I’ve been using a Windows Phone handset as my daily phone for a few months now and one of the things that is definitely missing compared to Android and iOS is a dedicated notification section. In Windows Phone the Live Tiles on the home screen give syou updated information about that particular application…as long as you have it pinned to the start menu. If you don’t have it pinned you will need to hope the app has push notification enabled (many apps make you pay for this feature) and that you see it when it happens or you will miss it completely and never know unless the app has access to the lock screen to show updates but now only core apps such as e-mail, text message and phone have access to that. Also you can end up pinning a ton of apps on the home screen and the list could end up being just as long as your apps list and tiles can be slow to update at times also you’ll need to scroll down to find the app with the new notification if its not at the top of your home screen. There just needs to be a central place to grab all this info in one place.
Microsoft needs their own notification center to make things easier and to never miss an update. The best idea I’ve seen to make this work is in the main photo of the article. Utilizing the left screen space in Windows Phone will allow the experience to stay elegant and simple while provided you with better usability. There should be a beacon on the side when your on the home screen to let you know that there is new updates and you should swipe over. Every app should be able to use this section and there should be a universal icon for the lock screen to let the user know that you have a brand new update. This will keep the lock screen from getting too cluttered while still having updates for core features such a texts, e-mails, voicemail and missed calls.
This is such a simple feature Microsoft needs to include this honestly compete better with the competition and will attract more power users to the platform which is the main group for any mobile OS to survive. Share your thoughts below and let us know if you agree or disagree.
Image Via WMPoweruer
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