Notification Dots Will Be Coming To Android O

One of the main differences between iOS and Android is the way the platforms handle notifications. With iOS, notifications come in two forms, via app badges where a number is shown on the app’s icon to indicate how many notifications/messages/emails there are, and also in the Notification Center.

With Android, notifications exist in the top part of the phone next to the time, date, and battery indicator, as well as in the Notification Shade. There is no right or wrong way and it depends on personal preference, but it seems that Android could be getting a feature similar to that of iOS in the form of Notification Dots.

Announced as one of the features of Android O, Google writes, “Notification dots extend the reach of notifications, a new way for developers to surface activity in their app, driving engagement. Built on our unique and highly regarded notification system, dots work with zero effort for most apps – we even extract the color of the dot from your icon.”

Basically app icons will now show a dot when there are notifications. Users can even long press on an app’s icon to bring up a preview of the notification, and dismissing it from the notification shade will also clear the dot. It is unclear if this feature is optional as we’re sure some users will appreciate it while others don’t, but in the meantime what do you guys make of it?

Tyler Lee
Categories: Cellphones
Tags: Android, android o, Google, google i/o 2017, google io