Notify represents Facebook’s first significant move in the news app market, positioning itself against the likes of Google News, Twitter, Flipboard, News360, and Apple News. Furthermore, Notify can give suggestions on what stations to pick based on a Facebook profile, making it easier to discover new stations.
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Facebook’s blog post announcing the new app explains, “To create your personal mix of notifications you select the stations from which you want to receive updates”.
On Wednesday, the world’s largest social network introduced Notify, a mobile program that lets you set custom alerts for news, sports, weather and a myriad of other topics.
Facebook says the app is aimed at helping you stay on top of the things you care about with a glance, but if you’re one of those people who hates notifications distracting you all the time, it’s probably not for you. And honestly, if you hate receiving push notifications on your lock screen, this app might not be for you. Once you dig into a category, you’re presented with a list of stations that tell you exactly what kind of alerts it’ll deliver.
Unless it can work up a better angle than “notifications”, which doesn’t seem like Facebook’s goal, Notify looks to be redundant at best, and at worst, a hugely unnecessary future flop.
Now NBC News, The Daily Mail, the Washington Post, The Atlantic, National Geography, Slate and The NY Times are the partner of Facebook for this new notification app. This app will be available for more users by the end of the year.
The Facebook poke is back, but this time there’s a bit more to it.
For a few smartphone users, like myself, notifications tend to be an annoyance that I’d rather not deal with.
The release came just weeks after Facebook launched an Instant Articles feature on iPhones that speeds up the display of news stories shared by friends at the giant social network.
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Notify from Facebook is available today in the U.S. for iPhone and we’re excited to explore this evolving medium with participating sources.
