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It’s time for a hard reset on notifications

⁨180⁩ ⁨likes⁩

Submitted ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago⁩ by ⁨brisk@aussie.zone⁩ to ⁨technology@beehaw.org⁩

https://www.theverge.com/24119076/ios-android-notifications-focus-modes-scheduled-summary

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  • Areldyb@beehaw.org ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    My second proposal — and this is a wild one — is that promotional notifications should just not be allowed. Or you can opt in to them if you desperately want to hear from the Starbucks app every single day, but you should have to go out of your way to do that and should not be the default behavior when you choose “allow notifications.” Just an idea!

    The author calls out the Starbucks app here, but doesn’t mention how blatantly dark-patterned its notifications really are. Android allows apps to set up multiple notification channels, so you can selectively prioritize (or, more often, mute or block) notifications based on their content. Starbucks uses this feature… to create a single channel called “Promotions & order status”. You wanted to know when your order’s ready? Fuck you and your concentration, get double stars today!

    I appreciate the notification controls Android gives me, and I use them aggressively. If an app pushes a notification that doesn’t actually require my attention, I block that channel, and if it does it again, I block notifications for the whole app. I agree with the author, though: I shouldn’t need to do that.

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    • dhtseany@lemmy.ml ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      The use of a single channel should be against the rules for commerce apps.

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      • BenGFHC@kbin.social ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

        They'd probably get around that by having a 'Promotions and Order status' channel and a random / unused one like an 'App update available' channel

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    • LaggyKar@programming.dev ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      Why do you feel the need to install an app for a coffee shop?

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      • u_u@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

        Not OP but I often get 50% off promo for any beverage from Starbucks app.

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      • jkibble@lemmy.ca ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

        Because I don’t want to be guilted into the tip button

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    • brie@beehaw.org ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      Email subscriptions also sometimes have that, with bonus points for several vague and similar sounding categories, and emails not mentioning what category they’re in.

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    • Summzashi@lemmy.one ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      Just don’t visit Starbucks lmao what the fuck is even the issue here

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  • Blackmist@feddit.uk ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    I have a simple rule. If I install an app and it shows me any notification I don’t want to see, I immediately block it from having permission to do that.

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    • interdimensionalmeme@lemmy.ml ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      Not everyone has figured you can do that by long pressing the offending notification

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    • sphere_au@reddthat.com ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      Same… Have done for ages now. Don’t know how anyone puts up with the default behaviour.

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      • realharo@lemm.ee ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

        The default now is that apps have to first request notification permissions, on both iOS and Android.

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  • M500@lemmy.ml ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    For me, apps do not get to notify me unless it’s time sensitive.

    The problem is when my food delivery app, or LinkedIn sends me ads when I just want messages.

    It’s annoying to not be able to only receive messages.

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    • Godort@lemm.ee ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      Apps get a one strike rule. The minute I get a notification I don’t want, that app doesn’t get to send me notifications anymore

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    • umami_wasbi@lemmy.ml ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      I use Tasker to filter out notifications

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      • seathru@lemmy.sdf.org ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

        Buzzkill is another good one.

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    • jarfil@beehaw.org ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      LinkedIn has messages? Maybe I don’t use it much, but it seemed like it had ads, and self-promoting messages, or more ads.

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      • PatMustard@feddit.uk ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

        Aren’t messages the only point of LinkedIn? You create a profile which is basically your CV, set it to “looking for work”, and wait for recruiters to message you, right?

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      • eveninghere@beehaw.org ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

        Out of my 10000 notifications I ignore, I got one message… and that’s from the LinkedIn team.

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      • M500@lemmy.ml ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

        Yeah, I needed to have it on for a week for work stuff. And it kept giving me random notifications about news and stuff. I couldn’t figure it out.

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  • Frogodendron@beehaw.org ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    Both on Android, and iOS, opting out of notifications solves most of the problems. You can do all on your own time without constant nagging, and leave notifications on for the communication channels you really need.

    However, what I hate with passion are shopping and delivery apps that suffer with disabled notifications (I don’t know when things arrive, and that would ideally be good to know within seconds), but enabled notifications mean that there would be a lot of spam notifications about ordering and buying more.

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    • princessnorah@lemmy.blahaj.zone ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      Yeah, no way to lose my trust faster than abusing your notification privileges to send me spam.

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    • jarfil@beehaw.org ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      Some apps let you customize notifications, some let the OS customize them… some get muted, and some uninstalled.

