Attention Unification users, or those thinking about jumping aboard and utilising the service. Unification has been moved on the Windows Phone Store. It's now sporting a brand new logo, as well as a new location so be sure to upgrade if you've had the previous version installed. We've included the new links and QR codes in this article, making it real easy to get the correct app. So why the move and what's the current situation? Liquid Daffodil was contacted by Microsoft (you knew it was coming, right?) and has complied to make some alterations to both Windows Phone apps.
The team was contacted last week with some recommendations that should be applied to the Unification apps, particularly the version for Windows Phone 7. We've been informed of a number of changes that are in the works, but unfortunately the developer is not at liberty to talk about. Since the app is freely available, it was easier to apply changes numbered by Microsoft and re-publish the Unification apps to the store. That's the tl;dr version. Unification is readily available once again, with some slight alterations made.
So what's new in this "new" version of Unification? There are a number of new features that have been bundled with the re-launch. Multi-select is now available for actions, such as removing notifications (similar to how email management works on Windows Phone) and allows users to request favourite apps to get "Unification Ready" directly from within the app. Pretty neat if the apps installed don't currently support the notification center (see below for some screens on both app requests and multi-select).
As well as affecting Windows Phone apps, some of the changes Microsoft advised also covered the Windows 8 version of Unification. The good news is that all three editions are available for consumers across the Windows eco-system. A unified notification center experience? It's happening, folks.
So how's the service performing with a limited number of apps "Unification Ready" and only being live for just over a week? We've got some rather exciting statistics to share from Liquid Daffodil. The developer reports that daily traffic is clocked in at approximately 180,000 Notifications being sent through Unification. That's not a bad start. It's no secret that consumers are desperately holding out for a notification center solution and Liquid Daffodil has managed to provide such a service. We've also been told that German, French, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese language support will be implemented soon.
Remember though, folks. Apps that do not currently support Unification is not a limitation of the service, but the app in question. Should you wish to get your favourite apps using Unification, be sure to contact the respective developer. Following the development of Unification closely, we've been continuously impressed by the progress made. At the very least, Unification will provide a temporary solution until Microsoft eventually launches its own native alternative. But until that day arrives, we're happy to see Liquid Daffodil expand the service and have more developers adding support.
You can download Unification from the Windows Phone Store (both Windows Phone 7.x and 8), as well as Windows 8 (once it's live - we'll update when the store lists the version).
