Apple accidentally reveals iCloud.com banner notifications

Posted:
in iCloud edited January 2014
A test of a new banner notification feature at Apple's official iCloud website was mistakenly made public on Tuesday, revealing a forthcoming feature for the service.

Users who visited the iCloud.com website could find an iOS-style notification at the top of their browser. It featured placeholder text for both a title and a message.

"Default Title for English," the title read, followed by "English - This is test message description."

To the right of the notification was an 'X,' allowing users to close the message from their browser. The test message could not be selected and it did not link anywhere.

The early reveal shows that Apple is planning to bring banner alerts to iCloud.com, a feature that first debuted last year on the iPhone and iPad with the release of iOS 5. The banner alerts replaced the previous, more intrusive alert notifications that must be responded to in order to return the device to normal use.

Regular alerts and banner alerts both remain as selectable options by users in iOS 5, as part of Apple's new Notification Center. Notification Center will also be coming to the Mac this summer with the release of OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion.

Notifications


In Mountain Lion, Notification Center will be accessible by choosing a circle button on the top right of the screen. With a gesture of two fingers sliding from the edge, the Notification Center can be pulled from the right of the screen.

That's slightly different from iOS devices like the iPhone and iPad, where the Notification Center is pulled down from the top of the screen with a simple finger swipe.

Tuesday's reveal at iCloud.com did not give any indication that a unified Notification Center will be coming to the website. But it did indicate that Apple is actively working on bringing banner-style notification alerts to the free cloud-based service.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 25
    charlitunacharlituna Posts: 7,217member


    this really isn't much of a reveal given that they already told us about Notification Center for Mountain Lion. It seems a logical step that they would be syncing notifications via iCloud so such banners would exist. 


     


    That it is so logical and they already clued us in would be why they weren't super duper careful to keep this a secret during testing. 

  • Reply 2 of 25
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member


    So this'd be for when you're away from your Mac, like the rest of iCloud.com.

  • Reply 3 of 25
    durositydurosity Posts: 8member


    In addition to this I'd love to see iCloud.com get an additional app for iMessage.. and that if you read a message there it'll clear the notifications on all other iOS/Mac devices that it has been delivered to.  

  • Reply 4 of 25
    mstonemstone Posts: 11,510member


    If I migrate to iCloud Apple will probably change it again so I will still have my stuff spread across two Apple IDs which can't be merged, a .Mac address which is the official name of one of my IDs however the email for it is .me and every time I try to access it on the web it redirects me to the migrate to iCloud page and never allows me to see my mail. Apple is just botched this whole user account madness by combining all manner of services on their end into iTunes. What a mess.

  • Reply 5 of 25
    cgjcgj Posts: 276member


    I'd also like to see an iTunes web app, and perhaps a Settings one where you can remotely control iOS and Mac settings.


     


    Although, I would like to see better security on iCloud.com. Perhaps passcode locking each app?

  • Reply 6 of 25
    s4mb4s4mb4 Posts: 267member


    is photo stream available on iCloud?

  • Reply 7 of 25
    yensid98yensid98 Posts: 311member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by s4mb4 View Post


    is photo stream available on iCloud?



    No.


     


    Currently you can access your Photo Stream on any iOS device, iPhoto on your Mac, Apple TV and iOS iPhoto.

  • Reply 8 of 25
    gazoobeegazoobee Posts: 3,754member


    This doesn't make a lot of sense to me considering they are adding banner notifications to OS X as well.  If I'm logged onto my computer and also using a web browser to access iCloud, I'm going to see double banners for every notification.  If I also have my iPad and iPhone on the desk beside me, that will be kind of crazy (quad)duplication. 

  • Reply 9 of 25
    yensid98yensid98 Posts: 311member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by mstone View Post


    If I migrate to iCloud Apple will probably change it again so I will still have my stuff spread across two Apple IDs which can't be merged, a .Mac address which is the official name of one of my IDs however the email for it is .me and every time I try to access it on the web it redirects me to the migrate to iCloud page and never allows me to see my mail. Apple is just botched this whole user account madness by combining all manner of services on their end into iTunes. What a mess.



    I've used, iTools, Dot Mac, MobileMe and iCloud and my Apple ID has never changed.  It can get confusing for some because although an Apple ID is usually an email address, it doesn't have to be a primary address or even active. It's just a sign in name.  You can attach any email you like to your Apple ID for receiving messages from Apple and such.


     


    Accessing your email through the MobileMe website should still work through June 30, though you will see a notice from Apple alerting you that the service is ending soon and you should consider moving to iCloud.  After you migrate your MobileMe account to iCloud, you can no longer access your email from the MobileMe website and instead need to visit the iCloud website.


     


    All this is especially straight forward with a single user.  Things only get difficult when someone has set up multiple Apple IDs (either their own or family members) and want to merge them.

  • Reply 10 of 25
    yensid98yensid98 Posts: 311member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Gazoobee View Post


    This doesn't make a lot of sense to me considering they are adding banner notifications to OS X as well.  If I'm logged onto my computer and also using a web browser to access iCloud, I'm going to see double banners for every notification.  If I also have my iPad and iPhone on the desk beside me, that will be kind of crazy (quad)duplication. 



    I don't quite get it either.  Maybe it's there for users who access their iCloud info from a computer that's not theirs?  Who knows what the notifications on iCloud will be though.  I'm hoping it makes more sense to me when Apple officially unvails it.

