Notifications
What Niles says out loud at a satellite, and what it sends to your phone or computer.
Niles tells you things two ways: out loud through a satellite, and as a notification on your phone or computer.
On your phone or computer
When Niles writes something for you in the background, a travel plan or a packing list, it can tell you once it is ready. Tap the notification and the app opens on it. Niles sends one when:
- something it was writing for you is ready: "Your {title} is ready."
- it did not finish: "Your {title} didn't finish. Open it to try again."
- a page you asked for is ready: "The page for your {title} is ready."
- someone shares something with you: "{name} shared "{title}" with you."
- your training plan changed after a run: "Your {title} changed after your run.", with the coach's note
Each item under Saved has a Tell me when it's ready switch, on by default, that covers all of these except a share. There is no notification for an approval waiting or for a timer.
There is nothing to set up on the server beyond what Niles already needs: its database and its secrets key. Notifications go out from Niles to Apple's, Google's or Mozilla's push service, so Niles does not have to be reachable from outside the house for them to arrive.
Turning them on
Each device is turned on by itself, from My profile → Notifications → On this device, or by tapping Notify me when it's done under something that is being written. Your browser asks once whether Niles may send notifications; say yes.
Send a test on the same card sends one to every device you have turned on, which is the quickest way to check a new one works. The card also lists your devices, with when each was added and last sent to.
On an iPhone or iPad
iOS only lets an app on the Home Screen show notifications (iOS 16.4 or later), not a page open in Safari. So first:
- Open Niles in Safari.
- Tap Share, then Add to Home Screen.
- Open Niles from the Home Screen, sign in, and turn notifications on from My profile.
If you said no
The browser remembers, and only you can change it there:
- iPhone or iPad: Settings → Notifications → Niles.
- Android: long-press the Niles icon → App info → Notifications.
- A computer: the site settings by the address bar, then Notifications → Allow.
Then turn On this device on again.
Turning them off
Switch On this device off, or remove a device from the list on the same card. A device where you turned notifications off in the browser, or removed the app, is forgotten by itself the next time Niles tries it.
Out loud
Some things Niles says without being asked:
- what an automation's Say something step says, in the room it names
- announcements from add-ons that are allowed to speak
- something you asked Niles to announce in a room
An announcement is spoken in the room it names. One without a room is an announcement for the house, spoken in every room that has a satellite under Settings → Satellites. These have no room:
- the nemlig.com reminder that a grocery delivery is on its way
- an automation's Say something left on Wherever Niles would
- a timer set from a satellite that is not listed under Settings → Satellites
- Linear telling Niles that an issue moved (see Add-ons)
With no satellites listed, an announcement without a room is recorded but not spoken.
Priorities and quiet hours
Each announcement is Routine, Important or Urgent. Routine is the default.
Quiet hours are a window, such as 22:00 to 07:00, set in Niles's config file by whoever runs it:
[notifications.quiet_hours]
start = "22:00"
end = "07:00"There are no quiet hours unless they are set. During them:
| Priority | During quiet hours |
|---|---|
| Routine | Not spoken. It is not saved for later either. |
| Important | Spoken as usual |
| Urgent | Spoken as usual |
An add-on can only speak at Urgent if its approval screen said "even during quiet hours".
On the TV
With the LG TV add-on, Announcements on the TV shows what Niles says aloud on the screen as well. It also shows announcements that have no room.
What did I miss
Ask "what just happened" and Niles reads its recent announcements, the last 50. With a database they are kept there, so a restart does not lose them. Without one, Niles forgets them when it restarts.