I ask this question because I have no idea. Please forgive the ignorance. Is that really a difficult thing to accomplish?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dick Applebaum
Not quite as trivial as you would make it sound ...
Consider: You want to send a notification to Cindy:
You know all of her device addresses!
You don't know if she is using one or more of her devices!
You don't know if she is within hearing or taptic range of any of her devices!
You don't know the Off/On or battery/power status of any of her devices!
You don't know the Internet connection status (wired, WiFi, Cell, no connection) of any of her devices!
You don't know on which of her devices she will first recognize that she has received a notification!
You could maintain a profile of Cindy's device usage patterns and use some fuzzy (convoluted) logic to determine which device to first send the message ... then the next device ... then the next device ...
How long do you wait between sending messages to her various devices?
What if her primary device (that you determined above) is in for repair and she is using the 5th device in her normal use pattern?
So, the only practical thing to do is send the notification to each and every one of her devices.
OK -- so all the devices receive the notification about the same -- or as soon as they are able to ...
So, now, let's get busy and eliminate alerting Cindy on device a, b, c ... if she has already read the message on device e.
All we need to do is ask if status of message is read to determine whether or not to present the alert on a device ...
Who do we ask?
Does each device need to query every other one of Cindy's devices to determine if one of them has already alerted Cindy?
Or, does the alerting device send a notification to every other one of Cindy's devices "Ignore previous notification"?
Likey, the best solution is to have some central control point, like an app in iCloud, that keeps track of messages read.
But, this isn't perfect ... what if a device has received a notification, but when Cindy turns it on, the battery is dead or the device no longer has access to the Internet?
And so it goes ...
FWIW, Apple's Mail app attempts to do this by removing the bullet next to messages read -- but the devices don't always reflect the same status -- especially iDevices with low power or no WiFi connection.
As to: why does a whole new product have to be created to address this issue?
They really haven't addressed the issue. The Watch will present the alert if the Warch is able to -- the iPhone, if not.
I see the point you are trying to make but because I am not a software engineer I'm having a hard time seeing why the variables are so difficult to overcome. Case in point, if I save a file in Dropbox, the updated file notification goes to all connected devices almost instantly. If one device doesn't go online for 24 hours, that device will get the notification 24 hours late. I get that. And for Dropbox it is acceptable, at least for me, because it is notifying me of critical files that have been altered. But in the case of things like Continuity and iCloud, we're talking about system services that are either local to two devices on Bluetooth or the same Wifi network (in the case of Continuity) or connected to the same service (in the case of iCloud). Is it really that hard for your phone or computer to tell the other device to stop ringing once the call is picked up? Is it really that hard for each device to ask iCloud if a notification has been, 1, sent, 2, received, or 3, seen/cleared, and then take the appropriate action? The only reason I bring this up is because Handoff works really well in that regard. The communication between all devices seems to be pretty instant and accurate. But iCloud Drive seems to take forever before notifying me of a file update.
I do believe the biggest splash Apple could make in the next year is to come out and say, "Hey, we found a way to make your smart devices actually smart. They know when you've seen something. They know when you've taken action on it. They know when you pick them up after eight hours of work which emails/texts/files you haven't seen".
Not quite as trivial as you would make it sound ...
Consider: You want to send a notification to Cindy:
You know all of her device addresses!
You don't know if she is using one or more of her devices!
You don't know if she is within hearing or taptic range of any of her devices!
You don't know the Off/On or battery/power status of any of her devices!
You don't know the Internet connection status (wired, WiFi, Cell, no connection) of any of her devices!
You don't know on which of her devices she will first recognize that she has received a notification!
You could maintain a profile of Cindy's device usage patterns and use some fuzzy (convoluted) logic to determine which device to first send the message ... then the next device ... then the next device ...
How long do you wait between sending messages to her various devices?
What if her primary device (that you determined above) is in for repair and she is using the 5th device in her normal use pattern?
So, the only practical thing to do is send the notification to each and every one of her devices.
OK -- so all the devices receive the notification about the same -- or as soon as they are able to ...
So, now, let's get busy and eliminate alerting Cindy on device a, b, c ... if she has already read the message on device e.
All we need to do is ask if status of message is read to determine whether or not to present the alert on a device ...
Who do we ask?
Does each device need to query every other one of Cindy's devices to determine if one of them has already alerted Cindy?
Or, does the alerting device send a notification to every other one of Cindy's devices "Ignore previous notification"?
