Issue link: https://imageup.uberflip.com/i/995219
16 FOUR SEASONS BREEZE | JULY 2018 By Steve Benoff There's a little birdie in my house. Well that's what it sounded like late one night. A five note bird whistle sound. Frankly, it was a little unnerving. How in the world could a bird get in the house; and why weren't the dogs barking in excitement? I'd put it out of my mind until I heard the bird whistle again. The exact sound. Another night I heard it again and so did Martha. In fact, she was sure it was coming from my office. By now, of course, I knew it wasn't a bird, but couldn't figure out what it could be. My computer was off and I was sure it wasn't coming from my charging phone. Could it have been my printer? It's relatively new, but I couldn't imagine why it would make such a sound and there was nothing on the display. Finally it dawned on me that it might be coming from my Samsung tablet. I bought it so I could test Android apps. Yes, on occasion, I do enter in the Android app world. I'd recently charged it to test the Rachio sprinkler app. Besides logging onto the control unit on my desktop computer, the only way to control my sprinklers is with the app. And it's by far the most convenient way to check sprinkler operation. Rachio aside, I clearly heard the bird whistle coming from the tablet. I saw there was a notice on the screen; a news event was displayed. Ah hah. I checked the settings. Under Sounds there was a listing for Notifications, and under it was listed Whistle. So every time the tablet got a notification the whistle would sound. The only reason I hadn't noticed it earlier is that the tablet's battery is usually fully discharged. So, I've finally come to the point of this exposition. Apps will often have notifications. When you receive a phone call on your smartphone and you see on the screen it's a call from your brother, that's a notification. If you've ever had your phone inform you about a child abduction, that's a notification. Many apps have notifications – some welcome, some not. A few are frequent "notifiers." Fortunately many hardly notify at all. The best part is you get to decide which notifications you wish to receive. If I go to Settings on my iPhone, there's a Notifications heading. Selecting it gives you a list of all your apps which offer notifications. (For Android, go to Settings, then select Application Manager for a list of all your apps. Within the settings for each one there's a check box for Show Notifications.) On my phone, 81 apps are listed. Each one gives me several notification options. The first is whether I want notifications at all. If I do, I can choose how I want to be notified. Do I want a sound? Do I want the notification to show on the Lock Screen, to show in History (not really sure what that means), to show as a Banner, and, if so, what type of banner? When you first download an app, you can avoid going to Settings simply by selecting "no" when presented with the option to permit notifications. In fact, when first opening a new app, it's always a good idea not to rush. Look at the options presented and decide whether to opt in or out. By the way, when placing an order on the Internet, slow down and look for check boxes. If you want to be showered with endless offers, leave the box for promotional material checked. Otherwise, make sure to uncheck. Do you use an app you'd like to share with others, let me know at steve.benoff@verizon.net. The house is alive with the sounds of birds THERE'S AN APP FOR THAT!