Alternative Notifications for Ubuntu 20.04 - Mate?

[Ben97]

Since the upgrade to 20.04, I have switched to Mate due to it being the most similar interface Gnome (flashback) which is what I used on 18.04 and no longer works correctly.

I am trying to work out a way of changing the notifications for things such as emails, messages on skype, discord and other social media stuff as well as music tracks playing.

The area I’ve looked is in the Mate Control Centre and “Popup Notifications”. I have it at the top right which is the default, but there are a couple of things I can’t find a way to change. The program seems very restricted regarding options. It shows up to 5 notifications at once, one under another which I consider to be excessive. On 18.04 and gnome flashback, it showed one notification and wouldn’t show another if it was still there which kept things minimal.

The other problem is that I can’t find a way to keep the notifications brief such as only showing a certain number of characters. I’m used to it limiting the length and ending the words with several dots so that the popup sign never exceeded a certain size and was consistent. Now it at times is huge.

This is an example below of an overly long track name on Spotify that is hardly just a notification on the top right any more. I understand that is the track name, but why can't the notifications all be the same size?

Picture link (can't post more than 1 yet): http://www.wetherby.me/wiki/pub/Sandbox/RandomImages/Screenshot_at_2020-11-23_16-32-41.png

The same happens if a link or long message is shared via chat and sometimes, one message can take up nearly 25% of my desktop space. All I need is a brief highlight of the message which is enough to notify me, not seeing the entire message at once as well as sometimes multiple at once. It also doesn’t pop up every time so it seems somewhat unreliable.

Are there any add-ons I can install that are more reminiscent of the old Gnome (flashback) that are specifically for notifications or is there something more obvious in the preferences I’m missing?

Thanks.

[ironfoot]

Hi @Ben97,

have you tested Notification Center?

It was introduced in UM 19.10 (look for description in release notes) and comes preinstalled with UM 20.04. The package name is indicator-notifications.

Hope this helps

[Ben97]

Thanks for getting back.

I don't seem to be able to find this window that you have open. The notifications I get just seem to be pop up ones that don't have this bell icon. It is the case that I still would rather have these though, just more descrete. If I right click between Spotify and the keyboard layout, I get this:

If only there was an option for the maximum size of the popups! As in my view a notification should only be brief enough for users to know they have received something. The length of some of the notifications it pops up with are so long that you wouldn't have time to read it anyway.

I remember finding somewhere in the panel preferences in "MATE Tweak" that allowed me to change to some of the options your screenshot shows, but that is likely for the wrong area. I tried a few but certainly preferred familiar.

I'm just stuck at the moment as to weather I would prefer no notifications or put up with up to 5 at once and there being no limit in the length of them.

If you can let me know a way of accessing Indicator-notifications, or an alternative method of notifications altogether, that would be great.

[ironfoot]

I know no easy way for advanced customization of notification bubbles. Looks like they simply display provided title and text. I tried command like notify-send "very long title" "very long text" in terminal and was able to reproduce extremely wide bubbles. Title string is probably never autowrapped or cropped with current notification system. I also am able to display more than 5 bubbles.

@Ben97

This is notification area -- an applet in your panel showing application icons and not directly related to notification popups.

What I suggest you trying first is notification center, "the bell icon". It is not a replacement for notification popups, it is a complementary tool provided by UM out-of-the-box.
Check for installation:
apt list --installed | grep indicator-notifications .
If not installed (no output containing "indicator-notifications"), install:
sudo apt install --reinstall indicator-notifications
and restart your session. The bell icon shall appear.
If installed and bell icon is not visible, try:
gsettings set net.launchpad.indicator.notifications hide-indicator false .

If notification center (indicator-notifications) will not fit your workflow, you may try to replace notification system itself. This is probably the hard way. Please, check this thread:

How to replace MATE's notification daemon (and customize it!)

This software is dead in Ubuntu 20.04, unless you feel like using an older version of VLC or VLC via snapd. Lack of maintenance and incapability of using Qt4 without removing VLC had made this guide difficult to use, and in my opinion invalidates it from hereon until a solution is found. Apologies for the inconvenience. The specific thing which kills it: x-terminal-emulator output for notifyosdconf: notifyosdconf: error while loading shared libraries: libQtGui.so…

and ask authors whether they managed to make it work in UM 20.04.

Cheers!

[Ben97]

Thanks for this. That bell icon method is certainly different to what I'm used to. Not seeing emails pop up may take some time to get used to but I may just need to get used to frequently checking there which should be possible in time. I happen to have already scaled down the panel size to make more workspace and that means the bell icon is incredibly small.

I will certainly give this ago. At least there is an option to disable the ones I consider to be overkill. I can see there is an option to show "maximum number of visible notifications" I changed that to 2 and closed the settings and it still shows 5. And unless I'm misunderstanding what it means my clearing the notifications, when i select the middle click option to clear them, all that does is the same as clicking on it to read it. To remove them from the list, I seem to have to click clear which to me seems strange if middle click was supposed to do this.