Likey, the best solution is to have some central control point, like an app in iCloud, that keeps track of messages read.
But, this isn't perfect ... what if a device has received a notification, but when Cindy turns it on, the battery is dead or the device no longer has access to the Internet?
And so it goes ...
FWIW, Apple's Mail app attempts to do this by removing the bullet next to messages read -- but the devices don't always reflect the same status -- especially iDevices with low power or no WiFi connection.
As to: why does a whole new product have to be created to address this issue?
They really haven't addressed the issue. The Watch will present the alert if the Warch is able to -- the iPhone, if not.
I honestly don't know what you're talking about here. If you're talking about iMessage you're way off... because "Read" status of iMessages are already synced between all devices via iCloud. There are a few places where it's not perfect (opening my laptop after it's been off for a while will generally result in quite a few iMessages coming in... but they go away instantly too) but for the most part it works.
It actually works really well. Next time you get an iMessage on your phone... leave it there on the lock screen and open Messages on your Mac and look at the message... the iMessage will instantly disappear from the lock screen on your phone.
Or do the opposite have Messages up on your Mac and get an iMessage. It will put the little blue dot by that conversation showing you that there is a new message... then go read it on your phone. The blue dot in Messages on your Mac will instantly disappear.
This all works on my Mac Pro, Macbook Pro, iPad, iPhone and Apple Watch. No matter where I look at a message it's instantly reflected everywhere else.
Maybe you weren't talking about iMessage though? Or maybe I'm missing something else...
I honestly don't know what you're talking about here. If you're talking about iMessage you're way off... because "Read" status of iMessages are already synced between all devices via iCloud. There are a few places where it's not perfect (opening my laptop after it's been off for a while will generally result in quite a few iMessages coming in... but they go away instantly too) but for the most part it works.
It actually works really well. Next time you get an iMessage on your phone... leave it there on the lock screen and open Messages on your Mac and look at the message... the iMessage will instantly disappear from the lock screen on your phone.
Or do the opposite have Messages up on your Mac and get an iMessage. It will put the little blue dot by that conversation showing you that there is a new message... then go read it on your phone. The blue dot in Messages on your Mac will instantly disappear.
This all works on my Mac Pro, Macbook Pro, iPad, iPhone and Apple Watch. No matter where I look at a message it's instantly reflected everywhere else.
Maybe you weren't talking about iMessage though? Or maybe I'm missing something else...
That's the point I am making. Case in point, I travel almost exclusively for work with my iPhone and MBP and am in five or six wifi hotspots in airports, hotels and mobile hotspots on any given day. The way I look at it, my phone is always connected to the internet and receives updates from iCloud and other applicable services (Messages, iCal, email). My MBP should (and does) as well, but when it accesses the internet and iCloud to sync I should not be inundated with "new" notifications that I have already seen in the hours before because all that stuff has gone through my phone and I have seen it.
I know my situation is a bit different and taxes the features of a consumer solution but I can't be the only person who finds it annoying to sit down to work and get hit with eight hours of notifications that, depending on the situation, go across the screen or phone.
Um, notifications seem to work right on my Mac. If I'm sitting at my computer and someone messages me it pops up on my Mac first. If I click on it, it doesn't buzz me any where else. If I don't click on it, like I'm not paying attention to my screen, it goes away on my Mac and buzzes my watch. Perfecto!
When I open my Mac though, I get lots of notifications of texts that I have already received and recognized... and replied to on my iPhone.
I don't think that's how it is supposed to work.
In some instances, it works quite well (like you state above) but there are many other situations where it is not so seamless yet.
I have to agree the whole handoff need some work. I been using the watch for 2 weeks now and for the most part it handles things well, but there are some quirks about it. The recent one was I was using Apple Maps for directions on my phone, (Normally I use Waze) and I getting turn by turn on my phone but the watch was clicking like a turn signal letting me know I need to make a turn. Honestly, I do not need both devices telling me I need to make a turn.
The other crazy thing that happens is I get a call, and all of a suddent the watch is dinging, my phone lights up but not ring, my Ipad lights up and dings as well as my mac which was on at the time. Grant it the phone is not making any sounds, but the ipad and Mac are both making sounds about an incoming call. Also, I was playing pandora on my ipad, which it keeps the display active and when this happen and a call comes in it assumes I using the ipad so the phone nor the watch rings but you can hear the ipad dinging, not a big issue since I can still pick up the call on the phone. I am not sure how Apple can acturally decide which device you're actively using at the time.
