Apple CEO, Tim Cook made a shocking claim at the TIME 100 Summit that took place recently. According to Cook, Apple never had the intention to maximize user time and people should spend a little less time on their phones. Cook said that he himself had to put the notifications on silent mode over the last few months.
However, his claims seemed a little ironic as Apple can be credited for creating a platform for app developers to constantly notify their users about new developments or updates. It can be said that the motivation behind the notification-friendly platform is that developers can try and maintain the attention of users and bring them back to their apps, as soon as they leave.
There are several ways how the notification platform could have been designed. For instance, a platform where developers could only notify users, after some set intervals. Or, users themselves could have been given the choice to pick a time every day where they could check the notifications from different apps. Or better yet, a “news feed” type feature could have been implemented, where users could themselves check for latest developments in their installed apps.
Users could also have been given the control to pick between different types of notifications (such as urgent and non-urgent ones). Long story short, there were several ways how the notification platform could have been designed to ensure that users don’t get bombarded with notifications throughout the day, but that didn’t happen, at least until now.
So, the only solution that users are left with currently is to mute the notifications. Moreover, thanks to new tools by Apple, controlling notifications has gotten a little easier as now users are able to sort the apps they can connect with. Even Tim Cook believes that users should regulate these push notifications as there is no valid reason behind someone getting thousands of notifications every day.
Cook’s comments about the addictiveness of some apps seemed like he was targeting Social Media apps, mainly Facebook. However, it can’t be denied that Facebook is one of the many reasons why Apple got so big in the first place. The Social Media Giant was promoted to the sky when the App Store launched nearly 11 years ago, as it was quite bankable and having it in your smartphone sounded like an amazing idea and the Tech Giant capitalized on it.
However, Apple has finally started focusing on its users now, instead of developers and announced a number of digital wellness tools such as Screen Time, a way to silence the notifications and more parental controls.
Cook wants to convince us that Apple’s aim was never to make its users addicted to their smart devices. He believes that people should be educated about not spending too much time looking at their phones. The CEO is well-aware that it will take time but they (Apple team) will figure out a way to accomplish this goal, as they have with their previous ones.
Photo: Spencer Platt / Getty Images
Read next: Here are the most downloaded apps and games on Google Play and Apple App Store in Q1 2019
However, his claims seemed a little ironic as Apple can be credited for creating a platform for app developers to constantly notify their users about new developments or updates. It can be said that the motivation behind the notification-friendly platform is that developers can try and maintain the attention of users and bring them back to their apps, as soon as they leave.
There are several ways how the notification platform could have been designed. For instance, a platform where developers could only notify users, after some set intervals. Or, users themselves could have been given the choice to pick a time every day where they could check the notifications from different apps. Or better yet, a “news feed” type feature could have been implemented, where users could themselves check for latest developments in their installed apps.
Users could also have been given the control to pick between different types of notifications (such as urgent and non-urgent ones). Long story short, there were several ways how the notification platform could have been designed to ensure that users don’t get bombarded with notifications throughout the day, but that didn’t happen, at least until now.
So, the only solution that users are left with currently is to mute the notifications. Moreover, thanks to new tools by Apple, controlling notifications has gotten a little easier as now users are able to sort the apps they can connect with. Even Tim Cook believes that users should regulate these push notifications as there is no valid reason behind someone getting thousands of notifications every day.
Cook’s comments about the addictiveness of some apps seemed like he was targeting Social Media apps, mainly Facebook. However, it can’t be denied that Facebook is one of the many reasons why Apple got so big in the first place. The Social Media Giant was promoted to the sky when the App Store launched nearly 11 years ago, as it was quite bankable and having it in your smartphone sounded like an amazing idea and the Tech Giant capitalized on it.
However, Apple has finally started focusing on its users now, instead of developers and announced a number of digital wellness tools such as Screen Time, a way to silence the notifications and more parental controls.
Cook wants to convince us that Apple’s aim was never to make its users addicted to their smart devices. He believes that people should be educated about not spending too much time looking at their phones. The CEO is well-aware that it will take time but they (Apple team) will figure out a way to accomplish this goal, as they have with their previous ones.
Photo: Spencer Platt / Getty Images
Read next: Here are the most downloaded apps and games on Google Play and Apple App Store in Q1 2019