      For example, Amazon lets you keep the account and delivery notifications, but disable the promotional ones.

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    • a1studmuffin@aussie.zone ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      AliExpress is the worst at this. Which category should I disable? AliExpress, aliexpress, Chat or message push? And even if I figured it out, there’s no way to stop store spammers from sending you useless messages constantly, detracting from actual sellers with questions.

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    • Dymonika@beehaw.org ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      shopping and delivery apps

      So don’t use 'em.

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  • ryannathans@aussie.zone ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    On android long press a notification and it’ll show you which category of notification it is from that app, with the ability to disable just that one category if desired. E.g. advertisements and feedback reminders

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    • jarfil@beehaw.org ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      Some apps don’t export the category, but still let you disable it from inside the app. In my book, they get a close pass.

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  • UngodlyAudrey@beehaw.org ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    If something’s going to try to grab my attention, it had better be worth my while. I block as many notifications as I can, both on my phone and my computer. I also try to avoid using apps for things unless I have to.

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    • Scrath@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      But don’t you want to open this website in our app so that we can better track you?

      God I hate reddits mobile website, especially when you try to view an nsfw post

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      • princessnorah@lemmy.blahaj.zone ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

        Swap the “www” in the url for “old”. Desktop site but it doesn’t stop you viewing NSFW content.

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  • pineapple_pizza@lemmy.dexlit.xyz ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    On Android you need to opt in to notifications for every app you install. Just opt out :)

    Or, be like me and keep your phone on do not disturb(except calls from contacts). Doing this was one of the most significant quality of life improvements for me over the last few years.

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    • neocamel@lemmy.studio ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      Yeah that’s what I’ve done. I’ve gotten very picky about which apps I allow to notify me of things. A week or two of turning off all the ones you don’t want and your phone gets quiet real quick.

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  • Artyom@lemm.ee ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    My rule has always been people can notify me, but bots/apps cannot. If I see a notification not from a person, it gets disabled. If it’s something I can practically do on a website, I don’t download the app.

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    • flashgnash@lemm.ee ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      This except for twitch streams

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      • 1rre@discuss.tchncs.de ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

        That’s a human action anyway though… Not a “it’s been a while since you opened our app time to drag you back” notification

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  • scytale@lemm.ee ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    If you’re on IOS, the Focus feature is great. I use it primarily for sleep to turn off all notifications except for calls (in case of emergencies). But you can basically configure multiple profiles with different notification settings. Also, whenever I install a new app on my phone, I turn notifications off unless it’s a time sensitive app like a messaging app.

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    • 520@kbin.social ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      Android's Do Not Disturb feature is also like this. You only get notifications from calls and apps you specifically allow.

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    • Goopadrew@beehaw.org ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      My work phone is an iPhone and I love this feature. The moment it’s past work hours I no longer get buzzed for any notifications, and I only see direct messages on the home screen

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    • remington@beehaw.org ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      That’s interesting and I’ve never heard of the focus feature (I don’t use my phone very much). Where do I find the focus feature?

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      • PaddleMaster@beehaw.org ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
        [deleted]
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  • DAMunzy@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    Install app. Start app. “Allow notifications?” No.

    Does iOS not do this?

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    • harsh3466@lemmy.ml ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      The article has some valid points about wanting certain kinds of notifications from an app, and hating the spam notifications those apps send.

      However, iOS does indeed allow you to grant or deny an app notifications permission on first launch, and my default is to always deny.

      The only apps I allow notifications for are phone, calendar, messages, my tasks, and my automations (shortcuts and some associated apps)

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    • ArtVandalist@lemmus.org ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      iOS does that the first time you open the app. An app never opened can’t send notifications (it wouldn’t have registered).

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  • Zworf@beehaw.org ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    I don’t really have any issues with it. Samsung has very fine-grained controls and most apps I simply don’t grant notification permissions at all.

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    • cobra89@beehaw.org ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      Yeah I feel like they neglected to show how much more of a problem on iOS this is than Android.

      On Android apps typically have their push notifications divided into different types and can almost always turn off the marketing notifications for an app while leaving the important ones on.

      I dont see even half of these notifications on Android.

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      • Zworf@beehaw.org ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

        On Android apps typically have their push notifications divided into different types and can almost always turn off the marketing notifications for an app while leaving the important ones on.

        Oh, iOS doesn’t have this? I didn’t realise. Android has had this for a good few releases now and I love that.