I have to agree the whole handoff need some work. I been using the watch for 2 weeks now and for the most part it handles things well, but there are some quirks about it. The recent one was I was using Apple Maps for directions on my phone, (Normally I use Waze) and I getting turn by turn on my phone but the watch was clicking like a turn signal letting me know I need to make a turn. Honestly, I do not need both devices telling me I need to make a turn.
I gotta disagree with this (so much of this stuff is subjective and personal like this). I really like how the watch and phone both give you info while you're driving.
In my car my phone is on Bluetooth and is docked right by my speedometer.. so it's useful to glance at for directions. I usually like to listen to music and I love the way Apple Maps pulls the volume of the music down to give you directions.
To me, the Watch just adds a little bit to this scenario. I don't want to have to look at my watch while I'm driving so it's better to have the directions in my phone. Also, the tapping/dinging from the watch is a good last minute reminder to make a turn... but it's not enough to navigate by all by itself (I tried... I ended up going in circles).
I actually think Apple got this one right.
However, I do really agree about the phone ringing stuff. Whatever the "fix" is... they need to find it! :-)
I gotta disagree with this (so much of this stuff is subjective and personal like this). I really like how the watch and phone both give you info while you're driving.
In my car my phone is on Bluetooth and is docked right by my speedometer.. so it's useful to glance at for directions. I usually like to listen to music and I love the way Apple Maps pulls the volume of the music down to give you directions.
To me, the Watch just adds a little bit to this scenario. I don't want to have to look at my watch while I'm driving so it's better to have the directions in my phone. Also, the tapping/dinging from the watch is a good last minute reminder to make a turn... but it's not enough to navigate by all by itself (I tried... I ended up going in circles).
I actually think Apple got this one right.
However, I do really agree about the phone ringing stuff. Whatever the "fix" is... they need to find it! :-)
Yeah some personal preferrence going, but I call it sensory over load. Once I hear the command to turn I do not need bump on the wrist a few seconds later. I also realize that when the phone is one navigating it will indicated an incoming text msg and the watch also taps you as well. Normally if you're on the phone the watch will not do this. I am not sure what it is about navigating that is pings you on both devices.
As I said I used WAZE most of the time and they have a built in feature which you allows you to indicated how you want voice commands heard. It can go over Bluetooth or default sound out or you can have it default to the phone speaker all the time, this is the option I use, no matter what it says the commands out the phone speaker this way if I listening to music over the car speakers or talking on a call it does not mute the music or phone call I can hear both. I also mount my cell on the lower part of the window on the left. This was it does not block view of the road or any other instruments in the car. I love the people who mount it right in front of them on the windshield.
PLEASE let me decide how I want to get my notifications. It is SOOOOOOO frustrating to get a message on one device but not to be able to view it on another device later.
The author has their opinion, but like life, ONE SIZE DOES NOT fit all...
Note to Apple: Give the user the options they want to be productive
What I would like to see is the ability to automatically turn Do Not Disturb mode off/on on my phone when I put my watch on/take it off. I only take my Apple Watch off to sleep so it would be the perfect solution.
Isn't allready what it's doing ?
When you put the watch on notifications will go only on the watch and will be visible on the phone when you wake it up. When you take off the watch notifications will ring on the iPhone.
The only exception seems to be phone calls as they ring on both devices.
Comments
I don't think it's going to be that easy.
I see the points you
I ask this question because I have no idea. Please forgive the ignorance. Is that really a difficult thing to accomplish?
Not quite as trivial as you would make it sound ...
Consider: You want to send a notification to Cindy:
You could maintain a profile of Cindy's device usage patterns and use some fuzzy (convoluted) logic to determine which device to first send the message ... then the next device ... then the next device ...
How long do you wait between sending messages to her various devices?
What if her primary device (that you determined above) is in for repair and she is using the 5th device in her normal use pattern?
So, the only practical thing to do is send the notification to each and every one of her devices.
OK -- so all the devices receive the notification about the same -- or as soon as they are able to ...
So, now, let's get busy and eliminate alerting Cindy on device a, b, c ... if she has already read the message on device e.
All we need to do is ask if status of message is read to determine whether or not to present the alert on a device ...
Who do we ask?
Does each device need to query every other one of Cindy's devices to determine if one of them has already alerted Cindy?
Or, does the alerting device send a notification to every other one of Cindy's devices "Ignore previous notification"?
