Creating a Desktop Notifier with Python

In today's fast-paced world, staying updated on important events and notifications is crucial. Whether it's receiving alerts for emails, messages, or upcoming meetings, having a desktop notifier can help you stay on top of things without constantly checking your devices. In this tutorial, we will explore how to create a desktop notifier using Python. By the end, you'll have a simple yet effective application that will keep you informed about essential events.

Prerequisites

To follow along with this tutorial, you will need:

1. Basic knowledge of Python programming.
2. Python 3 installed on your machine.
3. A code editor or integrated development environment (IDE) like Visual Studio Code or PyCharm.

Setting up the Environment

Before we start coding, let's ensure we have the necessary libraries installed. We will be using the plyer library, which provides a cross-platform interface for accessing features like notifications, vibration, and more. Open your terminal or command prompt and run the following command to install plyer:

pip install plyer

Importing Required Libraries

Open your preferred code editor and create a new Python file. Start by importing the necessary libraries:

from plyer import notification

Defining the Notifier Function

Next, we'll create a function that will handle the notification process. Let's call it desktop_notifier:

def desktop_notifier(title, message):
    notification.notify(
        title=title,
        message=message,
        timeout=10  # Adjust this value to control how long the notification stays on screen
    )

The desktop_notifier function uses the notify method from the plyer.notification module to display a notification. The title parameter represents the notification title, while the message parameter contains the notification content. The timeout parameter determines the time duration in seconds for which the notification will be displayed.

Testing the Notifier

Now that we have our notifier function, let's test it with a simple example:

if __name__ == '__main__':
    desktop_notifier("New Email", "You have a new email from John Doe.")

Save the file with a .py extension and run it. You should see a notification appearing on your desktop with the specified title and message.

Enhancing the Notifier

While our basic notifier works fine, we can enhance it further by adding more options, such as an icon for the notification and the ability to customize the notification's appearance.

def desktop_notifier(title, message, timeout=10, app_icon=None):
    notification.notify(
        title=title,
        message=message,
        timeout=timeout,
        app_icon=app_icon,
    )

In the modified desktop_notifier function, we added an optional `app_icon` parameter. You can provide the path to an icon file (.ico on Windows, .icns on macOS, or .png on Linux) to be displayed alongside the notification. Additionally, you can adjust the timeout parameter to specify the notification's display duration.

Customizing the Notification

You can further customize the appearance of the notification by using the toast method instead of notify. The toast method provides more control over the notification's visual style.

def desktop_notifier(title, message, timeout=10, app_icon=None):
    notification.notify(
        title=title,
        message=message,
        timeout=timeout,
        app_icon=app_icon,
        toast=True,
        app_name='Desktop Notifier',
        # Add more customizations here
    )

By setting toast to True, the notification will use the operating system's built-in notification system, allowing for customization. You can provide an app_name to specify the name of your application as it appears in the notification.

Creating a More Interactive Notifier

To make the notification more interactive, we can add actions that trigger specific functions when clicked. Here's an example:

python
def desktop_notifier(title, message, timeout=10, app_icon=None):
    notification.notify(
        title=title,
        message=message,
        timeout=timeout,
        app_icon=app_icon,
        actions=[
            ("Open Email", "action1"),
            ("Dismiss", "action2")
        ],
        app_name='Desktop Notifier',
    )

In the above example, we added two actions: "Open Email" and "Dismiss." The second parameter of each tuple represents an action identifier, which you can use to handle the action in your code.

 Handling Actions

To handle the actions, we can modify the desktop_notifier function as follows:

def desktop_notifier(title, message, timeout=10, app_icon=None):
    notification.notify(
        title=title,
        message=message,
        timeout=timeout,
        app_icon=app_icon,
        actions=[
            ("Open Email", "action1"),
            ("Dismiss", "action2")
        ],
        app_name='Desktop Notifier',
        callback=handle_action
    )

def handle_action(action):
    if action == "action1":
        # Handle "Open Email" action
        pass
    elif action == "action2":
        # Handle "Dismiss" action
        pass

In the desktop_notifier function, we added a callback parameter that specifies a callback function to handle the actions. The handle_action function takes the action identifier as a parameter and performs the corresponding action.

Conclusion

Congratulations! You have successfully created a desktop notifier using Python. By incorporating the plyer library, you can now stay updated on important events without constantly checking your devices. Feel free to explore further customizations and features provided by the library to enhance the functionality of your notifier.