[th0mas96]

I think we sould be able to customize the use for the search button. in this case, long hold for missed notifications? this would be ugly, what I'd propose:
long hold on the windows button: notification center
long hold on search: "voice control", it's not much more than a search, so this would suit the best I think..

[astraith]

if i am dev of wp8 than, i like long press search button to launch notification center and all so include universal search too...

That's not a horrible idea.

[ammarmalik2011]

I think the incredible amount of wasted space in the multi-tasking menu can be put to better use. Maybe put a shortcut to the notification center there along with toggles to things like cellular data, BT etc etc.

[rockstarzzz]

As a user, I think MS is making it difficult for devs by restricting it too much. The idea of putting numbers on tiles, helps only to a certain degree. Add the 30 min constraint, and we have confusion. We must remember that smartphones are about flow of information. We look at MS and we ask, "What flow?"
Once information of any kind fails to flow naturally, users get irritated. This is where a notification centre is important. Ultimately users wants to be informed. Tiles limit information, and this is so when they actually work smoothly. Users understand that this is a big problem with WP8. And as said, the bigger culprit here is MS. Until they work something out, talented devs will be restricted to mediocrity (sadly how users see it). To all devs here, keep up the good work.

Most/many devs know how to push notifications for less than 30 min intervals eg few top weather apps

[JustinXinLiu]

Seriously how many times are people going to beat this dead horse of 'start screen is a notification centre'? How hard is it to know that people don't pin every single app they have on the start screen? It might be ok if you have like 5-10 apps but when you have 50 are you going to pin all of them on the start screen? It looks bad and messy and some apps which are barely used are not worth the start screen estate HOWEVER that does not mean we miss their notifications. And don't even get me started on the number of developers who have failed miserably in implementing live tiles properly. They are NOT reliable and they update too slowly. I get 1 mention on Twitter and my MeTweet tiles shows 8.

I agree with you on the first part. But you can't blame the devs for the incorrect notification number on the tiles. They are updated every 30 mins, this is restricted by the OS. :(

[JustinXinLiu]

Most/many devs know how to push notifications for less than 30 min intervals eg few top weather apps

Push notification is different. It still doesn't resolve the issue that you see incorrect notification numbers on your live tiles. This is an stupid OS restriction.

[chadwick611]

i am not that big on having a notification center. maybe i am not that busy in life to need to be notified of everything going on in my phone.

[DontHate707]

thats exactly why we need the notification center so we have a way to clear and organize are home screen why the **** would i as a user would i want to click into every app to clear notifications and like other users said i dont want every little thing on my home screen. one things forsure live tiles on windows phone arent as useful as we think/ as there promoted to be and they must be fixed.
there some notifications i just dont care about id like to be able to see them all in a unified list that i can clear each individuality with a swipe. i want to be able to control what i see in the center, and i want to be able to clear them all with one touch.

[MDak280]

long hold on the windows button: notification

I was thinking the same thing, except I'd rather keep the long hold for voice commands. Maybe Microsoft can make it so that a double tap on the home button will bring up the notification center. I know this would be confusing for new users but I can't think of any other way they could implement a notification center that can be accessed from anywhere on the phone, not just the home screen. Yes, I like the idea of swipe left but if it's only from the home screen then that takes away om the functionality. A notification center needs to be accessable from anywhere on the phone.

The problem with double tap the home button, though, is that it's not as convenient as simply pulling down like iOS and Android. For example, if you're in a twitter app and you want to bring up the notification center, you'd double tap the home button. But then, how would you exit? By pressing the back button? That doesn't seem ideal to me. It's not that bad, and it could work, but I'm not sure I would like it.

MS needs to come up with some sort of gesture that will bring up the notification center easily and exit it just as easily, and it has to be accessible from anywhere on the phone, not just the home screen. For the sake of being different, I don't think pulling down from the top of the screen will be implemented, and I would rather it not. If they can think of a way to get the swipe left to work anywhere on the phone, I'd be fine with that. However, the way that many WP apps are set up where swiping left/right brings up a different "section" or "column," like the people/me hubs, the store, and lots of apps, I don't think that would work out. I'm thinking they could do pull up from the bottom, or maybe they could do something cool like pull down or up from any corner of the screen.

I hope Microsoft knows what they're doing if they really are developing a notification center. If they give us the swiper left and it only works from the homescreen I'd consider it a failed attempt, and I really hope that doesn't happen because I love WP and I want it to succeed.

[jmerrey]

It's probably too late to change the button config, but I always thought that a long press of the windows key to bring up notifications, and a long press of the search key to bring up voice, would be the most intuitive arrangement.

[thaman04]

It's probably too late to change the button config, but I always thought that a long press of the windows key to bring up notifications, and a long press of the search key to bring up voice, would be the most intuitive arrangement.

That actually makes a lot more sense!!! I like that idea, plus that would most likely be a software change, so I don't think it would be too late, especially while the userbase is still growing.

[thaman04]

If they give us the swiper left and it only works from the homescreen I'd consider it a failed attempt, and I really hope that doesn't happen because I love WP and I want it to succeed.

