Liquid Daffodil has unveiled to Windows Phone Central a new notification system that will provide developers on all Microsoft platforms the ability to tap into services offered by the team. What we're looking at here is an encrypted, cross-platform notification service for Windows and Windows Phone, hosted on the Azure cloud. So what could this mean for consumers should developers hop on and implement the system into apps?
Think unified Notification Center and you've got the idea.
Unification (as it's branded) is app-centric, requiring developer participation and user "opt in" for authorisation, much like similar third-party offerings such as Tweet Marker for those obsessed with Twitter. Users will be able to download the Unification app for platforms of choice and may then synchronise notifications across devices by authenticating with a Microsoft Account. The plan is to offer a seamless experience.
So how can developers get involved and leverage Unification for their content?
- Developers will request an Access Key that will be associated to a specific app
- They can simply update their existing notification code to include a single, lightweight, REST-based call to the Unification Cloud Service
- It's then optional to associate a file extension with the connected app (for direct app access)
Unification has the potential to be fairly big for the platforms since Microsoft currently doesn't have a centralised notification centre for Windows and Windows Phone, which is where Unification could enter with a solution. The only issue will be apps that have not yet taken advantage of the new notification service, especially since this is an opt-in service.
Example of a Windows Phone toast notification
Liquid Daffodil will be implementing the service into all apps developed for Microsoft platforms, including Outsider, flyby!, glƏƏk!, Cowlick! Super rowi Bros: TweetWerks, and fantweestic. Exact details have not yet been confirmed and we're sure many will have questions.
The overall idea is to provide a unified way for consumers to remain up-to-date across Windows Phone as well as Windows with supported apps. We're told that Unification will be moving into public beta starting March, which will open up the following services:
- Visibility into all app-based Toast and Tile Notifications including:
- Windows Phone 7+
- Windows Phone 8
- Windows 8 Store
- Global, English language, app availability to view and manage Notifications for the following devices:
- Windows Phone 7+
- Windows Phone 8
- Windows 8 Store
Phase two will commence on March 31st and will add more features:
- Notification delivery services for Windows Phone 8 devices
- Notification delivery services for Windows 8 Store devices
- Multi-device notification services, such as sending notifications to both a Windows Phone 8 device and a Windows 8 device simultaneously
- Global, multi-language, app availability to view and manage Notifications for the following devices and scenarios:
- Windows Phone 7+
- Windows Phone 8
- Windows 8 Store
- Windows 8 Desktop
- Web
Are you a developer and wish to get involved and participate in the beta of the Unification service? Be sure to contact the team at unifyus@liquiddaffodil.com. Liquid Daffodil are after all developers who support Windows and / or Windows Phone. Unification is a free project to participate in (and will be free once the service hits gold and goes live), so we urge you to at least contact them about your app(s).
Consumers: we'll keep you all up-to-date with project progress and when Unification apps will be made available. It's clear the project is still in the early stage with the beta just around the corner, but we're excited to see what Liquid Daffodil can achieve with Unification.
