Ever gotten multiple notifications about the same even on your iPhone, Apple Watch, and maybe your iPad and Mac?
Apple wants to change this. The company has been granted a patent (number US 11797934 B2) for “Avoiding A Redundant Display Of A Notification On Multiple User Devices.”
About the patent
In the patent Apple notes that it’s become common for people to use multiple electronic devices. Because a user may switch between devices throughout the day, each device may be set up similarly to allow the user to receive the same types of information through each device.
For example, a user may set up each of their devices to retrieve information such as email, weather updates, sports updates, and social network messages. Based on the multiple sources from which this information is received, each device may also be set up to consolidate information such that the user can view information from the multiple sources through a single interface.
In such an arrangement, information received by applications running on a device may generate notifications that are presented through a single notification interface. This means that, conveniently, a user may be able to easily switch between devices and view information that is of interest to them. Each device may continue to receive information and generate notifications even when the device is in an inactive state (i.e., not in active use by the user).
However, upon activation, a device may display all of the new notifications that have been generated since the last time the device was used. Based on the overlap in the manner in which the devices are used, Apple says that “it may be cumbersome for a user to sift through overlapping notifications that they have already viewed on another device.” The company wants this to be avoided.
Summary of the patent
Here’s Apple’s abstract of the patent: “A user having multiple electronic devices may receive notifications at each of the devices. When it is determined that a first device is in an active state and that a notification has been viewed on that device, an indication that the notification has been viewed may be communicated by the first device to a synchronization server.
“It may then be determined whether the viewed notification is also present on one or more of the user’s other devices. Based on the determination, an indication that the notification has been viewed may be sent from the synchronization server to each of the user’s devices on which the notification is present. Upon receipt of the indication from the synchronization server, the viewed notification may be removed from each of the devices, thereby avoiding a redundant display of the notification on multiple devices.”
