notifications
Latest
Skype doubles group call limit to 50 people
Skype has expanded the capacity of group calls to 50 people and has added a notification feature for such calls. It started testing both features last month, and they'll be live for everyone starting today. The larger conference call option is a smart, if somewhat inevitable move, given that some other video calling services can host bigger groups than Skype's previous limit of 25.
Microsoft is testing Skype group calls for up to 50 people
Skype conference calls could be about to get a whole lot busier. Microsoft is planning to bump up the maximum number of group call participants from 25 to 50 (18 more than can fit into a Group FaceTime call). The audio and video buttons will be enabled for larger groups, so people can more easily mute their microphones or turn on/off their webcam.
Google Assistant notifications were broken on Android
Google Assistant hasn't been quite so... assistive lately. Numerous users reported that Google Assistant notifications have been broken on Android, preventing reminders and other important alerts from getting through. The problem appears to have started with updates to the Google app over the past several days, particularly the most recent (9.0.6). Some had success by uninstalling updates or clearing their app cache, but it didn't appear to have been truly fixed until a server-side update arrived on January 28th.
Death by push notification
Attention is the main prize of the internet. Everyone is fighting for it, and the phone is the prime battleground. The most potent of weapons in this war is the incessant, whining notification trying to pull your attention away from whatever you are actually doing and into some other app. The notification may also be a major source of modern technological madness, due to the harmful cognitive consequences of having one's focus continually shattered and reset. A recent study found that a majority of users who made a deliberate choice to turn their notifications down as part of an enforced break were not likely to turn them back on. This got me wondering: What would happen if I cranked them in the opposite direction? What might I learn about how phones are reshaping minds? What might I learn about my own mind?
Chrome will soon warn you about tricky mobile subscription signups
Starting in Chrome 71, the browser will serve up warnings to keep you from accidentally signing up for a subscription service. The new protocol will address mobile websites that require visitors to enter their phone number before viewing content. Those prompts can lead to charges showing up on your next phone bill even if you didn't explicitly agree to it.
Alexa can tell you when your favorite artists release new music
If you're an Amazon Music subscriber in the US, you can receive notifications when your favorite artists drop new music, simply by asking Alexa to follow them. All you need to do is say something like "Alexa, follow Anderson .Paak on Amazon Music" or "Alexa, tell me when Imagine Dragons has new music." You can also follow an artist through their page on the Amazon Music iOS or Android apps or web player.
Google kills off Android’s spam-ridden Nearby Notifications
After launching just three years ago, Google is putting an end to Nearby Notifications on Android. The feature, which was intended to serve up location-specific information, had recently become inundated with marketers and spammers. Android users will stop receiving Nearby Notifications entirely on December 6.
Google ends its Reply smart notification experiment for Android
Google's experiment with smart notification responses is winding down... although this won't be the last you hear of it. The company's Area 120 team has ended the Android test after roughly 10 months, noting that the work "will live on in other Google products." You can still use Reply for a few months more, but you could encounter glitches or less-than-ideal suggestions. Not that there's much reason to break out the tissues -- you can already see some of the benefits.
Instagram pushes notifications to Lite and web versions
Instagram's web version is still nowhere near as robust as its app, but the platform has slowly been adding more and more features to it these past few years. Now, it looks like Instagram has finally given it the power of notifications. Next time you visit the platform on a Chrome browser whether on mobile or on desktop, you'll see a message asking if you'd like to switch on notifications for new followers, likes and comments. According to Android Police, the option is now also available for Instagram Lite, the lightweight version of the app for phones with small RAM and storage, as well as for places with slow or intermittent internet connection.
The Das Keyboard 5Q's fingertip notifications aren't that useful
We deal with an utter firehose of information in our daily lives, and sorting through it all is a huge task. It's not uncommon to miss important messages or forget some key task. Das Keyboard's new 5Q and X50Q -- both out today -- are aimed at taking your notifications and reducing them to something incredibly simple: the blinking of the keys under your fingertips.
Facebook's app will personalize navigation to fit your social habit
Facebook adds new features on the regular. It has recently revamped its Marketplace section, made its news feed more friend-focused and changed algorithms to reduce fake news and clickbait. Now, Facebook is redesigning the navigation bar in its mobile app to better show you shortcuts to things you use most often. The company said that the new system should roll out globally in the coming weeks.