  • Reply 11 of 25
    squuiidsquuiid Posts: 58member


    Let's fix the email search in iCloud before we start adding new features, eh Apple?


    https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3464039?start=0&tstart=0

  • Reply 12 of 25
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member
    I guess this is a nice minor feature but without a compelling reason for most to use the web interface for extended periods of time it seems like it'll go mostly unnoticed. As other have stated adding iMessages and iTunes portals would be a step in the right direction.
  • Reply 13 of 25
    andysolandysol Posts: 2,506member


    People actually go to www.icloud.com ?  Interesting......

  • Reply 14 of 25
    cmfcmf Posts: 65member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Durosity View Post


    In addition to this I'd love to see iCloud.com get an additional app for iMessage.. and that if you read a message there it'll clear the notifications on all other iOS/Mac devices that it has been delivered to.  



    I'm still trying to figure out why Messages/Notifications don't seem to sync from the iPhone to the iPad and so on. I've looked in Settings but I don't see it. Wondering if it's just me, but that seems like an obvious feature so that you have the same state for message and notification history on all devices. Any ideas?

  • Reply 15 of 25
    mstonemstone Posts: 11,510member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by yensid98 View Post


    I've used, iTools, Dot Mac, MobileMe and iCloud and my Apple ID has never changed.  It can get confusing for some because although an Apple ID is usually an email address, it doesn't have to be a primary address or even active. It's just a sign in name.  You can attach any email you like to your Apple ID for receiving messages from Apple and such.


     


    Accessing your email through the MobileMe website should still work through June 30, though you will see a notice from Apple alerting you that the service is ending soon and you should consider moving to iCloud.  After you migrate your MobileMe account to iCloud, you can no longer access your email from the MobileMe website and instead need to visit the iCloud website.


     


    All this is especially straight forward with a single user.  Things only get difficult when someone has set up multiple Apple IDs (either their own or family members) and want to merge them.



    I understand how it is supposed to work but it doesn't work correctly for me. Email addressed to my .mac address does not work any longer. My .me address has not been migrated but it still will not let me access it on the web version however it continues to work on my iPhone. I originally got an Apple ID for the developer program at first, and a .mac for personal email and iTunes. Thing is that I wasn't careful in which account I was logged into and when the app store came around I ended up with purchases on both accounts. So I'm stuck with two accounts and my contacts and purchases are not integrated. Sure it is my fault but everything else in computing can always be fixed, why can't this be fixed? And I have you beat by one Apple service "eWorld".image

  • Reply 16 of 25
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by CMF View Post

    I'm still trying to figure out why Messages/Notifications don't seem to sync from the iPhone to the iPad and so on. I've looked in Settings but I don't see it. Wondering if it's just me, but that seems like an obvious feature so that you have the same state for message and notification history on all devices. Any ideas?


     


    Reset your devices? They sync for me.

  • Reply 17 of 25
    yensid98yensid98 Posts: 311member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by mstone View Post


    I understand how it is supposed to work but it doesn't work correctly for me. Email addressed to my .mac address does not work any longer. My .me address has not been migrated but it still will not let me access it on the web version however it continues to work on my iPhone. I originally got an Apple ID for the developer program at first, and a .mac for personal email and iTunes. Thing is that I wasn't careful in which account I was logged into and when the app store came around I ended up with purchases on both accounts. So I'm stuck with two accounts and my contacts and purchases are not integrated. Sure it is my fault but everything else in computing can always be fixed, why can't this be fixed? And I have you beat by one Apple service "eWorld".image



    It seems like a once a year merging should be allowed sort of like they offer for unauthorizing all computers associated with your account.  the only reason I can think for a hold up in offering such a feature would be difficulty negotiating with the music, book, movie and TV show license holders.


     


    In the mean time, I'd suggest focusing your use on the Apple ID with the most purchase history and manually entering the contact and other info you're missing.  Not elegant by any means, but it would work.

  • Reply 18 of 25
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member
    cmf wrote: »
    I'm still trying to figure out why Messages/Notifications don't seem to sync from the iPhone to the iPad and so on. I've looked in Settings but I don't see it. Wondering if it's just me, but that seems like an obvious feature so that you have the same state for message and notification history on all devices. Any ideas?
    On your iPhone: Settings => Messages => Recieve at => Call ID => switch to your email address.

    Of course those that have been sending it to your phone number will still be bypassing those other devices. Apple should have made ther backend use a universal ID so that regardless of the email or phone tied to your iMessages account it should show up on all devices unless otherwise specified.
  • Reply 19 of 25
    cvaldes1831cvaldes1831 Posts: 1,832member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Gazoobee View Post


    This doesn't make a lot of sense to me considering they are adding banner notifications to OS X as well.  If I'm logged onto my computer and also using a web browser to access iCloud, I'm going to see double banners for every notification.  If I also have my iPad and iPhone on the desk beside me, that will be kind of crazy (quad)duplication. 



     


    I think it's intended for people who aren't using Macs. You know: Windows, Linux, whatever.


     


    iOS devices currently have native banner notifications. It's coming to Mountain Lion.


     


    The browser based version addresses people who are using older Macs and other PC operating systems.

  • Reply 20 of 25
    squuiidsquuiid Posts: 58member


    Yep, most people wanting to check their personal email in a business environment running Windows will use www.icloud.com


    Probably quite a few people ;-)

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