As multiple dashboard notification start to stack up along the bottom of your screen, you have probably noticed that the order of those is based solely on when they were received. The newest icon will appear all the way to the left when in icon view and on the bottom when you maximize it to see the full notifications. The only exception to this is that if you already have the notification in your dashboard and a new message comes in (e.g. for email, SMS, etc), the notification stays where it was. If you are the type of person who tries to minimize the number of icons in your dashboard, you probably don’t care about the order of them, but if you do, there is a way to reorder those notifications. First you need to maximize the dashboard notification bar (if in icon view) by tapping on the icons, and then just press-and-hold on the notification you want to reorder. After holding for a couple seconds, the notification will become semi-transparent and you can just drag it up or down to place it where you want it to be. Lift up your finger and your notification and been moved. This is very similar to how reordering email accounts works.

So why would you want to reorder the icons? Well, on the lock screen or touchstone, only the bottom 4 icons are visible, so maybe you are running an app like Sports Live! or Top Stocks where the notification is "live" and constantly updating. Or, since some audio notifications work in the dashboard, you may want to keep that notification on the bottom at all times for easy access, especially when on a touchstone in the car. Have any other good reason for moving around your notifications?
 

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Being only one tap away from accessing a dashboard notification for an audio program such the stock Music Player or DrPodder is an extremely convenient feature of webOS, but did you know that those notifications are also active while your phone is on the Touchstone? Instead of unlocking your phone, tapping on the dashboard icon to maximize the notification and then performing your action, you can do it right from the lock screen. This is extremely useful if you have a car-mounted touchstone because you can quickly stop, rewind or fastfoward with just a quick glance at your phone and not take your eyes off the road!

Note that this may not work will all audio applications.  Each app may have different results

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One of the truly unique aspects of webOS is the Dashboard and the use of Notifications. A dashboard icon may appear if you get an email or text message, or maybe because you have an app like Top Stocks or Sports Live! that provides updates through the dashboard, or you may just have an icon indicating that your phone is attached to a computer that will allow you to enter USB Drive mode. So, there are a few things that you need to know about how to best use those notifications. Keep reading after the break for details

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Welcome to Facebook Week at PreCentral’s Tip of the Day. We will be taking a look at the Facebook app on webOS and showing off some of the features of the app and providing a few tips on using it. While the official Facebook App will have many of the features we discuss, we will actually be focusing on the more feature-rich Facebook Beta App. Continue reading after the break to learn all about today’s tip on installing and setting up the app. 

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Attaching your phone to a computer and turning it into a USB drive can be a powerful tool to manage the files on your device. There are actually three ways to access USB Drive mode:

1. When you initially plug in your device, you get a dashboard option for "USB Drive" or "Just Charge". Just press the "USB Drive" option.
2. If you chose to "Just Charge" when you first plugged it in, you will get a dashboard option that you can access at any time. Just tap on that notification to access the USB Drive.
3. If your touchscreen is not working, if you swiped away the dashboard notification, or you just like keyboard shortcuts, you can also press Option (orange or silver key) + Sym + U after you attach your phone the computer.

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As smartphones have become more powerful and part of our daily lives, the amount of sensitive information that has been entered into those phones has also increased. Therefore, you may want to consider setting a power-on password to prevent anyone from accessing your data in case your phone is lost or someone else gets a hold of it without your knowledge. Continue reading after the break to learn how to set your PIN or password, as well as some other privacy options you in webOS

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Palm has let us know via its Facebook Page that the next version of the Facebook app, which is being developed by the Developer Relations team, should be available in the App Catalog sometime next week.  Facebook for webOS 1.2 will bring enhancements such as notifications(!), the ability to play Facebook video, keyboard shortcuts, speed enhancements and more.  As usual, those looking to stay on the bleeding edge can get in on the action before the updated app hits the Catalog by downloading the beta version.

Thanks to KBLOM for the tip!

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Palm’s dynamic developer relations duo – Dion Almaer and Ben Galbraith – have dropped a new Beta Facebook App for webOS into the Palm Beta Apps Feed. It brings the main feature we’ve been missing: notifications!

With the 1.1.2 update, the feature comes at you in two ways. First, in the interface itself the upper-lefthand button has been switch from a persistent "Update Status" button to a button that’s badged with how many notifications you’ve missed and opens a drop down to see all your recent notifications. As somebody who isn’t constantly updating his Facebook status, this is a welcome change.

Second – background notifications! Right now it will show your most recent notification, but we’re told that flipping through notifications and even responding to friend requests right there in the dashboard are features they’re looking at. The notifications work by polling Facebook in the background, but we’re still waiting / hoping that Palm will get their Mojo Messaging Service / Push Notifications off the ground in the near future.

A few more fixed are in store as well:

• Keyboard shortcuts now use our native "gesture area + key" support which includes a drop down "Navigate to…." area.
• Formatting of content has been fixed (blank lines separating content)
• No HTML tags in Inbox (no more <br>)
• If you launch the Facebook app when already running, refresh the feed a la Tweed

Grab it now by clicking the download link you’ll find right here: Beta Facebook App for webOS.

read Palm Developer Blog

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Thanks to the early seepage of webOS 1.4.0 to some GSM Pre owners we can show you what some of the improved aspects of the update look like. A lot of the changes are under the hood, but Shadow-360 of the UK has posted in our forums several screenshots of the newer and recording-er Video app, as well as new options in the reset screen and a much-improved call log that gives you more options and info on your missed calls and sorts calls by caller. Additionally, Media Sync has disappeared from the plugged-into-USB options (no surprise, and no loss since iTunes sync hasn’t worked for months anyway) has been turned off by default, but can be turned on in Settings. As we already heard, Blink Notifications come enabled out of the virtual box this time. Check out some more screenshots after the break!

Update: Also after a break, a video recorded on the original 1.4 Pre in Vietnam by Tomi666. Check out how well it renders the splash. Shadow-360 is also continuing to post more screenshots in this thread.

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If you’re like me, webOS 1.2 threw you for a tiny loop with a change in the gesture behavior. It used to be that you could minimize pop-up notifications by swiping down over the notification box, but this no longer works. There are still a number of ways to minimize your notifications:

• Swipe up, though this also will force your current app into card view.
• Back or forward swipe in the gesture area (either direction on one side of the center button); as long as a notification is up this will not trigger the appropriate response in the current app, it will only minimize the notification.
• Press the center button, which unlike the swipe up does not push back into card view.

As before, you can still dismiss notifications with a swipe across the notification in either direction. The down swipe is now used to bring an app in card view into focus. The down swipe works in both long form (drag the card down to the bottom of the screen) and short (just swipe down over your docked quick launch icons).

So why did that change? We suspect that Palm was driving for consistency: swipe up to enter card view, swipe down to exit.

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