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The Stupidest Notifications On Symbian

By Dotsisx on August 13, 2009

Symbian and S60 are smartphone platforms. Sure. But for “smart”phones, they can be pretty dumb sometimes. Case in point a few message notifications that appear in specific conditions. For all the 38 months that I’ve had a Symbian device, I’ve been annoyed by these, and even though I got used to them, I still shake my head in disbelief each time I see them appear on my screen.

Do you want to activate bluetooth in offline mode?

Believe it or not, each time I am in Offline mode on my phone and I want to switch bluetooth on, it HAS to ask me the question. Sure, bluetooth is a certain wave and it sort of jeopardizes the whole “offline” connection system in places where there shouldn’t be any wave transmission like an airplane, but there’s another reason I might be in Offline mode and that is because I am using my device SIM-less in an ordinary surrounding. In that case, there is no reason why I wouldn’t want to turn bluetooth on in offline mode. Plus, if I deliberately went to the Connections/Tools folder, and deliberately opened the Bluetooth menu, and deliberately clicked to turn it on then I sure as hell want it to be on, even in offline mode! The other thing that I don’t understand is why is there no way to set this as a once for all YES, that way I don’t have to be asked this question every single time.

Do you want to activate wifi in offline mode?

Same thing applies to WiFi. If I’m using my device SIM-less in offline mode, then I don’t have Edge or 3G, so it is pure logic that I might want to have WiFi turned on to access the internet. Plus, I did ask to activate it, didn’t I?

Unable to install. Some applications must be closed. Do you want to close now?

If you have ever tried to install a newer version of an application while having the old one open (which happens with all applications that have an auto-update feature), you should have seen this message. What I don’t understand about it (other than who the hell thought about it, and why did S60 have enough free time to deal with such rubbish instead of improving their UI) is that well, I clicked on install, I agreed when it asked me if I want to replace v.1.0.whatever with v.2.0.whatever, so I really DO want to install it over my old version, and I surely want you to close the old version that I’m running in order to install the new one. Another thing I don’t get is why it says “some applications”, if I was a regular user, I’d be thinking that it’ll close other apps that I’m currently running to be able to install this one. Not wise. I might also give up on installing just because of that. If you really want to ask me the question, at least say something like “we have to close the old version you’re running in order to install the new one, agree?”

What about you? Have you run across other stupid and annoying notifications or questions on S60? What are they? Or do you believe that these questions are important for security reasons and to give more flexibility?

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Dotsisx

Dotsisx, aka Rita El Khoury, joined Symbian-Guru.com in September of 2007, and has been writing awesome content ever since. Rita often explores the normal user aspect of Symbian-powered devices, and offers in-depth thoughts on various topics. You can follow Dotsisx on Twitter at @Khouryrt

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  • Deathbrin
    @Michele "The worst thing for me is the nokia jingle on startup screen. If I turn off the phone in a “noisy” enviroment leaving it in “normal” or “outside” profile and then I must turn on in a “silent” enviroment (library, meeting etc…) there is no way to mute the startup sound!"
    You can press any button to skip the introduction video and sound and go straight to your home screen.
  • The worst thing for me is the nokia jingle on startup screen. If I turn off the phone in a "noisy" enviroment leaving it in "normal" or "outside" profile and then I must turn on in a "silent" enviroment (library, meeting etc...) there is no way to mute the startup sound!
    Unbelievable.
  • Giles
    The one that bothers me is when turning on my FM transmitter. It asks a million questions and then tells you that, yes, the FM transmitter is now working. The only time that I, and I suspect many others, use the FM transmitter is while driving and trying to watch the road.
  • Matt Jones
    'General Error'

    Thanks for ALL the information there Nokia.
  • Saleh
    Yeah,nice point man,my stupidest ever is the one where when i want use msn or opera mini or ebuddy,it will always ask what connection i want to use,it will be nice if just for once i pick the connection,and i click somewhere always use this connection for this application.
  • Taomyn
    Sorry, that's a rant over a perfectly valid warnings, and in the case of Bluetooth/WiFi, especially if you should be in an area that forbids wireless transmission.

    The phone isn't to know regardless of the SIM card situation, if you're at home or next to sensitive equipment, or even if you accidentally ran your mail program that of course may need Internet access.

    Also with regards to the installation, the running process it wants to close may not necessarily be the program you are upgrading. It's perfectly possible that a shared process from something else is running that has to be closed down, especially if it part of a suite of programs from the same company, e.g. the Handy programs.

