Push Notifications

4 posts

discord2 min readCurated summary

How to Manage Your Discord Desktop Notifications: A Complete Guide

Discord offers fine-grained notification controls so users can manage alerts at the server, channel, sound, status, and desktop-system levels. Notifications can be limited to mentions, muted for specific channels or categories, or silenced entirely with Do Not Disturb. Individual sounds and desktop pop-ups can also be disabled without turning off every in-app alert. ## Types of Discord Notifications - Notifications may be triggered by: - Regular channel messages - Direct @mentions - @everyone and @here mentions - Mentions of roles the user belongs to - Replies to the user’s messages - Separate sounds may indicate: - Messages in the channel currently being viewed - Incoming voice or video calls - Someone launching an Activity - Soundboard effects ## Server, Channel, and Category Controls - Server settings are available by right-clicking a server and selecting **Notification Settings**. - Server-wide options include: - **All Messages** - **Only @mentions** - **Nothing** - Suppressing @everyone, @here, role mentions, and new event notifications - Muting the entire server - Individual channels can override the server default with their own notification setting. - Categories can also be muted, greying out and collapsing their channels. - These controls allow users to keep a server active while silencing noisy channels such as memes, off-topic, or announcements. ## Do Not Disturb - **Do Not Disturb** silences Discord notification sounds across the app. - It can be enabled from the avatar status menu and configured for a specific duration. - Online is the normal status, while Idle and Invisible mainly affect how the user appears to others. - DND syncs between desktop and mobile, although mobile push notifications may still appear. ## Individual Notification Sounds - Under **User Settings > Notifications > Sounds**, users can toggle many sounds independently. - Available controls cover messages, mentions, mute and deafen actions, call rings, voice-channel joins and leaves, and more. - Users may want to disable message sounds while keeping important alerts such as incoming calls enabled. - Soundboard configuration is handled separately. ## Desktop Notification Pop-ups - **User Settings > Notifications > Enable Desktop Notifications** controls system pop-ups on Windows, macOS, and Linux. - Disabling this option removes desktop pop-ups but does not stop sounds played within Discord. - Users who want complete silence should combine desktop notification controls with server, channel, DND, or sound settings. The most effective setup is to use server and channel settings for routine filtering, individual sound toggles for prioritizing important events, and DND when uninterrupted focus is needed.

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lineOriginal article

Pushsphere: The Secret to Fast and (opens in new tab)

LINE developed Pushsphere to overcome the inherent instability and rate-limiting challenges of delivering high-volume push notifications via providers like APNs and FCM. By implementing a sophisticated gateway architecture rather than relying on naive retry logic, the system ensures reliable delivery even during massive traffic spikes or regional emergencies. This approach has successfully stabilized the messaging pipeline, drastically reducing operational overhead and system-wide failures. ## Limitations of Standard Push Architectures * External push providers are frequently unstable, exhibiting misbehaving instances, sudden disconnections, and unpredictable timeouts. * Naive retry strategies often lead to "retry storms," which quickly exhaust rate-limit quotas and result in HTTP 429 (Too Many Requests) errors. * At massive scales, manual management of hundreds of server connections becomes impossible, necessitating automated decisions on when to abandon or switch between faulty nodes. ## Unified Gateway Design and High-Performance Transport * Pushsphere provides a single entry point for all push platforms, abstracting the complexities of mTLS for Apple and OAuth 2.0 for Firebase. * The system is built on the Armeria microservice framework and utilizes Netty for high-performance, non-blocking communication within the Java Virtual Machine. * The architecture includes a client library and gateway server that support zone-aware routing, ensuring low latency and efficient traffic distribution across data centers. ## Intelligent Retry and Load Balancing Strategies * The "retry-aware" load balancer uses a Round Robin base strategy but is designed to skip previously attempted endpoints during a retry cycle to avoid repeated failures on faulty nodes. * Quota-aware logic monitors rate limits in real-time, preventing the system from retrying endpoints that are nearing their capacity. * These smarter traffic distribution rules balance high delivery success rates with the preservation of provider quotas, preventing service-wide blocking. ## Resilient Endpoint Management via Circuit Breakers * Pushsphere assigns a dedicated circuit breaker to every endpoint to report success and failure rates continuously. * When a circuit opens due to frequent failures, the unhealthy endpoint is immediately removed from the active pool and replaced with a fresh candidate from a DNS-refreshed pool. * This automated replacement mechanism maintains a consistent pool of healthy endpoints, allowing the system to remain stable without manual intervention during hardware or network degradations. Pushsphere has transformed LINE's notification infrastructure, reducing annual on-call alerts from over 30 to just four, despite implementing stricter monitoring thresholds. For developers managing high-volume messaging services, adopting a gateway-based approach with automated circuit breaking and quota awareness is a proven path to achieving carrier-grade reliability.

