Fix: Windows: Prevent Notifications from Showing on Lock Screen #820

[avijitdas126]

This update ensures that notifications are not displayed when the system is locked on Windows. Using Electron's powerMonitor, the app detects when the screen is locked and blocks notifications to prevent potential leaks of sensitive information.

Fixes: #820

• Implemented powerMonitor event listeners to detect lock-screen and unlock-screen events.
• Added a flag (isLocked) to control notification visibility.
• Modified newNotification function to check isLocked before creating a notification.
• Prevents unnecessary notifications when the user is away.

Platforms this PR was tested on:

• Windows
• macOS
• Linux (specify distro)

Self-review checklist

• Self-reviewed the changes for clarity and maintainability
  (variable names, code reuse, readability, etc.).

Communicate decisions, questions, and potential concerns.

• Explains differences from previous plans (e.g., issue description).
• Highlights technical choices and bugs encountered.
• Calls out remaining decisions and concerns.
• Automated tests verify logic where appropriate.

Individual commits are ready for review (see commit discipline).

• Each commit is a coherent idea.
• Commit message(s) explain reasoning and motivation for changes.

Completed manual review and testing of the following:

• Visual appearance of the changes.
• Responsiveness and internationalization.
• Strings and tooltips.
• End-to-end functionality of buttons, interactions and flows.
• Corner cases, error conditions, and easily imagined bugs.

[zulipbot]

Hello @avijitdas126, it seems like you have referenced #820 in your pull request description, but you have not referenced them in your commit message description(s). Referencing an issue in a commit message automatically closes the corresponding issue when the commit is merged, which makes the issue tracker easier to manage.

Please run git commit --amend in your command line client to amend your commit message description with Fixes #820..

An example of a correctly-formatted commit:

commit fabd5e450374c8dde65ec35f02140383940fe146
Author: zulipbot
Date:   Sat Mar 18 13:42:40 2017 -0700

    pull requests: Check PR commits reference when issue is referenced.

    Fixes #51.

To learn how to write a great commit message, please refer to our guide.

[avijitdas126]

could anyone review this?

[andersk]

Windows already has a Show notifications on the lock screen setting for this.

Some users might want this behavior, so why shouldn’t we should leave this up to their Windows settings instead of forcing our own opinion on them?

[avijitdas126]

Windows already has a Show notifications on the lock screen setting for this.

Some users might want this behavior, so why shouldn’t we should leave this up to their Windows settings instead of forcing our own opinion on them?

We should consider that some users might not be aware that Windows allows lock screen notifications, and displaying sensitive information there could be unexpected. While respecting system settings is important, giving users the flexibility to control this behavior within our app ensures a better user experience and prevents potential privacy concerns. Many apps, especially those handling sensitive data, provide this option to avoid unintended exposure. Instead of forcing an opinion, offering an in-app setting alongside the system behavior allows users to make an informed choice.

[andersk]

This has no such setting, and since this is almost certainly AI generated, I’m not interested in arguing about it with your AI.

[avijitdas126]

This has no such setting, and since this is almost certainly AI generated, I’m not interested
No sir, I cannot use ai for solve this issue

In app/renderer/js/notification/index.ts
powerMonitor detects using

powerMonitor.on("lock-screen", () => {
  isLocked = true;
});

powerMonitor.on("unlock-screen", () => {
  isLocked = false;
});

From electron documentation