MSDN Documentation

Windows Development

Account Notifications

Tip: Effective notification management is crucial for user engagement and timely information delivery in your Windows applications.

This section details how to implement and manage notification systems for user accounts within your Windows development projects. Notifications can range from security alerts and account updates to new feature announcements and personalized recommendations.

Notification Types

We support several categories of notifications:

Implementing Notifications

1. In-App Notifications

For notifications that are relevant while the user is actively using the application, you can display them directly within the UI. This can be achieved using toast notifications, badges, or dedicated notification panels.

Using the Windows.UI.Notifications API

The Windows.UI.Notifications namespace provides a robust API for creating and managing toast notifications:

using Windows.UI.Notifications;

// ...

var content = new ToastContent()
{
    Visual = new ToastVisual()
    {
        BindingGeneric = new ToastBindingGeneric()
        {
            Children =
            {
                new AdaptiveText() { Text = "New Message Received" },
                new AdaptiveText() { Text = "John Doe: See you at 3 PM!" }
            }
        }
    }
};

var toast = new ToastNotification(content.GetXml())
{
    ExpirationTime = DateTime.Now.AddMinutes(5)
};

ToastNotificationManager.CreateToastNotifier().Show(toast);

2. Background Notifications

For critical alerts or information that needs to reach the user even when the app is not running, consider using background notifications. This typically involves push notification services.

Azure Notification Hubs Integration

Azure Notification Hubs is a scalable mobile push notification service that helps you send notifications from backend services to any platform, on any device. It integrates seamlessly with Windows applications.

For detailed integration steps with Azure Notification Hubs, refer to the Azure Notification Hubs documentation.

User Preferences

Allowing users to control their notification preferences is a best practice. Provide settings where users can:

Here's a conceptual example of a notification preference setting:


{
  "userId": "user123",
  "preferences": {
    "system": {
      "enabled": true,
      "channels": ["toast"]
    },
    "activity": {
      "enabled": true,
      "channels": ["toast", "in-app"]
    },
    "promotional": {
      "enabled": false,
      "channels": ["email"]
    }
  }
}

Security Consideration

Always validate and sanitize any data related to notifications, especially if they can be triggered or customized by users or third-party services, to prevent abuse or security vulnerabilities.

Best Practices for Notifications