Let’s stick to getting iOS features on Android for this post. Thanks to Android’s open ecosystem, I am able to get most of the features of the iPhone through different apps available on the Play Store, like the one with swipe gestures we recently discussed, on my Android. And today we will see how to get another cool iOS feature on Android : Customizable notifications on the lockscreen.
Notify Me!v2 for Android
Notify Me!v2 is an upgrade to the original version of Notify Me! with some feature enhancements and bug fixes. The app is free to install from the Play Store and doesn’t require any root access to function. However, you will have to activate the app under the Android Accessibility Settings in order for it to catch the incoming notifications on the phone. Now that you have activated the app, add an app that you wish to show up on the lockscreen. Notify Me!v2 works only for the apps you select giving you more control over the notifications and ruling out any possibility of spam. Once you tap the Add App button, the app will list all the apps installed on your device. This will include the system apps and you will have to scroll through the alphabetical list to select one. One of the first apps that you might want to test should be WhatsApp or Messaging because of the frequent notifications you get on them. Having selected an app, all the other options will be available for access and you can select preferences for the notification that would appear on the lockscreen. By default, all the apps configured in the app will display notifications on the lockscreen and light up the display. If you are carrying the device in your pocket, the screen will not light up but if taken out of pocket within 10 seconds of notification arrival it will turn on and you will be able to see the notification directly. There’s a way you can use the app to get notifications for certain apps even when your screen is not locked, however you need to be very sure as these will be shown as popup notifications even when you are working on other apps.
Hide Specific Notifications Based On Keywords
One good thing I like about the app is there’s way to hide notifications based upon a keyword. For example, if you wish to prevent messages from showing up in the lockscreen to show up for a specific contact, just add his name to the blacklist keyword. You will not see any popup notification from that particular contact. Once a notification pops up, you can unlock the phone to view or choose to just ignore it. You can add any number of applications to show up notifications on the lockscreen. However, if more than one notification shows up at the same time, the latest notification will hide the old one and that’s the only limitation I found in the app.
Conclusion
Undoubtedly Notify Me! V2 is more polished and stable than the first version, but still there’s room for improvement in terms of making it more user friendly. The options are quite difficult to understand for a normal end user. Also a way should be provided to configure global settings on the app to override all the individual configurations. Top Photo Credit: jnxyz