Umm... I wouldn't call it a failed attempt. Unlike the other mobile OS's... WP's home screen IS a notification centre in a basic sense using the live tiles, the swipe left would then just be a more detailed notification centre. But I do think the press+hold the Windows key idea would be an added plus.

[a5cent]

MS needs to come up with some sort of gesture that will bring up the notification center easily and exit it just as easily, and it has to be accessible from anywhere on the phone

At this point, MS no longer has the freedom to claim a gesture as their own (system wide) means of bringing up the notification centre. Doing so will break any number of the 150'000 existing apps, who relied on all possible gestures being their own. Frankly, it's just a generally bad idea... look at how many people are criticizing BB10 for the lack of gesture intuitiveness. WP on the other hand goes to great lengths to ensure that the use of gestures remains intuitive and is signalled consistently across all apps (often with the help of truncated text). Let us not start routing for an inferior approach, just because BB10 is the flavour of the hour.

I always thought that a long press of the windows key to bring up notifications, and a long press of the search key to bring up voice, would be the most intuitive arrangement.

The guy who thought of this press&hold approach is great! It's an example of the optimal solution sitting right in front of all of us, yet nobody seeing it because we all have preconceived notions about how bringing up the notification centre should work, due to our familiarity with iOS and Android.

I'm open to both suggestions. If Microsoft decides that the notification centre is also the right place to implement universal search, it might be better to use press&hold-search. Otherwise I like your opposite suggestion just as well!

Someone should really take this to MS, as they are just as susceptible to preconceived notions as we are.

[MDak280]

Umm... I wouldn't call it a failed attempt. Unlike the other mobile OS's... WP's home screen IS a notification centre in a basic sense using the live tiles, the swipe left would then just be a more detailed notification centre. But I do think the press+hold the Windows key idea would be an added plus.

Yes, but if you can only use the notification center when you're at the home screen that isn't very helpful. I guess I went a little to far by saying it would be a failed attempt, but a notification center needs to be accesible from anywhere.

Maybe they could do a combination. Swipe left when you're at the home screen and when you're in an app, browsing, etc. double tap/press+hold the Windows button could be used. Or maybe they could make the swipe left a multitasking screen and use the Windows button for a notification center.

[MikeSo]

That is the only way to do it. It's the Windows way really.

Absolutely. Make it an app, like Messaging etc - that way, those who want it can put it on their home screen, and those who don't can leave it in the Apps list and access it from there (or never access it, or uninstall it). Or if they don't want to do that, how about making it accessible the same way we switch when multitasking, holding down the left arrow button (there could be a small notification icon under the row of app screenshots there, for example).

It should work like the notifications in Facebook do (now that FB has finally gotten it right). If there's new notifications, put a number on it, if not, leave it empty. But always let the user access the notification history.

Seems like a really simple thing to have, so I assume the only reason they don't have it is what the OP of this thread alludes to... it potentially undermines the whole "live tiles" concept which is the linchpin of the WP concept both from a programming philosophy and a marketing standpoint. I can only imagine that that MS is afraid that if there's a way to simply put a notification into the "OS notification pool", developers will get lazy and completely stop caring about developing well thought out live tiles, and thus diminish that aspect of the OS. I hope they rethink it, because a notification center would be very useful.

[AngryNil]

I like the idea of the left edge swipe to switch apps. I'm not sure how feasible it is. Windows Phone 8 is built for portrait on smaller devices, and the app layouts already use swiping to the left and right. I'd have to see if edge swiping and ordinary swiping can be told apart easily - I end up accidentally switching apps all the time, I'm not for it.

I honestly don't see the huge advantage of being able to access the notification centre from any app. Press the Windows key, swipe to the right, and there are your notifications. To get back into your app, it's one single key - back. That said, it's possible that Microsoft may implement it in a different fashion to keep consistency between WP8 and Windows 8 (the tiles are laid out horizontally in Windows 8, so having the notification centre to the left wouldn't make much sense).

[MDak280]

At this point, MS no longer has the freedom to claim a gesture as their own (system wide) means of bringing up the notification centre. Doing so will break any number of the 150'000 existing apps, who relied on all possible gestures being their own. Frankly, it's just a generally bad idea... look at how many people are criticizing BB10 for the lack of gesture intuitiveness. WP on the other hand goes to great lengths to ensure that the use of gestures remains intuitive and is signalled consistently across all apps (often with the help of truncated text). Let us not start routing for an inferior approach, just because BB10 is the flavour of the hour.

I kind of see what you mean... so that means that MS will probably just add a notification center to the left of the start screen. I guess that's fine but if there's no way to access it from apps then I won't be completely satisfied. I really hope that MS changes the functionality of the capacitive buttons so that holding the Windows button takes you to the notification center and they move the voice commands to the search button. Whoever suggested that, it's a great idea!

[onedrummer2401]

I keep seeing the idea of putting it to the left of the homescreen and I just don't like it. It needs to be accessible from anywhere. Easy solution, put it to the right of the current card in multitasking view. That way you can always easily get to. The other way to get to it would be from the me tile. The multitasking option would be a shortcut.