Gmail for iOS is using AI to prioritize your notifications
Mobile email notifications are a nightmare. You always have new email. So as part of its big Gmail redesign, Google is aiming to make alerts for its mobile apps more useful. Starting with the Gmail iOS app (and soon for Android), the company is rolling out notifications for high priority messages. It's powered by AI and machine learning to determine relevant emails. The feature first appeared in Google's Inbox app, something that's serving as a testbed for new capabilities before they roll out to the much larger Gmail audience.
Facebook will send fewer 'you are now connected' Messenger reminders
For those who spend the majority of their time online plugged into Facebook, the red dot notification feels like an urgent call to action. It pops up via tags, comments, Likes and other NewsFeed activity, but it can also appear alongside more infuriating actions like the dreaded "You are now connected on Messenger" alert. The good news is that Facebook thinks it might appear too often, and will soon cut the number of unnecessary reminders with the help of machine learning.
Apple is fixing iOS notifications
Apple is finally trying to fix notifications. As part of an overhaul to Do Not Disturb mode, now notifications will be grouped together and can be pushed away with a single swipe. You can delay notifications until the end of the event you're in the middle of, and you can even set an app to not push notifications to the lock screen. Instead, they'll exist in the notification center itself. If any of this sounds familiar, it's because Google did a bunch of it first. This update goes hand in hand with the rest of Apple's initiatives to fight mobile device addiction -- something it's also playing catch-up to Google on.
Google Pixel Buds let you customize which apps send spoken notifications
A beta preview back in March hinted at a few features coming to Google's Pixel Buds, like expanded double-tap functionality and in-ear detection. But there's another addition coming for the wireless headphones: New settings to switch spoken notifications on or off for each app.
Five ways Android P changes how you will (or won't) use your phone
Google has pulled a surprising switcheroo, designing Android P to help you reduce your smartphone usage while also making it less irritating and more approachable. To pull that off, it added a big dose of artificial intelligence smarts, iPhone X–like swiping gestures, and a new "digital wellbeing" dashboard. It may even help with that perennial smartphone issue: battery life. Should you decide to try Android P -- and you can, today, on a variety of devices via the public beta -- here's a guide to the major features that could make you more efficient and less attached to your smartphone, in a good way.
Machine learning could lead to smarter mobile notifications
Push notifications on phones are both a blessing and a curse. After all, it's important to get information you need when it happens. But some apps send way too many push notifications, which often leads to turning off notifications for the app or deleting it altogether. The question is, how do you balance between necessary and extraneous push notifications? A new AI, outlined by Ton Ton Hsieng-De Huang and Hung-Yu Kao on arXiv.org, may be able to do just that.
Firefox can block pesky site notification requests
Website push notifications can be helpful. The way you're asked to enable those notifications? Not so much -- the constant requests can drive you up the wall when you're just trying to check the latest news. Mozilla is coming to your rescue. Its newly released Firefox 59 for the desktop gives you the option to block notification requests. You can also tell the browser to block requests to use your hardware or location, for that matter. You'll have to dig deep into the settings (it's under permissions) to turn these features off, but they should make your web surfing relatively hassle-free.
Third-party Alexa skills can now use notifications
Your phone gets notifications, so why can't your smart speaker? Amazon is doing something about it.. and thankfully, it's not as bothersome as it could be. The company is trotting out a developer preview of notifications in Alexa skills. If you opt in, third-party skills can push notifications to your Alexa-equipped devices (such as an Echo speaker or your phone) that will trigger both a sound and an on-device alert (whether an LED light or on-screen display. This doesn't mean you're going to be peppered with unwanted speech, though: your notifications accumulate, and you'll only hear what they are when you ask Alexa to read them.
Chrome OS will let you reply to messages from notifications
You've had the option to reply to message notifications on Android for years, so why can't you do that on your shiny new Chromebook? You can soon. Google has started implementing support for in-line replies to messages from notifications. Much as on Android, you can respond to a message from a supporting app (Hangouts is one example) in the pop-up box rather than switching tasks entirely and losing your focus.
