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Topic: Android Push Notifications - Enhancements

I am in the process of migrating from another app over to Next Episode. In doing so, I noticed some differences with regard to push notifications which could be improved. Please see the screenshots below comparing Next Episode's push notifications to another app:

1. Would it be possible to add an image, episode name, episode number, and airdate/time similar to how is displayed in the other app's push notification as seen in the screenshot below? (if I'm not mistaken, I believe this has already been implemented for the iOS app but not Android)

https://gcdnb.pbrd.co/images/1KXF8uqhfmdC.jpg?o=1

2. Would it be possible to change the time the push notification is sent? For example, right now the notification is sent 15 minutes before airing, but it would be nice to have a setting to be send it at the time of airing instead.

3. As seen in the screenshot below, it appears that each new episode triggers 2 push notifications (one 15 minutes before airing as seen in the previous screenshot, and another 14 minutes past midnight). Why is the 2nd notification being generated at 12:14am and is there any way to disable it?

https://gcdnb.pbrd.co/images/HNC6XyRxsEgA.jpg?o=1

4. As seen in the screenshot below, when multiple episodes are released at the same time, it appears that Next Episode consolidates them into 1 notification. Instead, would it be possible to send individual notifications for each episode similar to how is shown by the notification by the other app in the screenshot? This would be more beneficial so we could view the episode info (image, episode name/number/time) for each individual episode released from within the notifications. Android already groups multiple notifications by app as seen in the screenshot so it doesn't look like there would be any downside to this. Furthermore, it would be especially useful in cases when multiple episodes from the same Series are released at the same time (as was the case in the screenshot for the Series called The Recruit) so we know multiple episodes were released instead of thinking it was just 1.

https://gcdnb.pbrd.co/images/ynSy1richXgB.jpg?o=1

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Re: Android Push Notifications - Enhancements

Hey there. Welcome to Next Episode and thanks for your suggestions for improvement, I'll address them one by one:

1) the iOS app has the same notifications the Android app has. In your example - why is airdate/time useful in a notification that notifies you of a past event? Adding an image there would make it look better, but it'll be a bit less useful (as there will be less space for text - our images are wider than they're high, and a lot of shows have way longer titles than in your example so I'm hesitant to reduce the space available for the title).

When I update the Android app next time, I'll play with how the notifications look and what info they present. I agree they can be improved.

2) Not for now, but l keep that idea in mind

3) You can turn off the second notification in your settings. There are different toggles for the different types of notifications, in this case - you want to turn off the "Once a day notification for aired episodes" notification

4) Makes sense, but at the same time to me it seems spammier to send multiple notifications when we can group them into one. Of course - having individual ones gives more information, as you mentioned so there is value in that a well. I'll consider it.

3 (edited by kushalj 2025-01-31 21:16:53)

Re: Android Push Notifications - Enhancements

Thank you for getting back to me and taking the time to address each item 1 by 1. Please find my responses to each number below:

1. Airdate isn't as important (since the notification will be on the day of airing anyways). Airtime is a bit more useful since right now the app sends notifications 15 minutes before and isn't customizable. Again, not the end of the world since we can just add 15 minutes to each notification timestamp to get the airtime but I figured it looked pretty good in the other app per the screenshot above so thought it was a "nice to have". In regards to the image, yes it would be mainly for aesthetic reasons. That being said, valid point about there being less room for the text. However, I noticed that there's 2 Next Episode logos (one of each side of the notification as seen in my earlier screenshot above). Perhaps if we keep the logo on the left and remove the one on the right this would be a good compromise to allow enough room for both the Series image/poster and enough text? Furthermore, for the Series with longer names, if one drags down or hits the down arrow, the full text will then be displayed. The Series poster/image is another way to identify the Series quickly without expanding in cases where the text is too long as well. Even something similar to this image which I grabbed from your listing of Next Episode in the iOS AppStore would suffice as it has the image, season/episode number, episode name, and episode time. Just don't need the bubble on the right which says "in X days" since these would be sent right before airing anyways.
https://is1-ssl.mzstatic.com/image/thumb/PurpleSource221/v4/b1/92/f3/b192f353-0440-2079-f646-4313acb75d8f/8ecdafeb-74a7-4c2d-97a8-a30cdd40eb2a_0x0ss2.png/314x0w.webp

2. Darn, that's a bummer. I respect your decision though.

3. Wonderful, thank you for pointing that out!

4. Your consideration is much appreciated. Just figured this way we can have the best of both worlds. I can see why it may appear to be a bit spammy on the surface, but personally I don't think it would be too spammy since the notifications get grouped together and collapsed by default.