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[JaSauders <1319542@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Any update on this, or perhaps some insight from devs about the idea? I
am seeing a substantial number of users on search results indicating
that they've been wanting something like this for a long time. The
current setup just leaves the door open far too wide for applications
needing attention to go missed.

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https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1319542

Title:
  Unity urgent animation needs an adjustable time length.

Status in Ayatana Design:
  New
Status in “unity” package in Ubuntu:
  Triaged

Bug description:
  Ubuntu 14.04, fully up to date, Unity Version:
  7.2.0+14.04.20140416-0ubuntu1

  The Unity launcher in my setup is not hidden. It is always visible.

  The current behavior of the urgent animation goes like this:

  1) An application needs attention (such as an instant message through Empathy or Skype)
  2) Icon wiggles for about one second
  3) Once the wiggle is over, the icon remains highlighted

  The problem is with step 2. The icon never reinitializes any sort of
  motion to catch the user's eye. People are busy. People are frequently
  multitasking. In a lot of cases, people are using multiple monitors or
  very widescreen monitors and their field of vision is in an entirely
  different place altogether. There really should be some sort of
  repeated motion that takes place to grab the users attention, thereby
  signifying that an application needs attention.

  A few possible solutions would be:

  A) Let the icon wiggle indefinitely until the user clicks on it. This
  is a bit obnoxious, because you have to consider the situations where
  a user might notice it, but might be too deep in a specific project to
  address it right away. This would stand as a potential distraction
  and/or annoyance, though it *would* eliminate the chances of the
  notification going missed.

  B) To allow the user to adjust the time frame in which the wiggle
  animation takes place. That way instead of one second, perhaps the
  user might want it to last 10 seconds, or 30 seconds, etc. There are
  times where I am engaging in an active conversation but switching to
  another application frequently. At times, I miss a message altogether
  despite the fact I'm looking at the screen. This is entirely due to
  the short time frame in which the urgent animation is moving. The
  length of time in which it moves is, more times than not, simply not
  long enough to be noticed. If the one second span could be adjusted,
  and say I have it set to 5 seconds, or 10 seconds, surely I would
  notice it.

  C) The most optimum solution in my opinion is to make the urgent
  animation continually come up over a specified span of time. Example,
  I receive a notification from Empathy, but I miss it. It wiggles and
  shortly thereafter stops wiggling, thereby just sitting idle but with
  the icon highlighted. A short time later, perhaps 30 seconds later, it
  wiggles again, and continues onward in 30 second intervals
  indefinitely until the user gives attention to the application
  requesting it.

  Option C would circumvent a potential "annoyance" factor of option A,
  and it would work around the fact that option B) would require another
  thing to change in the settings menu. All in all, there *really*
  should be a way for a user to more easily see that an application
  needs attention. A simple one second wiggle is not enough. A
  background highlight is not enough as it does not move to be noticed.
  You only notice a background highlight if you specifically look at the
  icon, whereas a motion-based notification (wiggle, etc) actually
  'grabs' your attention to be noticed.

  Thank you for your time, consideration, and hard work. If I can be of
  any further assistance please let me know. Thank you again!

  ProblemType: Bug
  DistroRelease: Ubuntu 14.04
  Package: unity 7.2.0+14.04.20140423-0ubuntu1.2
  ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.13.0-24.47-generic 3.13.9
  Uname: Linux 3.13.0-24-generic x86_64
  ApportVersion: 2.14.1-0ubuntu3
  Architecture: amd64
  CompizPlugins: No value set for `/apps/compiz-1/general/screen0/options/active_plugins'
  CurrentDesktop: Unity
  Date: Wed May 14 15:28:24 2014
  InstallationDate: Installed on 2014-04-04 (40 days ago)
  InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 14.04 LTS "Trusty Tahr" - Daily amd64 (20140330)
  SourcePackage: unity
  UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)

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