IPhone users, question about notifications on IPhone

[PlatinumGold]

I asked a friend of mine, who just bought the IPhone, previously a BlackBerry user, what she thought of the IPhone, overall, she likes it, but she did have a gripe, and i was wondering if she was just missing a feature.

she says, that whenever she gets a notification, beep. or light or however iphone does it, she knows that she has an email or text or something, but she doesn't know which it is, and sometimes it takes her a while to find what it was, as she goes thru her various apps.

is she missing something, is there something on the iphone that should tell her which app was notifying her?

for example, on my droid i drag down my notifications bar and voila, tells me if it is email, updates for apps, text message, low battery . . . etc.

is there something like that on the iphone she is missing?

 

[basslover1]

If the notification box is enabled for that particular app, it should pop-up telling you what's going on. Though not all applications do this so you're pretty much stuck flipping through the pages trying to find an app with a number on it.

Which is why everyone says the iPhone's notification system sucks, or isn't nearly as good as Android's is.

 

[speg]

Not really. Mail will make a specific sound, though not customizable. Texts make their own (customizable) sound and can do pop ups. Other apps can do the same. And all can put badges on their icons.

Definitely one of the biggest areas iOS needs to improve.

 

[PlatinumGold]

is it me or is that a pretty big issue?

i'm surprised i never heard of this before this past weekend.

 

[gorcorps]

Wait... I'm not getting what the issue is. When you get a message, in any shape or form, it will pop up on the screen and you can either read the full thing or close. Also, if you get a text or mail, a small red circle with a number on it should appear on the app icon telling you how many messages you have in that app. If you just got an email, you'll see a "1" on your email button and nothing on text. It's very easy to tell what app has messages, so if you guys aren't seeing those icons something is wrong with the phone.

 

[TheWart]

is it me or is that a pretty big issue?

i'm surprised i never heard of this before this past weekend.

It bothers some people more than others. No one can say whether it is a 'big issue' because for some folks it doesn't matter one bit.

I would hazard a guess that it is one of the areas they will focus on in terms of development this year.

 

[PlatinumGold]

Wait... I'm not getting what the issue is. When you get a message, in any shape or form, it will pop up on the screen and you can either read the full thing or close. Also, if you get a text or mail, a small red circle with a number on it should appear on the app icon telling you how many messages you have in that app. If you just got an email, you'll see a "1" on your email button and nothing on text. It's very easy to tell what app has messages, so if you guys aren't seeing those icons something is wrong with the phone.

all you get is a notification, a blinking light or sound but it doesn't tell you which app. it's not like android where you have your commonly used shortcuts on certain screens. you have to go thru all your screens until you see icons of apps with a number in the corner.

frankly, that's a bit annoying. with my droid, all i need to do is pull down my notification bar and it tells me which app needs to be checked and hot links me.

 

[TheWart]

all you get is a notification, a blinking light or sound but it doesn't tell you which app. it's not like android where you have your commonly used shortcuts on certain screens. you have to go thru all your screens until you see icons of apps with a number in the corner.

frankly, that's a bit annoying. with my droid, all i need to do is pull down my notification bar and it tells me which app needs to be checked and hot links me.

Fair enough. I guess you made the right choice with your Droid for yourself.

 

[zerocool84]

It bothers some people more than others. No one can say whether it is a 'big issue' because for some folks it doesn't matter one bit.

I would hazard a guess that it is one of the areas they will focus on in terms of development this year.

Especially with them getting the Palm Pre guy for notifications. The Pre has the best notification system out there. One of the biggest things that iPhone OS needs an overhaul of. Sucks that it always takes Apple so long to do these things.

 

[gorcorps]

all you get is a notification, a blinking light or sound but it doesn't tell you which app. it's not like android where you have your commonly used shortcuts on certain screens. you have to go thru all your screens until you see icons of apps with a number in the corner.

frankly, that's a bit annoying. with my droid, all i need to do is pull down my notification bar and it tells me which app needs to be checked and hot links me.

Have her go to settings, then notifications and turn them on. It should also list the apps she has installed (other than the defaults) that allow notifications. Have her turn on the ones she wants to see. Now whenever she gets a text, email, etc it will pop up on the screen so she can see what kind it is and even read part of it.

Also, why doesn't she have her main programs in the main app bar at the bottom? That's where I keep my text and email buttons... that way you're not scrolling through apps to find them. If you didn't know you could do this, you move icons by touching and holding an icon until they all appear to shake. Then you can drag them in any order you wish, and put your most used ones on the bottom bar.

 

[PlatinumGold]

Have her go to settings, then notifications and turn them on. It should also list the apps she has installed (other than the defaults) that allow notifications. Have her turn on the ones she wants to see. Now whenever she gets a text, email, etc it will pop up on the screen so she can see what kind it is and even read part of it.

Also, why doesn't she have her main programs in the main app bar at the bottom? That's where I keep my text and email buttons... that way you're not scrolling through apps to find them. If you didn't know you could do this, you move icons by touching and holding an icon until they all appear to shake. Then you can drag them in any order you wish, and put your most used ones on the bottom bar.

cool. sounds like it will be useful. it's her first time with an Apple product.