Better incoming call notifications on iOS

On the scale of iOS notifications, incoming calls are an 11. An incoming call demands immediate and complete attention. Regardless of who the caller is, or what you’re currently doing, iOS won’t let you go until you’ve decided what to do with this call.

And it’s a massive pain in the arse. I can’t count the number of times I’ve been replying to an email when an incoming call from someone I don’t want to talk to takes over my screen. Then, I have to wait for the person to ring out because I don’t want them to know I declined their call. 30 seconds later, I’m free to continue with my work and try to pick up my train of thought. That is, until I get interrupted again with a ‘missed call’ push notification.

I get why the notifications are so in your face. Phone calls can be important. There’s only a limited time that you can respond to an incoming call before it’s gone. And it’s annoying to miss a call while you’re fumbling with your phone.

But phone calls aren’t as important as they once were. We have other modes of communication now and your phone should respect that. I still want to know I have an incoming call, but if I’m doing something else don’t break my flow.

If I get a call while I’m not using my device, go ahead and take over the full screen. Give me some other options, like reminders and messages. That’s awesome. But if I’m doing something else, dial it down a touch.

Why not use a standard push notification? Then, I can tap the notification to accept the call or swipe it away to decline. It could be a brighter colour to give it some urgency, but it’s still out of the way. It also ties in nicely with the ‘return to call’ bar.

Anyway, just my 0.02 and a possible solution to an annoying problem. Want to continue the conversation? Find me on Twitter.

Originally published on my blog.