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  • Andromxda@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    I turned off all notifications for every app except Signal

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    • nossaquesapao@lemmy.eco.br ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      I do a similar thing, enabling only the apps I want notifications, and I run “adb shell settings put global heads_up_notifications_enabled 0” to stop those annoying popups interrupting me. This should have been an option available in the configs, imo.

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      • Andromxda@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

        I actually like these popups, but only if they’re coming from notifications that I actually want to see. But it’s really weird that the option to turn them off is only accessible via adb, even iOS has this feature.

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  • eveninghere@beehaw.org ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    You guys still check notifications? I have Infinite Scroll of notifications I never care.

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    • t0fr@lemmy.ca ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      That would be anxiety personified for me

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    • flashgnash@lemm.ee ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      I used to do this but it ended up in me missing notifications I actually cared about

      The best solution is as someone else mentioned, just mute apps that send obnoxious notifications when you see them

      Different notification sounds for different kinds of notifications has been big as well, one for messages, a different one for twitch streams, and another for everything else that normally gets ignored

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    • INHALE_VEGETABLES@aussie.zone ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      Tell me more!

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      • eveninghere@beehaw.org ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

        I wondered how I replied to my friends. Then I recalled that I don’t have one.

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  • Deconceptualist@lemm.ee ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    BuzzKill is great for wrangling your notifications. Match a word or phrase and group them, snooze them, set special vibration patterns, whatever.

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  • exocrinous@startrek.website ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    This article seems strangely lacking in how it wants this goal to be achieved.

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    • ChaoticNeutralCzech@lemmy.one ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      I wonder if there is a notification ad blocker with community-submittted sets of regex patterns that root users can use.

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  • Ilandar@aussie.zone ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    How do people struggle with notifications? This is even weirder than the ad-blocking thing, because at least you are required to find and install a third party app to solve that. Every app ever has notification settings built-in. Just take 20 seconds out of your day to setup the app correctly when you first install it and you will likely never have to worry about it again.

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    • 14th_cylon@lemm.ee ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      You might have found out if you bothered to read the discussion before sharing your opinion.

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      • Ilandar@aussie.zone ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

        en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhetorical_question

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  • doostein@beehaw.org ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    For Android users Buzzkill is also great for apps that don’t have granular enough notification settings. You can set up rules to make it automatically dismiss the notifications you don’t want to see.

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  • Templa@beehaw.org ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    I realized at somepoint I was ignoring everything on my phone because of the number of notifications. Now I disable EVERYTHING and only leave important stuff. I wish this was the default.

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    • CaptKoala@lemmy.ml ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      I did the same many months ago, though I suspect I may need to redo as I’ve been getting some really long notification piles when I don’t check my phone for a day…

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  • Daxtron2@startrek.website ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    Just turn them off? That’s what I do, my phone never annoys me.

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  • intensely_human@lemm.ee ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    The Amazon app, which for many years has faithfully executed its legitimate role as an app that helps me order stuff and track those orders, recently sent me a notification to let me know it thinks I might like some JBL headphones.

    It made me furious. How dare they?

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    • flashgnash@lemm.ee ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      At least they normally let you selectively disable promotions

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      • intensely_human@lemm.ee ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

        Really? That’s handy. Is that an Amazon config option or an iOS config option?

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  • shortwavesurfer@monero.town ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    Install Graphene OS or Lineage OS as notifications for the majority of apps require Google Play Services and completely are killed without them.

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  • autotldr@lemmings.world [bot] ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    🤖 I’m a bot that provides automatic summaries for articles:

    Click here to see the summary

    Android offers better controls and mercifully shunts some offenders to a “silent” inbox, but it’s not totally off the hook, either. On both platforms, notifications have been and continue to be a constant distraction, a plague upon our already razor-thin attention spans. Every app has to show you an example of the kind of notification it wants to send you, and you get to swipe left or right to opt in or out. This would save us the trouble of going into the settings in two hundred different apps and ticking two thousand little “opt out” buttons. Or you can opt in to them if you desperately want to hear from the Starbucks app every single day, but you should have to go out of your way to do that and should not be the default behavior when you choose “allow notifications.” Just an idea! However it happens, I think it’s time that power over notifications be returned to the people, not the app developers who want us to check out these Deals! — Saved 67% of original text.

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  • ulkesh@beehaw.org ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    So the author both wants notifications and doesn’t want notifications.

    Got it.

    Sure sounds like a problem of their own making. And I find iOS’s notification taming rather simple to use. So I use it, and amazingly I have less notifications because of it!

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