With iOS 6, Notification Center had two quick button actions, tweet and post to Facebook, that could be reached from anywhere on the iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad with the downward swipe of a finger. Now, in iOS 7, they’re gone. Disappeared. Taken out back and shuttered. So where did they go, and how can you quickly tweet or post to Facebook now, on iOS 7?
Short answer, they got obliterated. Not moved. Not hidden. Obliterated. The truth is, they never fit into Notification Center, because they’re not notifications. They’re actions. They were out of context. However, the brand new Control Center seems to exist to take on just exactly those jobs. Quick access to Settings, quick access to apps, why not quick access to tweeting and posting to Facebook?
Apple, in their infinitely looped wisdom, however, hasn’t seen fit to include them there. Maybe they will in a future update, maybe they’ve decided those quick actions just weren’t right and we won’t ever see them again. In the meantime, if you loved the iOS 6 quick action tweet and Facebook post buttons, you’re in for a huge disappointment. They are no more.
One alternative is to use Siri, which can now post to both Twitter and Facebook. Simply say “Post to Facebook” or “post to Twitter” and then dictate what you want to say. It’s incredibly fast and convenient… if you’re in a situation where you can talk out loud to your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad.
If not, the alternatives aren’t anywhere nearly as quick or convenient. You can use the Twitter and Facebook app, one or a third-party alternative Twitter apps like Tweetbot or Twitterrific. They’re nowhere nearly as always-accessible as Notification Center, nor are they as single-purpose or streamlined as the quick action buttons, but they still exist.
You can also use the tweet or Facebook post action in the Share Sheets in most apps to quickly send out a message, but the catch is you have to share something to do it, and you’re not always going to want to do that.
In a perfect world Apple would include them in Control Center, or a similar mechanism, and enhance them with actionable notifications so we can reply and reset within apps as well, making even more of our actions quick. Sadly, we don’t live in that world yet. Strangely, the upcoming OS X Mavericks not only retains the quick action tweet and Facebook post buttons in Notification Center, but actionable notifications as well. And it’s not even mobile, where those features are inarguably more urgently needed.
So, no good answers, but if you used and relied on the old quick actions button, feel free to vent in the comments, and if you come up with any brilliant work arounds, let me know!
