Motorola unveiled the Moto X earlier in the month and while the handset has a decent set of specs, much of the focus was on the user experience. Part of that experience is something called Active Display. This means the handset will be able to show incoming notifications for items such as SMS messages or emails without having to light up the full display. With that in mind, a new app called Active Notifications has recently entered the Play Store and it will bring similar features to other handsets.
The Active Notifications app is available for free, however there is also a premium version with additional features for $0.99. The app is described as using the “Notification Listener” service that was recently introduced. That brings the first requirement — Android 4.3. To further that, the app is made for those with an AMOLED display. It was said those with an AMOLED display will have the “battery saving” feature.
Anyway, the features of this app include the ability to select which app notifications will display and also to not have any notifications display when the phone is put away. Well, specifically, notifications will not display when the phone is in your pocket, purse or placed face down on a table. Shifting over to the premium side and we find a few additional features.
Those include a “Sleep at Night” option which is just as the name would imply — it has the notifications shut down at night. The remaining premium features include the ability to automatically switch off the screen when dismissing notifications and a “More Privacy” feature which hides additional notification details.
Otherwise, the app is simple to use and has options to swipe up to see more details, swipe down to unlock the device and swipe left or right to dismiss a notification. Finally, while a firm commitment was not made just yet, the developer did mention that he is considering “creating a version for older versions of Android if there is enough interest.”
SOURCE: xda-developers, Google Play Store
Why isn’t it baked in to 4.3?