Notifications
When BeeBEEP tells you that something arrived, what it does about it on a computer and on a phone, and how to quiet one chat or all of them.
For: users · From BeeBEEP 6.0.0 · Updated on
BeeBEEP tells you that a message arrived in two ways: a quiet one that is always there, the count of unread messages, and an interruption, a notification of your system with a beep and a flashing window, that is shown only when you are not already looking at the chat. This page explains when each one happens, what you can turn off, and how to quiet a single chat without missing the people who call you.
What tells you something arrived
The unread count is always there. The Chats tab shows a number with all the messages you have not read, each chat in the list shows its own, and a chat with a new message moves to the top of the list. None of this depends on any setting.
A message counts as read only while you are looking at its chat: the chat is open on the screen, and BeeBEEP is the window in front. If you have Settings on screen, or the window is minimized, hidden in the system tray or behind another program, the message stays unread until you come back to the chat.
A notification is the interruption. It is raised for a new message from someone else when you are not looking at that chat: BeeBEEP is not in front, or another chat is open. A message for the chat you are reading raises nothing: you already see it.
On a computer
A notification of your system shows the name of the chat and the start of the message. Click it, and BeeBEEP comes to the front on that very chat, even if newer notifications arrived since. It also arrives for:
- a reaction to one of your own messages, saying who reacted and with what. A reaction to someone else's message, or one that someone takes back, says nothing;
- a message that mentions you or answers one of yours in a group: its title says who and where, and see below how it passes a muted chat;
- a game or a tool that wants your attention, when you have used one in a chat.
An edit of a message you already read raises no notification.
On Linux the notification comes from your desktop's own notification service, on Windows it is a Windows toast, on a Mac the system's. What the notification looks like, how long it stays and whether it appears at all is also decided by your system's own settings for BeeBEEP, which you find under its name in the system's notification settings.
The beep
With each notification BeeBEEP plays its own short sound, the same on every computer. It does not play when your system's do not disturb, quiet hours or focus mode is on, and when many messages arrive together, as when you reconnect, it beeps once. There is no beep without a notification: a chat you are looking at, a muted chat and Show notifications turned off all stay silent.
The window's flash
While BeeBEEP is not in front, each notification also makes the window flash: the button in the taskbar on Windows, the icon in the Dock on a Mac, the window's attention mark on Linux. It stops when you bring BeeBEEP to the front.
The system tray
On a computer BeeBEEP keeps an icon in the system tray (the menu bar on a Mac). A click on it, or its menu, shows BeeBEEP again and lets you quit. With Closing the window minimizes to the system tray instead of quitting on in Settings > Window, the close button hides BeeBEEP instead of ending it, so it goes on receiving and notifying; see the settings.
On a phone
A phone shows no notification of the system. BeeBEEP tells you by the number on the Chats tab, by the count and the order of the chats in the list, and by the Archive row for the chats you put away. When you open BeeBEEP, you see what arrived.
Turning notifications off
Settings > Notifications has three switches:
| Switch | What it does |
|---|---|
| Show notifications | off: new messages only show in the chat list with their unread count; nothing else interrupts you, with no beep and no flash |
| Play a sound | BeeBEEP's own beep with each notification, unless your system's do not disturb is on |
| Flash the window | the taskbar button flashes while BeeBEEP is not in front, until you open it; on a computer only |
The sound and the flash cannot be on while Show notifications is off. The other settings are in settings.
Muting one chat
The bell at the top of a chat mutes it: Mute notifications, and Unmute notifications to go back. You can also long-press a chat in the list (right-click on a computer) and choose it there. A muted chat shows a crossed bell in the list.
Muting holds back only the interruption. A muted chat still counts its unread messages, still moves up the list and still shows its last message: you decide when to look.
A mention still gets through. In a muted group, a message that mentions you with your name or with @all, or that answers one of your messages, still notifies you, so that a group that is too busy to follow can still call you. Turning off Show notifications holds those back too. See the tips on mentions.
Muting is yours alone: nobody knows you muted a chat, and it is kept on this device.
Archiving
An archived chat is held back like a muted one, mentions excepted, and its unread count moves from the Chats tab to the Archive row.
When you do not get a notification
| What you see | What to do |
|---|---|
| nothing at all, from anyone | Settings > Notifications: is Show notifications on? On a computer, check the system's own settings for BeeBEEP as well |
| nothing from one chat | the bell at the top of that chat: is it muted, or is the chat in the archive? |
| the notification arrives, but with no sound | Play a sound, the volume of the computer and its do not disturb or focus mode |
| the window does not flash | Flash the window, which is on a computer only |
| BeeBEEP is closed | a closed BeeBEEP receives nothing; with the tray switch on, the close button only hides it |