Facebook releases Notify for iPhone for news, sports, weather and other alerts

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Facebook on Wednesday announced it’s releasing a brand new mobile application, Notify for iPhone. Conceived as a mobile notifications app for news, sports, weather and more, Notify was designed to deliver push notifications “that matter from sources you love, right on your lock screen, all in one place.”

Notifications are grouped into “stations” which cover varied categories, from sports and celebrities to news, movies, music, shopping and more. Notify is an English-only iPhone app available for free in the App Store.

Facebook permits you to customize these notifications by cherry-picking the stations from which you want to receive updates, or discover new ones using station suggestions based on your Facebook profile.

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“You’ll receive notifications, delivered right to your lock screen, and a quick glance will keep you connected to the things that you care about throughout the day.”

Swiping or tapping an alert on your iPhone sends the link to the app, which opens it in the in-app browser where you can read the full article, watch the video, or view the site.

Check out Facebook’s promotional video for Notify.

https://vimeo.com/145106138

As you may have guessed, Notify puts a major emphasis on sharing. You can share your favorite notifications with others using standard options like SMS, email and Facebook, in addition to other social networks, too.

“If a notification catches your eye when you’re busy or distracted, just swipe to add it to your Saved Notifications list,” writes Facebook. All of the notifications you’ve received from Notify over the past 24 hours are available through a feed within the app.

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Stations

Some examples of stations include:

  • The Final Scores station from FOX Sports provides end-of-game summaries for your favorite teams.
  • The Daily AM Forecast station from The Weather Channel sends a local weather forecast at the start of your day.
  • Hot New Trailers from Fandango gets you the newest trailers for the hottest movies as they drop.
  • Breaking News from CNN and Top Stories from Fox News deliver the day’s news headlines.
  • The 10 Best Dressed station from Vogue is your weekly digest of the best-dressed celebs.
  • Daily Mediation from Headspace brings bite-sized guided meditation exercises into your day.
  • The Flashback station from Getty Images delivers iconic imagery from this day in history.

Facebook has promised to add more sources to Notify in the near future.

As Notify is an English-only app, international readers should change their iPhone’s regional settings to US English in order to run the app.

Availability

Notify requires an iPhone, iPod touch or iPad with iOS 8.0 or later and is available at no charge in the App Store.