Users of iOS devices are anticipating the release of iOS 5 later this year for a number of reasons. One of these reasons is the way it handles notifications. Rather than the screen takeover, notifications will be more subtle, appearing at the top of the screen, much like Android.
Sam Altman, CEO and co-founder of Loopt, “strongly believes” that no mobile service will see a bigger benefit from this aspect of the iOS update than those offering deals. He shared some thought on this with WebProNews.
Loopt says being able to surface deals in an unobtrusive (but easily accessible) way is huge, as deals that don’t interrupt but are available for you to see at all times will be much more attractive to mobile users (both for current and incoming smartphone users). Altman thinks we’ll see a lot more users opting in to deal notifications as a result.
“We’re finally reaching a place with mobile technology where we can actually bring super-relevant, limited-time deals to consumers when they’re near the deal location,” he tells us. “With mobile notifications, instant deal gratification is possible. We’ve been sending location-relevant deals/rewards through Loopt since March, and we were really excited to incorporate Groupon Now! deals into our offering more recently. Consumers love the surprise and delight of discovering a deal without having to proactively look for it. There’s a lot of potential in this.”
He’s referring to a partnership Loopt and Groupon launched last month. Here’s our interview with Altman about that:
On why the deals space will benefit more than other spaces from this iOS update, Altman says, “Everyone loves a good deal, but not everyone wants a screen-filling message when there’s a deal around. I think we’ll see more people opting in (and staying opted in) to non-intrusive alerts. More notifications sent equates to more traffic to the deal services and ultimately more people coming through the doors of local businesses.”
“We might see more levels of notification, with apps tiering out notification priority and frequency so the user can decide,” he adds, referring to the industry at large.
He says Android has “absolutely” provided a glimpse of what players can do on a wider scale, once the iOS update rolls out. “Android’s notifications are similar, we’re excited to see this kind of implementation on iPhone,” he says.
Apple calls iOS 5 “the most extensive software update ever for iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch.” It has over 200 new features and gives devices access to the company’s iCloud service. The notifications feature comes with a “notifications center,” which Apple has touted as one of the “key” features. It aggregates all notifications, and can be accessed by simply swiping down from the top of the screen. It also shows stocks and weather at the top of the screen, and will display a little pop up at the top to let you know about a notification while you’re watching a video or playing a game.
