Are Windows 8 Lock Screen Notifications Lagging

windows 8

I've been using Windows 8 RTM since it became available for developers. One of the features that I really liked initially was the lock screen notifications for chat and email. I've noticed, though, that these do not seem to update frequently. I don't actually open the metro apps for chat or email much since I instead open Outlook for email and imo for chat, but the lock screen notifications do not update to reflect, for example, that the number of unread emails has changed from day to day or week to week until I open the metro version of the Mail or Chat apps.

Is this a feature design issue? I had an expectation that there was a push-like system running these notifications, but this does not seem to be the case. Until the app is opened, the notification counts do not update.

Best Answer

A Windows 8 app can reflect three different types of information to the lock screen:

  • The app tile's current badge
  • The text from the app tile's most recent tile notification
  • Toast notifications

Up to seven apps can have a lock screen presence at once. All seven apps can show badges and toast, but only one of those apps is allowed to show the text of its latest tile notification (see screenshot below).

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So the first thing to check would be whether the mail app is set as the app allowed to display detailed status. Also check whether PC settings / Notifications are enabled properly for the app. Next check whether the app's Settings pane has a Permissions / Notifications section:

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Also note that only the most recent tile update will appear on the lock screen (in terms of programming, it will behave like an app tile with the notification queue disabled).

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