How to fix push notifications

Nothing epitomizes our love-hate relationship with today's tech more than the push notification. 

Our hatred of those badges, banners, and little red dots has never felt more visceral. To anyone with a smartphone, the device often feels like a devil's bargain: You get to carry around knowledge and communication beyond what anyone in history has ever wielded at the cost of getting interrupted several times a day by default.

It's not just smartphones. Desktop operating systems have borrowed heavily from their mobile counterparts in recent years, bringing with them notifications galore. Even the web itself won't leave us alone: our browsers are continually bothering us to allow some sites and services to send alerts, adding to the cacophony of dings. Read more...