Open Radar

 
Under iOS 9, notification actions show up as soon as the user slides the notification. This is arguably not very discoverable, but once learned it allowed users quick one-tap access to the most common actions for their app.

We were very excited to see that this capability is being extended in iOS 10 with UserNotificationsUI.framework, however we think the UI implementation here is unnecessarily cumbersome. To act on notifications, the user now has to make a slide and *two* taps. Moreover, the button copy 'View' is confusing – the user is already viewing the notification, what they want to do is act on it!

We understand that on newer devices the user can force-touch the notification to skip this step. However, we don't think this is a good solution on new or old devices. 

We can see the argument for using force touch here. After all, it works just like the home screen – force touch for quick access to common actions. Here is why we disagree: the primary action on the home screen is to launch an app, while quick action is secondary. On the lock screen, this is reversed! The primary action is to take quick action, whereas launching the app is secondary. 

When a user receive a notification that needs action, they want to do so as quickly as possible so they can get back to what they were up to. The new interaction of sliding and tapping 'View' or force-touching is less primary, more work and less discoverable than it was in iOS 9, particularly on old devices. Why not simply let the user *tap* the notification to act on it? This is the obvious, common-sense solution – the primary action is activated with a single tap, just like the home screen (this behavoir would also match tapping a notification Apple Watch). In this implementation, tapping the notification would immediately show the custom UI and quick actions (the same effect as tapping 'View' currently does), while sliding the notification and tapping the 'View' button could instead launch the app – the secondary action.

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In case it helps, I wanted to say a bit about our use case.

We make an app for people to report on their experiences riding bikes around their city. The app automatically starts logging your trip when you get on your bike. When it detects the end of your trip, it sends a notification saying "You biked 0.6 miles from Infinite Loop to VG3". If you have a bad experience, you can report it to your city Department of Transportation right from your lock screen. 

Because people take a lot of short rides, and are often in a hurry when they finish a trip, we decided to leverage notification actions. This way, users can say that a ride was good or bad with one simple tap right from their lock screen. We've had to train users to slide the notification (many didn't know this was possible), but otherwise it is a good solution. Over 40% of the time, when someone finishes a bike ride they take the time to push one of the rating buttons!

Even though our use case is somewhat specialized, I think it is a good example of how people use notifications in general. Notifications come in response to something in the outside world. When people receive them and want to act on them, they are often in the middle of doing something (locking up their bike, walking into a building, etc). They want to act as quickly as possible, and every tap matters. If they don't act right away, they often forget to act entirely.

We're really excited about the capabilities in iOS 10 – we've wanted for a long time to create a richer, more intuitive experience around our end-of-ride trip reports.  However, we think the current implementation can be better. As implemented, we think it is slower, less discoverable and less likely to be useful for people looking to act quickly on their notifications. As implemented, we also worry that developers will see this as a secondary feature to support instead of the primary way to engage users from the lock screen – limiting adoption of this feature and further harming user experience. This is the new way to build notifications. It should be primary, obvious, and immediate.

Steps to Reproduce:
1. Receive a notification that requires action
2. Try to act by sliding or tapping the notification

Expected Results:
Tapping or sliding the notification brings up the UI to immediately take action.

Actual Results:
Tapping the notification on the lock screen does nothing.

Sliding the notification shows me a 'View' button, which is confusing and an unnecessary step.