Likey, the best solution is to have some central control point, like an app in iCloud, that keeps track of messages read.
But, this isn't perfect ... what if a device has received a notification, but when Cindy turns it on, the battery is dead or the device no longer has access to the Internet?
And so it goes ...
FWIW, Apple's Mail app attempts to do this by removing the bullet next to messages read -- but the devices don't always reflect the same status -- especially iDevices with low power or no WiFi connection.
As to: why does a whole new product have to be created to address this issue?
They really haven't addressed the issue. The Watch will present the alert if the Warch is able to -- the iPhone, if not.
I see the point you are trying to make but because I am not a software engineer I'm having a hard time seeing why the variables are so difficult to overcome. Case in point, if I save a file in Dropbox, the updated file notification goes to all connected devices almost instantly. If one device doesn't go online for 24 hours, that device will get the notification 24 hours late. I get that. And for Dropbox it is acceptable, at least for me, because it is notifying me of critical files that have been altered. But in the case of things like Continuity and iCloud, we're talking about system services that are either local to two devices on Bluetooth or the same Wifi network (in the case of Continuity) or connected to the same service (in the case of iCloud). Is it really that hard for your phone or computer to tell the other device to stop ringing once the call is picked up? Is it really that hard for each device to ask iCloud if a notification has been, 1, sent, 2, received, or 3, seen/cleared, and then take the appropriate action? The only reason I bring this up is because Handoff works really well in that regard. The communication between all devices seems to be pretty instant and accurate. But iCloud Drive seems to take forever before notifying me of a file update.
I do believe the biggest splash Apple could make in the next year is to come out and say, "Hey, we found a way to make your smart devices actually smart. They know when you've seen something. They know when you've taken action on it. They know when you pick them up after eight hours of work which emails/texts/files you haven't seen".
Not quite as trivial as you would make it sound ...
Consider: You want to send a notification to Cindy:
You could maintain a profile of Cindy's device usage patterns and use some fuzzy (convoluted) logic to determine which device to first send the message ... then the next device ... then the next device ...
How long do you wait between sending messages to her various devices?
What if her primary device (that you determined above) is in for repair and she is using the 5th device in her normal use pattern?
So, the only practical thing to do is send the notification to each and every one of her devices.
OK -- so all the devices receive the notification about the same -- or as soon as they are able to ...
So, now, let's get busy and eliminate alerting Cindy on device a, b, c ... if she has already read the message on device e.
All we need to do is ask if status of message is read to determine whether or not to present the alert on a device ...
Who do we ask?
Does each device need to query every other one of Cindy's devices to determine if one of them has already alerted Cindy?
Or, does the alerting device send a notification to every other one of Cindy's devices "Ignore previous notification"?
Likey, the best solution is to have some central control point, like an app in iCloud, that keeps track of messages read.
But, this isn't perfect ... what if a device has received a notification, but when Cindy turns it on, the battery is dead or the device no longer has access to the Internet?
And so it goes ...
FWIW, Apple's Mail app attempts to do this by removing the bullet next to messages read -- but the devices don't always reflect the same status -- especially iDevices with low power or no WiFi connection.
As to: why does a whole new product have to be created to address this issue?
They really haven't addressed the issue. The Watch will present the alert if the Warch is able to -- the iPhone, if not.
I honestly don't know what you're talking about here. If you're talking about iMessage you're way off... because "Read" status of iMessages are already synced between all devices via iCloud. There are a few places where it's not perfect (opening my laptop after it's been off for a while will generally result in quite a few iMessages coming in... but they go away instantly too) but for the most part it works.
It actually works really well. Next time you get an iMessage on your phone... leave it there on the lock screen and open Messages on your Mac and look at the message... the iMessage will instantly disappear from the lock screen on your phone.
Or do the opposite have Messages up on your Mac and get an iMessage. It will put the little blue dot by that conversation showing you that there is a new message... then go read it on your phone. The blue dot in Messages on your Mac will instantly disappear.
This all works on my Mac Pro, Macbook Pro, iPad, iPhone and Apple Watch. No matter where I look at a message it's instantly reflected everywhere else.
Maybe you weren't talking about iMessage though? Or maybe I'm missing something else...
I honestly don't know what you're talking about here. If you're talking about iMessage you're way off... because "Read" status of iMessages are already synced between all devices via iCloud. There are a few places where it's not perfect (opening my laptop after it's been off for a while will generally result in quite a few iMessages coming in... but they go away instantly too) but for the most part it works.
