Productivity Sauce

There are many situations where you can easily miss an important call or text message because you can't hear your phone while working on your computer. Fortunately, there is a neat solution to this problem: the Android Notifier tool enables your Android phone to automatically push notifications on incoming calls and text messages to the desktop.

The solution consists of two pieces: the Android Notifier app that pushes notifications, and the Android Notifier Desktop client which receives them. So the first order of business is to install both of them.

Android Notifier can send notifications either via a Wi-Fi or Bluetooth connection. So the next step is to select the desired notification delivery method and configure the required settings. If you go the Wi-Fi route, launch the Remote Notifier app on your Android device and tick the IP/Wifi check box. Tap then on the IP/Wifi options menu and configure the available settings. In most cases, the default settings will do just fine. On your desktop, launch the Android Notifier Desktop utility (on Ubuntu, you can do this by choosing Applications | Accessories | Android Notifier Desktop), right-click on the Android Notifier icon in the Gnome panel, and choose Preferences. Tick the Wifi check box in the Notification Reception Methods section and press OK. To test the setup, tap on the Send test notification entry in the Remote Notifier app. If everything works properly, you should see a notification pop up on your desktop.

The Wifi delivery method works only if your Android device and receiving machine are on the same network, so it won't work when you are out and about. In this case, you should configure and use the Bluetooth delivery method. Start with pairing your Android phone with your machine. Launch then the Remote Notifier app, and tick the Bluetooth check box. Tap on the Bluetooth options entry and configure the available settings. Use then the Send test notification command to test the setup.