One of the new features in the April 2016 update for Microsoft Band is the ability to create a highly customized notification system. Before the update, Band owners often received annoyingly duplicate notifications from apps like Mail because it would send alerts through the standalone Mail Tile and the all-encompassing Notification Tile as the same time – and there was no way to customize it or separate the alerts.
Now, with the April 2016 update, Windows Phone and Android users can use the updated Microsoft Health app to create a custom notification environment. Microsoft Health now inventories the installed apps that have access to the platform’s notification system and provides them in a list where you can use a slider to enable or disable the app’s notification.
Incidentally – this feature is NOT available to iOS users yet. And, frankly, it might not be anytime soon. According to a Microsoft representative, Apple is pretty restrictive and isn’t forthcoming with API enough to ensure this feature (and some other features) is available as quickly as the other platforms.
Here’s how to access the feature:
- Open the Manage Tiles option in the Microsoft Health app.
- Locate Notification Center and tap the “edit” (pencil) option.
- Sift through the enormous list of apps and decide which app notifications to turn on and which ones to turn off.
Incidentally, the Mail Tile is still a standalone option.
