Updates: what the bell shows
What people did on things you share, and what Roma prepared for you.
Updates is the bell in Roma's sidebar on the Mac and in the browser, and the Updates row on your iPhone. It holds everything you are told about that is not the operator talking: a teammate edited a note you share, someone mentioned you, Noor shared a list with you, a draft is ready on one of your tasks, a reminder came due. The operator's chat stays the operator's own, with its replies, your automations' runs and the Morning briefing.
Where the bell is
On the Mac and in the browser, the bell sits in the sidebar's top row, after the operator pill, in the same circle as the +. It wears a small amber dot while anything is unread. Press it and Updates opens: the moments newest first, each with who did it, what it was about, a line of preview and when. Press a row and the thing it is about opens, and the row reads as read. The header carries the unread count and Mark all as read. Past today a line reads Earlier, and Load more at the bottom pages further back. ⌘-click a row to open it in a background tab and keep the panel open. The command palette (⌘K) offers Open updates.
On your iPhone, More has an Updates row with the same bell, under Shared with me. The row appears the first time you have an update, wears the dot while anything is unread, and can be made a tab in Settings → Navigation like every row under More. Its page lists the same rows, with Mark all as read under the ⋯ menu. A push lands you on the thing it is about.
With nothing in it, Updates reads All caught up, and says what will show there: what people do on things you share, and what Roma prepares for you.
What lands in Updates
What other people do on things you share:
someone writes in the chat of a shared task or note you follow, replies to you, mentions you, or comments
someone edits a shared task or note you follow, or completes a shared task
someone adds items to a shared list you follow, or adds you to an item
someone shares a list or an item with you, joins or leaves one you shared, or your access to one ends
And what Roma prepares for you on your own work: a draft or some research ready on one of your tasks, a question waiting in a task's chat, a reminder that came due, shown as Reminder under the task's title, and a follow-up you asked Roma to watch for.
What another person did is never a message of the operator's. The operator's chat carries what the operator says: its replies, your automations' runs, the Morning briefing, Mail check, a browser waiting for you. Sharing in Roma covers what sharing means.
Seven items are one row
Noor adds seven items to the Content roadmap list you follow within ten minutes. You get one row, "Noor K. added 7 items", with the titles in the order they were added, not seven rows. The row grows while you have not read it, so an eighth item makes it "added 8 items" in place, and your phone is told once for the whole burst. A burst you already read starts a new row. The same holds when someone adds you to several items ("added you to 7 items") or completes several tasks ("completed 7 items"). One completion on its own stays the task's row and opens the task. The second within ten minutes on the same shared list folds them onto the list, and the row opens the list.
Reading, and the badge
Opening the item marks its rows read, opening a list's page marks the list's rows read, and Mark all as read clears the rest. Reading on one device reads everywhere. An item with an unread update also wears a dot on its row in the list.
The app icon's badge on your iPhone, and the Dock badge on your Mac, is one mark, never a count. It means something addressed to you is waiting: an operator message, or an update. Reading either on any device clears it once nothing is left. Notification settings has the Badge switch.
Pushes, and How often
A row lands in Updates the moment it happens. Whether your iPhone or your Mac is also told is a switch per kind in Settings → Notifications, and for activity on things you share, How often paces it: as it happens, or one summary push per slot, such as "3 updates on 2 items", which opens Updates. A kind you switch off lands in Updates silently. In the browser outside the Mac app there is no push at all, and the bell's dot is the one signal. A reminder's own push is covered in How a reminder reaches you.
Questions people ask
Why is a teammate's edit in Updates and not in my chat?
Because the chat is the operator's own voice. What another person did, an edit, a completion, a share, a mention, lands in Updates on every account, and a tap on its row opens the thing. The operator's replies, your automations' runs and the Morning briefing stay in the chat.
How do I clear the dot on the bell?
Read what is unread. Press a row and it reads as read, or press Mark all as read in the header. Opening the item or the list from anywhere else reads its rows too, and reading on one device clears the dot on every device.
Why did seven notifications arrive as one row?
Because they were one burst: several items one person added to a list you follow, added you to, or completed within ten minutes. Roma folds them into one row with the titles under it, and the row grows while it is unread. Your phone is told once for the burst.
Can I put Updates in the tab bar on my iPhone?
Yes. Settings → Navigation offers Updates as a tab, like every row under More. Until then it sits under More, below Shared with me, from the first update you receive.