About time. They should have fixed this in iOS4.

Surprised they need to do an acquisition for this though... the iOS development team has got to be huge by now. They couldn't fix it in-house?

While they're at it, I hope they fix the lock screen.... what a waste of space! I'm jailbroken and using LockInfo, along with BiteSMS for quick SMS replies within the popup notification. Works well, but I'd prefer an Apple-designed solution.

Why do that when they can hire a company who already has a system built. Then all they have to do is apply the apple touch and give it to the user. Makes for better management.

 

[Full of Win]

looking to address one of the areas of perceived weakness compared to other platforms such as Android and webOS.

...and a perceived weakness of hand grenades is that they tend to fall apart soon after pulling the pen and releasing of the spoon.

There is no 'perceived' about it. When these modal messages interrupt apps on an hourly basis, its a massive weakness. This should have been done with iOS 2 or 3 at the latest. The fact that its being considered for iOS 5 is a massive failure.

After Apple fixes this, I hope their next task is a logical form of App switching/closing. Jiggling apps to close them? Sad, very sad. Take a page from WebOS, do something that is not stupid.

 

[johnqh]

iOS had a focus on battery life. If an app is in the background, it is basically sleeping. The notifications are shown by the system.

WebOS and Android have the apps running in the background. The notifications are provided by the apps.

It shouldn't be difficult to change the iOS notification presentation layer. However, with the current system, it won't have much intelligence in it except "Dismiss" and "Bring app to front".

So, Apple probably will change the notification system, to enable developers to provide more actions. That involves API changes.

 

[pika2000]

Yeah, iOS notification system is at the same level as dumbphones. It's getting even sillier on the iPad. Apple really needs to revamp this, it's long overdue. With Android attacking from the tablet side with Honeycomb, HP/Palm going back for another round on both phone and tablet side, and Microsoft partnering with Nokia, Apple is going to face some real competition.

 

[johnqh]

I'm not sure you understand the connection to Ford's quote. I completely agree that the iOS notification system could use an overhaul. The quote referred to the fact that the proposals in the post I replied to were all specifically copying things that had already been done.

- smart" (like what Google is doing with their 3.0)
- Widgets (Android)
- Live Tiles (WP7)
- a file system for photos, videos, etc.

I doubt Apple will add widgets or live tiles.

Processing costs power. Having those running will definitely have an impact over the battery life, for limited benefits (occasional glance).

 

[BaldiMac]

...and a perceived weakness of hand grenades is that they tend to fall apart soon after pulling the pen and releasing of the spoon.

There is no 'perceived' about it. When these modal messages interrupt apps on an hourly basis, its a massive weakness. This should have been done with iOS 2 or 3 at the latest. The fact that its being considered for iOS 5 is a massive failure.

Massive failure? Talk about perceived weaknesses! It seems that the features that Apple prioritized over an updated notification feature went over pretty well with consumer. What with them selling as many as they could produce.

And I thought updated notifications should have been priority two for iOS 4 (behind multitasking).

I doubt Apple will add widgets or live tiles.

Processing costs power. Having those running will definitely have an impact over the battery life, for limited benefits (occasional glance).

I was not arguing in favor of any of those items. They were quoted from a previous post of examples of proposals that were nothing more than copying how things have been done before.

 

[redvettez06]

I'm not sure you understand the connection to Ford's quote. I completely agree that the iOS notification system could use an overhaul. The quote referred to the fact that the proposals in the post I replied to were all specifically copying things that had already been done.

- smart" (like what Google is doing with their 3.0)
- Widgets (Android)
- Live Tiles (WP7)
- a file system for photos, videos, etc.

I understand the quote it's just that sometimes you don't always have to re-invent the wheel. Apple already differentiates themselves from their competitors with their closed app system, proprietary software and what not. In essence, they are already giving them the car if you will, it's just that the horse is still better at letting you know when it needs maintenance. I'm all for them coming up with a better system. At the very least they should have a system that is on par with their competitors.

 

[iPhonedHome]

This has FAIL written all over it. As some other posters have already mentioned, this should have been addressed in iOS4 if not iOS3.

Unbelievable the lack of urgency on Apple's part. What it tells me is that they don't even give a ****!

 

[ironman159]

OMG. THANK GOD for a new notification system.

 

[iPhoneCollector]

I love the notifications on ios. Its so much better than android and webos