[AngryNil]

I keep seeing the idea of putting it to the left of the homescreen and I just don't like it. It needs to be accessible from anywhere. Easy solution, put it to the right of the current card in multitasking view. That way you can always easily get to. The other way to get to it would be from the me tile. The multitasking option would be a shortcut.

I understand many share your viewpoint, but I just have to ask - why is it absolutely necessary for a notification centre to be accessible from anywhere, directly?

Sorry, but your suggestion isn't any better than the home screen one - it's actually worse. The task switcher is understood to display apps you have opened but not closed. Dumping in a notification centre there for no reason is bad. Additionally, the task switcher is tied to a long press - I'd wager there are many users who don't know of or don't use the task switcher enough to make that the de facto location for notifications, because then many will simply miss it altogether. To the left of the tiles is a far more justifiable place - the home screen already accommodates different things (tiles and an app list), it's the centre of your usage and will likely be found by users.

Having it beside the tiles is nowhere near as inaccessible as people make it out to be. Your suggestion - long press on back then swipe to notification window - is slower than a short press on Windows and swiping to the right. The home screen is accessible from anywhere. It seriously is. The app list isn't considered inaccessible just because it is an extra swipe away. I don't see why this is different. (Furthermore, having a notification centre as part of the home screen was an idea in Nokia's Harmattan. I don't think I ever saw anyone complain about the location of it in that case.)

To compare the two proposals in terms of traditional Windows - which would be better: having the notification centre on the desktop, or in alt+tab?

[ammarmalik2011]

I agree with you on the first part. But you can't blame the devs for the incorrect notification number on the tiles. They are updated every 30 mins, this is restricted by the OS. :(

it's a widely reported fact that live tiles have a habit of randomly stop working. I just gave you an example of MeTweets, that is a developer fault.

[Samst22]

I don't really understand why it makes sense to put the notifications in the multitasking view. It's unintuitive to press the back button to access notifications. It's just as quick to press the start button to back to the start page and then swipe right to open notifications.

What I propose is swipe right to access notifications from the start screen. However in addition this could also be accessed via another tap on the windows button from the start page. This means that if you were in any app, all you'd need to do would be to double tap the windows button (the animation would first show the start screen and then it would move right to show the notifications). Quick resume by pressing back from the notification page to go straight back to the previous app.

[invertme]

hey justin, this also is my first post/reply, because i think you are worth replying/registering for! :D
i personally think that a notification center is NOT necessary for WP.

i am an android developer, but i personally use a windows phone.
i think that startscreen is the notification center. if you want to access your notification from anywhere, just press to homebutton. want to go back? press & hold back button. what annoys me about android is the constant gesture of swiping down from the top part of the screen for notifcication. it really grows tiresome. blackberry has a gesture from the bottom, I think that is better, but may grow tiresome too.

i also agree that swiping to the left might not a good idea to show notifications. i think swiping left in the homescreen should show quicksettings such as wireless.

thats my 2 cents :)

Completely agree with you. A notification center isn't needed with WP - it already has a fanastic one built in. Also agree that swiping down is bothersome in Android. I have a DNA and it's a pain at times. Not only that but I get notifications for stuff over and over even after clearing them. I don't like that at all. I can't wait until the new Nokia phones go to Verizon and I will switch back to WP right away. I miss my sexy lives tiles and non disjointed os!

[AngryNil]

Most/many devs know how to push notifications for less than 30 min intervals eg few top weather apps

Just wondering, do you know how this works? If developers are setting up servers to push the notifications every 15 minutes, that's terribly hacky and not even viable in many instances.

[devize]

I think Microsoft need to do something about this and I really hope they come up with a great way to do it. All the big players have their own way of doing it and now that they're last this is a big chance for them to come up with something that can beat them all. An app on the homescreen just won't cut it. A swipe to the left on the start screen is a nice idea but there's no way to access it whilst using an app. A long hold on the windows key could work but it isn't as quick an approach as a flick up or down like in iOS/android/bb10. A gesture could cause problems. There doesn't seem any glaringly obvious ways for Microsoft to include something that'll trump the competition whilst keeping to their design philosophies. I think that might be why they couldn't get it out in time for WP8's launch, because they don't know how to include a notification themselves.

[rockstarzzz]

I think Microsoft need to do something about this and I really hope they come up with a great way to do it. All the big players have their own way of doing it and now that they're last this is a big chance for them to come up with something that can beat them all. An app on the homescreen just won't cut it. A swipe to the left on the start screen is a nice idea but there's no way to access it whilst using an app. A long hold on the windows key could work but it isn't as quick an approach as a flick up or down like in iOS/android/bb10. A gesture could cause problems. There doesn't seem any glaringly obvious ways for Microsoft to include something that'll trump the competition whilst keeping to their design philosophies. I think that might be why they couldn't get it out in time for WP8's launch, because they don't know how to include a notification themselves.

Having read this and tried to imagine it on my phone, I now think it might just be better to put it all in the ME tile. Its already there, just refine it and no hassle?