    Smartphones are smart but they're not human smart.
  • I largely agree with Taomyn. It is better to be safe than sorry. The questions are legit.
    These questions are different from your previous rant, several months ago, on the Opera Mini and other Java programs perpetuous asking if it is alright to connect to the internet and what connection to use. That was a good rant, but not this one I'm afraid...
  • GJW
    Sorry, that’s a rant over a perfectly valid warnings (...)
    +1
  • Lars
    The only message that annoys me is the constant "Packet data connection active" I get after I hangup a call. I never seem to be able to close it by hand, and it's just long enough on screen that it derails my train of work when I'm trying to accomplish something like taking a note just after a call.
  • sheridan01
    I completely agree. In the case of offline mode why don't they have a flight mode and an offline mode. The flight can then prevent you from turning anything on. offline mode can be for everything else and then not have to ask stupid questions
  • Sam
    I hate the following notifications as well:

    1.) Do you really want to exit? - Yes I ruddy do - and even if I didn't its hardly the end of the world to re-open.

    2.) When you plug headphones in it asks dumb questions - plug headphones out accidently and suddenly your phone jumps at the chance to pump out your music or show you are watching embarassing you in front of a whole train. Surely it makes more sense to ask you when you unplug your headphones what you want to do (Ricky has actually blogged about this before)

    3.) Assume when I plug in usb that I want PC Suite or at least allow me to set the default.

    4.) Choosing networks when using any application that required internet - yeah I know they've kinda fixed that in recent feature packs and I know Psiloc Connect sorts it but bugging me about which network to use brought me to my knees.

    5.) Endless, ENDLESS "Are you sure?" everywhere. Admiteddly it saved my ass approximately twice in the 3 years of using symbian but for the amount of clicking I did it weren't worth it.
  • Salim Hbeiliny
    Sorry, that’s a rant over a perfectly valid warnings (…) +1

    Except for the close program warning, it should be evident for a user that when updating an application it will be closed (itouch closes everything when syncing).
    Then again, the whole install experience on S60 is a mess altogether, that warning is just part of the load of crap the installer is. OVI store installation method is a good improvement.

    Another silly warning is the low memory error which is never clear whether it's low RAM or low disk space on the phone memory.
  • Fab
    I think it's just logical to have that notification ''Replace 1.x with 1.y'' something like that.. There are some instances that you download an application that happens to have the outdated version of the currently installed app. So I think, it's convenient to be reminded with such notification.
  • Alsiladka
    Just 2 days back I was ranting on Twitter about how impossible it can become to use your Nokia phone as an Internet / Wifi device in Offline mode.

    Just give me a "Yes, Always" option dammit!
  • yeah
    the things that make me crazy are:
    -when you turn on the phone "permettez vous aux applications d'accéder au réseau"
    -"voulez-vous voir les téléchargements annulés

    when you plug the earphones please select:
    "earphone"
    "audio output"
    "mic"
    (this problem has been resolved with N97)

    when you plug the charger"
    -"charging battery"
  • Dotsisx, you're as smart as you are cute! I'm right with you on this one! I don't like having to stop and watch my email send progress bar either. Just do it in the background and shut up while I work!

    These "warnings" might be safe, but for me, they're superfluous. I want them turned off, but I can't because some dummy need a safety net. I notice the iPhone doesn't have near as many "warnings" and popups as we. Its intrusive and time wasting at times. We need to revamp the alerts system and somehow get the device to learn how I prefer to use it. I mean, after 5 years of Symbian, it should know what I want it to do... Not realistic as of today, but why doesn't the device start learning something for a change?
  • karan1402
    Yeah,
    when you plug the earphones please select:
    “earphone”
    “audio output”
    “mic”
    (this problem has been resolved with N97)

    This can be easily solved. Just go to tools>settings>general>enhancement.

    Now say that you want to make headphones your choice, click on headphones and click "Set as default".

    Now whenever you plug in your headphones it'll never ask.
    Cheers.
  • Deathbrin
    Taomyn is perfectly right. Exactly the point.

    @Sam "3.) Assume when I plug in usb that I want PC Suite or at least allow me to set the default."
    You can set the default now (usb/pc suite/whatever the third useless option was), _and_ you can turn off the dialog. I personally set it to USB, but i keep the dialog incase i would need PC Suite occasionally. In case i don't need PC Suite, i just don't have to answer anything.

    @yeah "when you plug the charger”
    -”charging battery”"
    It is very important unless you want to find out in the morning that it _wasn't_ charging somehow.

    (Yes, there is a battery indicator, but it isn't always on the screen and is not really convenient to look closely at.)
  • AvneeshShrortria
    i guess there should be something like the UAC control in windows 7 to turn notifications on and off as and when you like to and also the idea of having a separate offline and airplane mode makes a lot of sense for all the radios to be configured differently.
  • Pete
    I found this to be one of the most annoying factors when I switched back from the iphone. The iphone has an occasional annoying message, but s60 is chock-full of them.

    The other train wreck in s60 is the completely non-seamless method of applications connecting to the network, but that's a story for another day.

