Windows "Longhorn" notification features for Windows 9?

[Ian W]

Now that Microsoft is building a notification center for Windows 9, do you think Microsoft will provide some of the notification features that it intended to include in Windows "Longhorn" if there are enough requests for them? I like the changes that Windows 8 brought to notifications, but I feel that the feature could be greatly improved to provide a better experience.

In this topic I have listed some of the features for notifications in Windows "Longhorn" that I would like to see in Windows 9, and my views on why they should be included and how some of them could be implemented.

Notification Intervals and User Contexts


 

"Longhorn" notifications put users in control of when and how they receive notifications. For example, users can appropriately degrade or upgrade the urgency of a given notification. They can set times during which notifications are prohibited, such as when a full-screen application is running or when the user is in a meeting. Users can also turn off notifications from a particular source, and they can decide whether notifications should make a sound when they are displayed.

. . .

The notifications platform is designed to limit the distractions that unwanted messages create. Your application can deliver status and low-priority messages without blocking users' workflow or interrupting and annoying your customers. For example, you can define user contexts that are tailored to your application. User contexts improve the user experience because they help deliver messages when the user is most receptive to them.

. . .
 

In "Longhorn," the concept of how busy users are and when it is appropriate to interrupt them is represented by a state called user context. User context allows arbitrary processes to determine whether or not the user is busy, and to adapt the form of the notification to the user's busy state.

Although Windows 8.1 allows users to specify time periods in which notifications are prohibited, as shown in the screenshot above, the operating system does not allow users to prohibit notifications during a specific time interval (such as "30 minutes"), or define a context for when notifications are allowed. The Rules and Alerts system in Windows "Longhorn" allowed users to create their own rules about the types of notification that could appear onscreen, based on their content, type, and origin. As an example of how powerful this solution could be, rules could be created based on specific words or phrases contained within notifications.



To its credit, Windows 8.1 does allow users to turn off notifications from a particular application and to turn off notification sounds. But what if I want to turn off sounds only for notifications that originate from a particular application, such as Skype? This option is not provided.

Notification Archive


 

"Longhorn" maintains a history that keeps track of all recent notifications a user has received, including any missed during times when the user is busy or away. Users can review the history to see what information they missed. Each notification remains in history for seven days and then expires.

I realize that a notification center was already shown during the recent Windows 9 video, so I am hoping that Microsoft will allow users to keep an archive of previous notifications. The seven day limitation in Windows "Longhorn" seems like it would be more than a generous amount time to keep a history of past notifications, but perhaps Microsoft could provide an option so that users can adjust the time period. An option to categorize notifications based on the application that delivered them would help increase discoverability.

Notification Accessibility
 

Users should be able to access notifications using the keyboard and other accessibility devices. Keyboard access is available by pressing WINDOWS+B. This sets focus in the notification and causes it to expand to its full size.

An option to access onscreen notifications through a keyboard shortcut may be useful for some users. The keyboard shortcut, when pressed, could place focus on the onscreen notification by means of a selection rectangle and/or by forwarding the mouse cursor to the selection area of the notification. If multiple notifications were to appear on the screen simultaneously, the keyboard shortcut could place focus on the most recent notification to appear on the screen, while optionally pausing the notifications that were not brought into focus.

A keyboard shortcut to access the notification archive directly may also be useful for some users.

Notification Onscreen Durations
 

Because notifications are lightweight UI, they appear on the screen briefly and then disappear. In "Longhorn," notifications with fewer than two lines of text appear for four seconds before timing out. Longer notifications time out after eight seconds. A dynamic timer bar to the right of the notification informs users of the time-out process. Like sand falling out of the top half of an hourglass, the color in the timer bar gets shorter as time runs out. However, the timer stops whenever the cursor pauses over the notification. And users can adjust the timer so that notifications stay on the screen for a longer or shorter amount of time than the default time.

Finally, as the description states, notifications in Windows "Longhorn" would include a visual indicator to represent the amount of time that notifications were to appear on the screen - this indicator would pause after the notification was hovered over by the mouse cursor, and would resume after the mouse cursor had moved from the notification. Users could adjust the amount of time that the notifications could stay on the screen, thereby increasing or decreasing the rate at which the indicator progressed.



For illustrative purposes, I have created an animation with a Windows 8 toast notification that includes a visual indicator. I am aware that the yellow color used by the indicator would not be suitable for all application notifications, such as Bing Dictionary, so perhaps Microsoft could design it so that the color of the indicator would match the predominant color of the application's icon, which is usually white.

[Dot Matrix]

Neat idea. I'd love to see a timer bar, but it's not something I would cry over.

[siah1214]

[nitpick]

 

Although Windows 8.1 allows users to specify time periods in which notifications are prohibited, as shown in the screenshot above, the operating system does not allow users to prohibit notifications during a specific time interval (such as "30 minutes"), or define a context for when notifications are allowed.

Charms > settings > notifications

Mute for 1 hour to 8 hours.

[Ian W]

Neat idea. I'd love to see a timer bar, but it's not something I would cry over.

No, the feature is not worth any tears, but it would be nice to have. It would certainly be an improvement over the fade animation that is currently used.

 

[nitpick]

Charms > settings > notifications

Mute for 1 hour to 8 hours.

I thought that's what I referred to in the article. The intervals cannot be customized - more accurately, they are predefined -  and are limited to hours of duration.

[The_Decimator]

Maybe stuff regarding this could be posted on social media?  Because that's how you reach the masses in this day and age.

[Ian W]

Maybe stuff regarding this could be posted on social media?  Because that's how you reach the masses in this day and age.

You make an excellent point, but I do not have an account for any of the major social media websites, such as Facebook, Twitter, and et cetera. Sharing it on Neowin is my best bet to raise awareness since I am not inclined to create an account for any of those websites . . .

By the way, thank you for the idea to create this topic.

[The_Decimator]

You make an excellent point, but I do not have an account for any of the major social media websites, such as Facebook, Twitter, and et cetera. Sharing it on Neowin is my best bet to raise awareness since I am not inclined to create an account for any of those websites . . .

By the way, thank you for the idea to create this topic.

You're welcome.

[Ian W]

I apologize for bumping this topic, but if a person(s) happens to like the features that are described in the OP, would he or she kindly vote for the features at the Windows Uservoice website? https://windows.uservoice.com/forums/265757-windows-feature-suggestions/suggestions/7193340-please-add-additional-options-for-onscreen-notific

I love that one would have been able to right-click on a notification to (optionally) dismiss alerts from, or create rules for, that source. I also love that one would have been able to customize the duration that notifications remained on the screen, with a visual indicator pausing while the mouse cursor is positioned on the notification. Brilliant!