It actually works really well. Next time you get an iMessage on your phone... leave it there on the lock screen and open Messages on your Mac and look at the message... the iMessage will instantly disappear from the lock screen on your phone.
Or do the opposite have Messages up on your Mac and get an iMessage. It will put the little blue dot by that conversation showing you that there is a new message... then go read it on your phone. The blue dot in Messages on your Mac will instantly disappear.
This all works on my Mac Pro, Macbook Pro, iPad, iPhone and Apple Watch. No matter where I look at a message it's instantly reflected everywhere else.
Maybe you weren't talking about iMessage though? Or maybe I'm missing something else...
That's the point I am making. Case in point, I travel almost exclusively for work with my iPhone and MBP and am in five or six wifi hotspots in airports, hotels and mobile hotspots on any given day. The way I look at it, my phone is always connected to the internet and receives updates from iCloud and other applicable services (Messages, iCal, email). My MBP should (and does) as well, but when it accesses the internet and iCloud to sync I should not be inundated with "new" notifications that I have already seen in the hours before because all that stuff has gone through my phone and I have seen it.
I know my situation is a bit different and taxes the features of a consumer solution but I can't be the only person who finds it annoying to sit down to work and get hit with eight hours of notifications that, depending on the situation, go across the screen or phone.
Um, notifications seem to work right on my Mac. If I'm sitting at my computer and someone messages me it pops up on my Mac first. If I click on it, it doesn't buzz me any where else. If I don't click on it, like I'm not paying attention to my screen, it goes away on my Mac and buzzes my watch. Perfecto!
When I open my Mac though, I get lots of notifications of texts that I have already received and recognized... and replied to on my iPhone.
I don't think that's how it is supposed to work.
In some instances, it works quite well (like you state above) but there are many other situations where it is not so seamless yet.
The other crazy thing that happens is I get a call, and all of a suddent the watch is dinging, my phone lights up but not ring, my Ipad lights up and dings as well as my mac which was on at the time. Grant it the phone is not making any sounds, but the ipad and Mac are both making sounds about an incoming call. Also, I was playing pandora on my ipad, which it keeps the display active and when this happen and a call comes in it assumes I using the ipad so the phone nor the watch rings but you can hear the ipad dinging, not a big issue since I can still pick up the call on the phone. I am not sure how Apple can acturally decide which device you're actively using at the time.
I gotta disagree with this (so much of this stuff is subjective and personal like this). I really like how the watch and phone both give you info while you're driving.
In my car my phone is on Bluetooth and is docked right by my speedometer.. so it's useful to glance at for directions. I usually like to listen to music and I love the way Apple Maps pulls the volume of the music down to give you directions.
To me, the Watch just adds a little bit to this scenario. I don't want to have to look at my watch while I'm driving so it's better to have the directions in my phone. Also, the tapping/dinging from the watch is a good last minute reminder to make a turn... but it's not enough to navigate by all by itself (I tried... I ended up going in circles).
I actually think Apple got this one right.
However, I do really agree about the phone ringing stuff. Whatever the "fix" is... they need to find it! :-)
Yeah some personal preferrence going, but I call it sensory over load. Once I hear the command to turn I do not need bump on the wrist a few seconds later. I also realize that when the phone is one navigating it will indicated an incoming text msg and the watch also taps you as well. Normally if you're on the phone the watch will not do this. I am not sure what it is about navigating that is pings you on both devices.
As I said I used WAZE most of the time and they have a built in feature which you allows you to indicated how you want voice commands heard. It can go over Bluetooth or default sound out or you can have it default to the phone speaker all the time, this is the option I use, no matter what it says the commands out the phone speaker this way if I listening to music over the car speakers or talking on a call it does not mute the music or phone call I can hear both. I also mount my cell on the lower part of the window on the left. This was it does not block view of the road or any other instruments in the car. I love the people who mount it right in front of them on the windshield.
The author has their opinion, but like life, ONE SIZE DOES NOT fit all...
Note to Apple: Give the user the options they want to be productive
What I would like to see is the ability to automatically turn Do Not Disturb mode off/on on my phone when I put my watch on/take it off. I only take my Apple Watch off to sleep so it would be the perfect solution.
Isn't allready what it's doing ?
When you put the watch on notifications will go only on the watch and will be visible on the phone when you wake it up. When you take off the watch notifications will ring on the iPhone.
The only exception seems to be phone calls as they ring on both devices.