discord3 min readCurated summary

Discord Patch Notes: February 3, 2025

Discord’s February 3, 2025 patch focuses on faster startup, more reliable infrastructure, improved notifications, and extensive usability fixes across desktop and mobile. Major changes include a roughly 20% improvement in median Android launch times, a Rust rewrite of the Media Proxy service that reduced aggregate latency by about 22%, and substantially improved push-notification delivery. The release also adds desktop DM Apps, redesigns Privacy & Safety settings, and addresses numerous platform-specific bugs. ## Performance and Reliability - Android app initialization improvements reduced launch times by approximately 20% on the median Android device. - Discord rewrote its Media Proxy service from Go to Rust and modernized its infrastructure: - Aggregate latency improved by about 22%. - Latency at the 90th percentile improved by more than 40%. - Service reliability also improved. - Push-notification reliability increased across server sizes: - Servers with fewer than 2,500 users now achieve a 99.98% delivery rate within 30 seconds. - Discord can notify approximately 20 million users on large servers such as Midjourney within 15 minutes of an `@everyone` mention. - Android 13 and earlier received fixes for layout failures caused by device rotation and incorrect screen-size calculations. ## New Features and Interface Updates - Desktop users can now launch Apps directly in DMs. - A quick-launch bar displays recently used Apps at the top of the DM list. - Privacy & Safety settings were redesigned with: - A new tab structure. - Better grouping and clearer descriptions. - Improvements intended to support future Trust settings. - macOS desktop notifications now use native operating-system APIs: - Message sounds respect Focus and Do Not Disturb modes. - Multiple notifications from the same channel can be grouped. - Desktop search now autocompletes `from:me` and `mentions:me`. - Linux now supports Soundshare and Wayland screen sharing, including video and audio support on Ubuntu 22 and later. - Mobile users can edit server invite links while inviting someone. - Push notifications now include user nicknames. ## General Bug Fixes - Fixed UI and layout problems involving: - Forum channel tag editing. - Overlapping channel-topic modals. - Incorrect friend-request layouts at narrow desktop widths. - Misaligned images, padding, borders, and animations across Shop, Quests, profiles, and reaction pickers. - Resolved Android issues involving duplicated channel-name letters, hidden confirmation dialogs, incorrect toast positioning, keyboard overlap, and navigation-bar padding. - Fixed mobile and iOS issues affecting: - Search-result counts and back-swipe navigation. - Text-entry scrolling during channel searches. - Excessive zooming. - Animated Emojis stopping after interaction. - Nitro Home back-swipe navigation. - Corrected problems with Privacy & Safety tabs being cropped or nonfunctional. - Improved reliability for the Claimed Quests interface, especially for users with many completed Quests. - Fixed profile customization issues related to Nitro Credit. - Corrected custom status duration behavior. - Resolved issues with mutual-friend and mutual-server views getting stuck loading. - Fixed Emoji picker server filters and enabled editing of Emoji forum tags whose associated Emoji had been deleted. - Corrected several Shop, tablet banner, profile-effect, and mobile DM layout issues. Overall, the patch combines measurable backend performance gains with a broad collection of cross-platform fixes. Users should see faster Android launches, more dependable media uploads and notifications, improved desktop and mobile navigation, and fewer layout and interface failures.

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figma3 min readCurated summary

The Anatomy of a Super Bowl Ad | Figma Blog

Duolingo’s five-second Super Bowl ad succeeded by turning a severe budget constraint into a creative advantage. Its deliberately absurd “unhinged Duo” gag, paired with a real lesson reminder, was designed to create a memorable WTF moment and generate conversation beyond the broadcast. The campaign depended on close coordination between marketing, engineering, and the brand studio. ## Aiming for Culture and Conversation - Duolingo saw the Super Bowl as a chance to reach the year’s largest live U.S. audience. - The goal was not merely exposure, but earned media, virality, and word-of-mouth. - Previous data showed that major broadcasts could drive language-learning activity: - Users completed lessons during Eurovision breaks. - A prior Super Bowl push notification produced the app’s highest engagement. - The team decided to make the ad itself function as a lesson reminder. ## Turning a Budget Constraint into a Format - A 30-second Super Bowl commercial cost about $7 million on average in 2023. - Rather than compete with longer, more expensive ads, Duolingo pursued a five-second spot. - The team looked to short ads such as Reddit’s 2021 commercial as examples of compact ideas that could expand through social media. - The intended result was tens of millions of social impressions generated by a highly shareable moment. ## Designing the “WTF Moment” - The ad featured Duo sitting in a white frame before turning around and revealing an exaggerated, balloon-like backside. - A second Duo emerged with a flatulent sound, followed by the message “Do your Duolingo.” - Simultaneously, users received a push notification reminding them to complete a lesson. - The crude humor built on Duo’s existing reputation as both wholesome and “unhinged,” matching the brand’s relationship with its online community. ## Cross-Functional Brainstorming - The first of three brainstorming sessions began in September after the ad slot was secured. - The brief asked: “How do we hack and own the Super Bowl conversation in 5 seconds?” - Marketing, engineering, and brand teams divided into breakout groups and developed concepts in FigJam. - Ideas were evaluated for whether they would: - Produce a strong reaction and social buzz - Fit Duolingo’s tone and strengthen the brand - Support additional campaign content - Demonstrate Duolingo’s product capabilities - Groups nominated their best ideas, and the wider team voted on them using FigJam stickers. ## Aligning on a Big Idea - One brainstorm was not enough to reach agreement. - The teams reconvened in another FigJam session to evaluate concepts through different strategic approaches, including ways to exploit the five-second television format. - The eventual campaign required several weeks of synchronized work across creative, marketing, engineering, and design. Duolingo’s approach demonstrates how a sharply defined constraint can produce stronger creative work. A short, distinctive concept—when aligned with existing brand behavior, product functionality, and coordinated distribution—can outperform a conventional expensive commercial.

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