In a move that is likely to significantly enhance user experience on the internet, Microsoft Edge is banishing annoying notification requests from websites. In a blog post on Thursday, the company said that beginning with Edge 84, all notification requests will be blocked by default. Called ‘Quiet Notification Requests’ the option is already available in Microsoft Edge, although, users have to turn it off manually. Chrome 80 had originally rolled out the feature as part of a ‘Quieter UI‘ makeover earlier this year.
With the notifications turned off, any such request made via the Notifications or Push APIs will appear as a bell labeled ‘Notifications blocked’ in the address bar, as opposed to the full layout. As seen in the screenshot below, users will still know that the website made a request, but won’t have to deal with the annoying prompt.
Microsoft said that the new feature will allow users to stay focused on their current task without cutting them out of the decision-making process on whether to dismiss the notification or not. If the user wants to subscribe to notifications, they can click the ‘Notifications blocked’ bell icon and accept the request, as seen in the featured image. Starting with Edge 85, these notifications will auto-dismiss in Windows Action Center after 25 seconds.
While the current solution puts a blanket ban on notifications, Microsoft says that it might leave it enabled by default for certain websites in the future. “There are some scenarios where notification requests are particularly welcome and may warrant the full prompt. We’re currently exploring turning on the full flyout prompt when data suggests users find a given site’s notification request valuable. Users would be able to keep the quiet notification requests experience for all sites if they prefer”, the company said.