    My least favourite popup message has got to be the 'packet data connection active'. The other day I was in a low signal area and kept missing/dropping calls with my wife. In between that frustration, dialing voicemail, the trying to call her back I must have had that message come up 10 times, all as I was trying to do other things. What a pain!
  • ming387
    Mr. Guru,

    These may be annoying but they are there for a very good reason, you must not fly very often, but the 2 below are good verification before turning them on in a PLANE!

    Do you want to activate bluetooth in offline mode?
    Do you want to activate wifi in offline mode?

    I turn my phone to offline mode when I board a plane... The WiFi and Bluetooth may screw-up plane signal if I turn them on at the wrong time.

    Unable to install. Some applications must be closed. Do you want to close now?

    This is important, what if you're downloading or editing something and they shutdown without saving? This warning gives you a chance to save things before info is wiped out.

    Yes, they are annoying, but they are there for very good/valid reason. They're there to warn you before you do something stupid that you may regret.
  • Jamaalism
    I don't think any of those are stupid. They're warning the user and while they not matter to you, they might matter to someone in a hospital or on an airplane where the radio frequencies should be off.

    With respect to closing applications to install, they should elaborate as to exactly which apps will be closed but either way, it's better to warn than not and complain about an app crashing in the background when in fact it was by design.
  • BrentR
    I have to agree with general sentiment here in that I don't agree with your rant at all.

    All the warnings you mentioned are relevant and pertinent.
  • Ammar
    I hate it when ask me if i wanna turn bluetooth on when i wanna send a file via bluetooth,the device should be smart enough to automatically turn the bluetooth on (because am sue i chose send via bluetooth) and after sending complete automatically turn bluetooth off.
  • Just for the record, while I mostly agree, this post *was* written by Dotsisx. ;)
  • Wampyre
    Actually if you install QuickOffice on your phone or OVI Maps the

    "Unable to install. Some applications must be closed. Do you want to close now?" notification is valid.
    By that I mean that it will close all other applications when you try to do an update.

    This is of course a special case as both those are in RON, and performing the update on Gravity or on LCG X-plore won't close other applications currently running. I believe it's more of a generic notification message that is used during an application update scenario.

    @Matt Jones
    Yeah that and "System Error" is a good one.
  • siiicko
    yeah, the latter warning is bothersome in cases of updating multiple apps. What really bothers me though, is the lack of warning, or rather, n0tificati0n to connect to the net using 3G or the available WiFi network in s0me pr0grams, and just immidiately uses the 3G which is n0t the c0nnecti0n priority... Which happens during setup of 'email' in the messaging. Also in s0me cases of updates of other pr0grams a even Setting up n0kia messaging. The only s0luti0n that i found is to delete the data package c0nnecti0n so that it automatically uses the wifi (w/c btw, is the connecti0n pri0rity and is available). Then i'd have to remake the data package c0nnecti0n. Ann0ying it is.
  • justme
    The notifications mentioned here are not that disturbing.
    But i have two new ones for you:
    - applications that need network access first ask if they may and then ask where to connect. I would be happy to click on Cancel in the connection list instead if i really dont want the connection.
    - after some update (maps i believe, or a combination of it and a OS update + data restore) my N80 try to install something every time in start it and after some minutes it complains that an installation couldn't be finished from memory card.

    Other glitches that could be fixed (in N80):
    - web browser exiting without confirmation if i start for example Maps.
    - if i enter an address in the browser and the chosen connection fails it doesnt ask me to try another one and, more importantly, it looses the URL i just typed if i try again. Did any coder actually think? I do try to remember to copy URL to clipboard but often i forget.
    - Why the hell doesnt all apps let me connect to WLAN's. For instance Visual Radio always require me to use 3G...

    PS. Can anyone tell whats the purpose of the blue LED on N80? Only time i see it blink is when i start the phone and i haven't seen it mentioned in any manual. I wish i could tell it what to show (such as "new messages", "battery almost empty", "Bluetooth or WLAN connected and eating power" etc).
  • AC
    i like going offline with N97 and then the nice message box that keeps popping up telling me the widgets cannot be updated.

    So then I need to go to options > content to offline mode.

    Why do I need to do this separately????
  • Jav
    FOR THE "PACKET DATA CONNECTION ACTIVE/On Hold" MESSAGE to GO AWAY - for N97 (prob applies to other's as well):

    Go into your Settings>>Connectivity>>Destinations>>Internet (or whichever option you use to connect to the internet; probably set to default)>>Contract Internet (or the profile that uses your Packet Data Connection). Click Edit in the options menu and then change the "Use Access Point" from After confirmation to Automatically.

    That should take care of it. Note: you may need to disconnect that specific connection from Connection Manager under Settings>>Connectivity).
  • Sinx
    Whatever stupid notification they are, they sould be designed as non modal.
    Modal: take whole input from user. Every respond from user pointed to it. User cannot access other item/menu/icon/function until it dissapears.
    Non modal: while this kind of notification appears, we still can access any other function. Like baloon notification in windows.
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