Inbox and notifications
Review requests and planning changes, take the next action, and understand how Harmonise Inbox and notifications work.
Inbox is the place for planning requests and changes that may need your attention. It can bring together an Event invitation, a friend or group invitation, a Task assignment, a reminder, or another supported planning update.
A notification is the alert that tells you something happened. It may arrive in the app, as a push notification, by email, or through a connected messaging service. An Inbox item is the lasting card you can return to. The two are related, but they are not the same thing.
What belongs in Inbox?
Inbox is for information you may need to review or act on. For example:
- Ada invites you to Project review;
- a friend or group invitation is waiting for your response;
- a Task is assigned to you;
- an Event or other shared item changes; or
- an Event or Task reminder is saved as an Inbox item.
Collaboration items appear when the related feature is available to your account. Harmonise shows only the actions that make sense for the item in its current state. An Event invitation might offer Accept, Tentative, and Decline, while a Task update may only need View.
Inbox item or notification?
The distinction is useful when an alert arrives but Inbox looks different from what you expected.
| Experience | What it does |
|---|---|
| Inbox item | Keeps a request or update available so you can read it, act on it, or dismiss it. |
| Push notification | Alerts an eligible signed-in device. |
| Email notification | Delivers an eligible update to your email address. |
| Messaging notification | Delivers an eligible update through a connected messaging service. |
| Reminder | Can create a lasting Inbox item and may also send a push notification. |
Receiving a notification does not mark its Inbox item as read, dismissed, or completed. An Inbox item can also remain available when a push or email could not be delivered.
A complete Inbox example
Suppose Ada invites you to Project review on Monday at 10:00 AM.
The Inbox card can show:
Project review
- From: Ada Lovelace
- When: Monday at 10:00 AM
- Needs: Your response
- Actions: Accept, Tentative, or Decline
Choose Accept when you plan to attend, Tentative when you are not ready to commit, or Decline when you cannot attend. Harmonise applies the response to the Event invitation; marking the card as read does not respond for you.
On mobile
- Open Inbox from the main app navigation.
- Choose a filter: All, Needs Attention, or Event Invites.
- Open an item to review its details and related Event, Task, or request.
- Choose one of the actions shown on the card when a response is needed.
- Open the more-actions menu and choose Mark All as Read when you want to mark the items in the current filter as read.
Items are grouped into Needs Attention, New, and Earlier. Items that need a decision appear first; the remaining items are grouped by recency. The exact order depends on the current items and their state.
Use the Inbox filters
All
All brings together every non-dismissed Inbox item.
Needs Attention
Needs Attention shows unresolved items that still need a decision or response.
Event Invites
Event Invites shows non-dismissed Event invitation items.
Dismissed items do not appear in the normal filters.
Read, act, or dismiss
These controls do different jobs:
| Choice | What changes | What does not change |
|---|---|---|
| Mark read or unread | The way the item is presented and counted. | The Event, Task, invitation, or request. |
| Choose an action | The related workflow and the item’s outcome. | Other unrelated items. |
| Dismiss | Removes the item from the active Inbox presentation. | The related Event, Task, friendship, group, or request. |
Marking an invitation as read does not accept it. Marking it unread does not undo a response. Some requests may keep Dismiss unavailable until they are resolved.
Choose the action that matches your decision
An Inbox item may offer actions such as:
- Accept, Decline, or Tentative for an invitation;
- Join for an eligible group invitation;
- Reconfirm when an invitation changed and needs a new response;
- View when no direct decision is needed; or
- Dismiss when the card can be removed without changing the related item.
The available buttons are part of the item. If an action is not shown, open the related Event, group, Task, or planning thread and use the controls available there. A link from Inbox helps you navigate; it does not grant access to something you otherwise cannot open.
After an action succeeds, Harmonise records the outcome and marks the item read. A completed decision cannot be repeated as though it were a new request. If the related item changed before you acted, review its latest state before choosing a new response.
Unread count
The unread count represents non-dismissed Inbox items that are still unread. It can include an item whose workflow is already resolved, and it does not count every push notification, email, reminder, or messaging delivery.
Marking an item read lowers the count without resolving the request. Acting on an item also marks it read. Mark All as Read marks the items in the current filter read; it does not resolve or dismiss them. Dismissing an item removes it from the active Inbox and its unread count.
Notification preferences
Inbox persistence is separate from push delivery. A saved Inbox item remains available even when push notifications are turned off, blocked by device permissions, or not delivered.
Use the available profile and notification settings to turn eligible email or push notifications on or off. A preference change affects future eligible alerts; it does not remove alerts that have already been sent or clear existing Inbox items.
Push notifications also require permission from your phone or tablet. A user can receive notifications on more than one signed-in device, and disabling one device does not remove Inbox items or disable another eligible device.
Daily summaries and Inbox delivery through Telegram or WhatsApp are configured inside the connected messaging service. Changing those settings does not mark items read or complete their actions.
Privacy and related details
Notification previews may show less information than the full Inbox card, especially when Harmonise cannot be certain who is looking at the device or delivery channel.
Open the item in Harmonise to review private details and act. A notification or Inbox link is only a route to the related item; normal account and sharing rules still apply.
Common problems
An action is not available
The related request may already be completed, cancelled, expired, or changed. Refresh Inbox, then open the related item to review its current state. Use only the actions Harmonise currently shows.
I marked an item read but nothing else changed
That is expected. Read state changes the presentation only. Reopen the item and choose its response action if you need to accept, decline, approve, join, or make another decision.
I dismissed an item but the Event or Task still exists
Dismissal removes the Inbox card, not the related Event, Task, friendship, group, or planning request. Open the related item to manage it.
My reminder is not in Inbox
Reminders can create Inbox items, but Inbox and push delivery are separate. Refresh Inbox, check the current filter, and open the Event or Task to confirm that its reminder is saved.
A push notification did not arrive
Confirm that push notifications are enabled in Harmonise and in the device’s system settings. Make sure the device is signed in and online. The Inbox item may still be available even when alert delivery fails.
The unread count looks different from my notification history
The Inbox count includes unread, non-dismissed Inbox items, not every alert delivered to every device or channel. Open Inbox and mark the relevant items read, act on them, or dismiss them where allowed.
My action is not visible on another device
Reconnect both devices and refresh Inbox. If the result remains uncertain, open the related item and check its current state before acting again.