If it is too hard to get used to, I will either switch back and put up with what I had before, or possibly attempt another system like you suggested.

Many thanks.

[ironfoot]

You're welcome @Ben97.

@Ben97

Not seeing emails pop up may take some time to get used to but I may just need to get used to frequently checking there which should be possible in time.

I noticed you have indicator-messages installed (envelope icon in your panel). This indicator is intentionally designed to work with mail clients and messengers. Used to work with both Thunderbird and Evolution mail clients. You may test this approach for your emails as well.

@Ben97

I changed that to 2 and closed the settings and it still shows 5

Try to restart your session. Probably a bug.

@Ben97

what it means my clearing the notifications, when i select the middle click option to clear them

Clears all your notifications if you middle-click the bell icon in your panel directly.

@Ben97

attempt another system like you suggested

That tutorial says it is not working correctly in 20.04. I recommend contacting authors first.

Regards

[Ben97]

I'm certainly going to give this some time and I can imagine I will get used to it. I do like the fact that you can get this method of notification to discard certain applications. Spotify at the moment is understandably continuing like this, but I imaging it will stop if i remove the application name.

Right, I now understand why I was getting nowhere with the middle click!

You are also correct about a restart of the session. That now only shows up to two at a time which I set and think is enough.

[Ben97]

I am thinking that I am getting used to this different method of notifications now - or at least thinking I will in time. The issue is that every time my machine reboots, the control centre and "popup notifications" disables the "enable do not disturb" option. Am I missing something? As I seem to need to tick this box to disable pop ups every time I log in.

Thanks.

[ironfoot]

Try setting "enable do not disturb" in indicator notification settings window, not through control center.

[Ben97]

This does stay with do not disturb selected after a reeboot, however, I assume this will now disable any messages showing here too won't it?

I maybe didn't explain my point that well. What I don't seem to be able to disable is the notifications that actually pop up on screen. Either that or I do what you suggested which I assume disables everything. As now I look in the control centre after a reboot, enabling do not disturb where you suggested has also made it remember to also disable pop ups. But now I am without anything.

I may be misinterpreting what you mean. I am getting used to my icon going green when i get messages, and i do hear them, so this is enough. Just need to figure out a way of not having to manually disable the notifications that pop up on screen every time after a reboot.

Many thanks.

[ironfoot]

"Enable do not disturb" option in indicator notification settings (right window) overwrites respective option from the control center (left window). This setting in both windows shall be the same (both checked or both unchecked). When checked, it shall disable notification bubbles. You may test this via command in terminal:
notify-send "title" "text".

@Ben97

But now I am without anything.

Notification center shall collect all your notifications even in "do not disturb" mode.

@Ben97

I am getting used to my icon going green when i get messages, and i do hear them, so this is enough.

Which icon are you talking about? You are using nondefault theme with nondefault icons. I have no idea which icon is going green in your setup.

[Ben97]

Apologies for the confusion. I have since changed to the new wave theme as the narrow and almost non existent boarders in windows wasn't to my liking. I also found the default white panels too bright in new wave, so have made them a darker grey enough for black text still to be visible which is indeed custom. Compared to the theme I was initially using, rather than a bell, this now has a letter shaped icon that goes green when you receive anything. This replaces the bell Icon which I should have mentioned.

Since restarting my PC again, it does seem to have kept do not disturb enabled, and now when I receive messages, i'm indeed not getting pop up notifications and my icon indicates I've got them, so I think that is enough now.

I will give it a few days and see if this remains consistent and then let you know.

Thanks for your help and sorry for not being very clear.

[ironfoot]

You are welcome @Ben97.
I am afraid we are talking about different things. I believe your letter-shaped icon is from indicator-messages, not from indicator-notifications (notification center).

[Ben97]

I realise I've not used the ideal words here! I named what you have labelled as indicator notifications as a letter as I honestly can't picture what else that Icon is. Didn't even think about the "indicator messages" which looks exactly like a letter. That was a poor explanation from me so sorry for that. That seems to just be for thunderbird mail and I use gmail, so I never use that, one reason why i don't mind it not being very visible.

The left one is indeed notifications. So far, it does seem to have kept do not disturb enabled even after a reboot, and the messages no longer "pop up" and this icon with the theme i have goes green whenever I receive anything which is fine.

[Ben97]

Long time since I've posted here, as I'd got used to this notification method. However, having now upgraded to Ubuntu 22.04 LTS, I don't seem to find the option anywhere to "clear notifications on middle click"

I can find the "Notification Settings" window that Ironfoot shows, but the only place that I can find that seems similar to the other window seems a bit lacking in options.

Many thanks.

[ironfoot]

Welcome back @Ben97!

This package is now ayatana-indicator-notifications. Looks like it has lost its "middle click" feature. You have to open indicator and choose "Clear" option now. The regression was mentioned here, but not addressed.

[Ben97]

It did used the have that option, but whyever it removed the shortcut i don't know. Somewhat frustrating that updates result in removal of features. Thanks for the link for the other thread.