A New Notification Revolution?
I'm back from my summer hiatus to discuss my most anticipated iOS 16 feature and provide some resources to prepare readers for Apple's Sept 7 event.
Welcome back! I hope everyone had a relaxing summer. I’m excited to return to Ben’s Bytes to discuss the state of notifications and how my favourite new iOS 16 feature could begin to fix them…
We all have a very intimate (borderline addicting?) relationship with our phones. I believe that part of this addiction is exacerbated by the notification culture we have come to accept. I’ll often find myself clicking on a notification to learn more and then getting lost in my phone for longer than I’d like to admit; a simple check on a score change in a Blue Jays game can lead me to hop to Instagram or Twitter and doom-scroll…
I think it’s enlightening (or depressing?) to review your Screen Time info. Last week, I averaged 256 notifications per day, and picked-up and unlocked my phone 170 times per day.
Part of the reason why I love wearing an Apple Watch is that it is basically a filtering tool for notifications. Pings and buzzes will come through my watch first, allowing me to see if it’s important enough to pick-up my phone to respond and deal with. It’s still not perfect, and Apple has built tools like Focus modes for Work, Personal, etc. but it’s a clunky and time consuming process to set-up.
Thankfully, I think we are on the verge of a new experience where we can potentially escape from the current confines of apps. In recent years, app experiences and information have been protruding from the actual app into widgets on your Home Screen, but this still requires you to unlock and open your phone…
Apple began experimenting with a “snack-size” version of apps called App Clips in iOS 14 that allowed you to download a miniature version of an app to deal with a short instance of use. Think of instances like the quick use of needing to scan a QR code to activate a scooter or pay for a meal; the app clip would appear on your Lock Screen and allow you to proceed with the transaction without needing to download a whole app, unlock your phone, etc.
The tentpole feature of iOS 16, that will be released in mid-September, is a reimagined Lock Screen. Users will be able to create multiple Lock Screen variations, customize fonts and even add widgets. This definitely will help with glanceability, allowing you to see the weather, calendar events, etc. from your Lock Screen.
The feature I am more excited about is Live Activities. I think it is the first real, true rethinking of what notifications should be. These are basically effective notifications, that allow you to stay-on top of things in real-time, rather than having to unlock your phone and actually go into the app. Some of the examples shared at WWDC are tracking the status of a food order, how far along you are on your run, or how your favourite sports team is doing.
How can we design the experience of receiving notifications in a way that users can take productive actions while being non-intrusive to them having a life outside of their phone?
I’d love to see Live Activities created and experimented with for other use cases. What if Gmail didn’t send you a notification for every new email, but rather had a Live Activity that would appear at certain periods of time, summarizing your inbox, highlighting messages from important/VIP contacts, and allowing you to action quick replies? What if I just posted to Instagram, and I could have a Live Activity display the post so I can respond to any comments/likes I receive? Ultimately, I’d love product designers to begin to ask “how can we design the experience of receiving notifications in a way that users can take productive actions while being non-intrusive to them having a life outside of their phone?”
The potential road block for any of these new ideas — what notifications should be and how phone usage should change for the better — is buy-in from the companies that build these apps. I’m guessing not many of you have ever heard of App Clips even though they were released 2+ years ago… That’s because very few developers have built out this functionality, and it’s why I’m worried about the uptake of Live Activities in iOS 16. Why would apps like Facebook, Instagram, or YouTube want to keep you out of their app experience — where their algorithms are tuned for engagement and keeping you in the app as long as possible, so they can show you tailored advertisements and make 98% of their revenue — and move their experience to the Lock Screen? The unfortunate answer is they likely wouldn’t…
What I Read This Week:
Apple’s annual iPhone event is next Wednesday - here are several articles to catch you up on what to expect! Plus, a few more interesting reads from the past week:
What to expect from Apple’s iPhone 14 event (The Verge)
What Apple’s ‘Far Out’ Event Invitation Tells Us About Sept. 7 iPhone Plans (Bloomberg)
How Twitter’s child porn problem ruined its plans for an OnlyFans competitor (The Verge/Platformer)
Tech Companies Slowly Shift Production Away From China (NYTimes)
Apple Maps turns 10 — and it’s finally worth using (The Verge)
Trademark Filings Suggest Apple May Be Securing ‘Reality’ Names for AR/VR Headset (Bloomberg)
That’s a wrap folks! I hope you all have a great long weekend. Stay tuned for an Apple Event recap in the next edition!