In the world of information technology, only a small part of all inventions is used. But most things are developed precisely to make our lives easier. It is one of these improvements that we will talk about in the article. These are Push Notifications. What are they and where can they be used? Push notifications - what are they? iPhone, Android, feature phones - where are they configured and how to enable/disable them?

Meet - Push Notifications

What is it? This is the name for short pop-up notifications that appear on touch screens (tablets, phones) and report important updates and events. If desired, they can be used as a simple form of dialogue between seller and buyer, which has led to their widespread use in the field of marketing.

So, if we consider the option with an application, then the main task here is to inform about updates, new content (or just a reminder that it has not been used for a long time). How to make Push notifications for an application? To do this, you need to use the application programming interface that exists for a specific phone (in fact, for the operating system used).

The reason for the emergence of this technology was the desire of specialists to support the circle of users of their developments. Setting up Push notifications is not difficult. The end of the article contains information about the features of enabling/disabling them on different operating systems.

Options for using Push notifications

Where can this technology be used? Let's look a little at the statistics that Push notifications can boast of. What this will give us, we will consider later. So:

1. Most of all (41%) they are used to notify about the release of new applications or updates to existing ones.
2. Then (24%) there is a newsletter about special offers.
3. To inform about new content that has appeared in the program, it is used in 14% of cases.
4. The least targeted (12%) are used to send advertising and/or referral links.
5. The remaining 9% comes from other types of information.

If you don’t receive Push notifications from those you subscribe to, and nothing has changed in the settings, this does not mean that they won’t happen at all. Perhaps the cause of the problem was simply a connection failure. If you are a developer, then something was configured incorrectly in the applications themselves.

New marketing channel

Before looking at how to interact with this technology from a user's perspective, let me spend a little more time talking about the concept of Push Notifications in marketing. When using such a development, you need to be careful not to cross the fine line that separates cooperation from intrusiveness. If a marketer or someone in training is reading this, remember that this should provide valuable information that will reflect positively on subsequent interactions.

Push notifications should contain timely and relevant content. So, in an application that is aimed at children, advertising coffee will be very out of place, which, in turn, will most likely lead to a loss of popularity.

Usage example

It is popular to use this technology to briefly notify friends about their actions. Considering this, we can recall Twitter, which informs its users about changes that occur in friends’ profiles.

Some companies use GPS to determine where their customers are, and if their outlet is nearby, they send an appropriate notification. It is important to receive the message in a timely manner. The implementation feature is that Push notifications do not require Internet access, because often all the necessary information is stored in the application itself (as a rule).

Features of use

So, if you have decided to use Push Notifications as part of your marketing plan, then it would be a good idea to make sure that they meet the following conditions:

1. The content provided must be current and relevant.
2. There should be an option to unsubscribe.
3. It is advisable to link to social networks so that users have the opportunity to discuss.
4. You should choose your quantitative policy wisely - no one wants to receive 20 notifications a day.

Now we can move on to activating such technology. For ease of understanding, the procedure will be broken down depending on the operating system installed on the mobile device. So, how to set up Push Notifications?

Android

This is the most popular operating system, which received its status thanks to its free distribution and constant improvement. How are Push notifications enabled/disabled on it? To disable it, you must perform a number of actions in this order:

1. Go to your phone settings.
2. Go to your account, then to notifications, and there you will see information about Push.
3. Select the desired settings, restrictions on receiving - in general, do everything the way you want.

But what should you do if you want to enable/disable Push notifications not for everyone, but only for one application? There is also an algorithm for this case:

1. Go to settings.
2. Go to an item such as “Notifications”.
3. All the applications installed on your touch phone will be presented there and you should select your item by clicking on it.
4. Disable or enable the function of receiving messages from this program.

As you can see, there is nothing complicated in performing these actions, and this is not only on the Android operating system. Push notifications can be enabled/disabled on other devices with the same ease.

iPhone and iPad

How to turn it on here and the iPad are no different in any fundamental way. Here we will consider operations with this technology according to the previous principle. So, to disable or enable messages received from specific programs, you need to perform the following sequence of actions:

1. Go to the main screen of your device and find a button that looks like a double circle, in which there is a prototype of a road diverging in two directions at an angle of 90 degrees.
2. Find the "Notifications" button, and then the application that interests you.
3. Near the “Allow notifications” item you will see a button located in the slider. To enable/disable notifications, click on it. If it is white, it means that receiving messages is currently prohibited. If the button is green, you are already receiving notifications from this program.

How can I turn off such messages completely? To do this, perform the following sequence of actions:

1. Go to settings.
2. Go to your account.
3. Go to notifications.
4. Go to the Push section.
5. Configure according to your own wishes.

Here's how to enable Push Notifications on iPhone. Considering that their settings do not change too noticeably, problems with changing parameters on different versions should not arise.

Multifunctional phone

It should be noted that in this case, you can work with Push notifications only on certain models, and this function has not become widely used here. But if you are the owner of such a piece of equipment, then we suggest that you familiarize yourself with how to enable/disable such a phone add-on. Please note that the path may vary depending on the model, so if you do not find what you need thanks to the instructions in the article, you should look in other places:

1. From the Home screen, tap on Menu.
2. Select Settings and look for Push Notifications. They can be placed in a separate submenu or located in “Phone or communication settings”.
3. Customize this technology to your taste.

Conclusion

So we looked at Push notifications, what they are, and why they are needed. Finally, let’s remember the previously missed points. Push notifications are quite valuable from a marketing perspective and, when used wisely, can bring significant benefits to a business and make life easier for consumers. But in everything you should adhere to the golden mean.

Push notifications are also valuable because even if some application does not require constant sending of information on its behalf, this can be used for advertising purposes, providing an opportunity for other developers or enterprises (companies) to inform users about new events. But in this case, it is important to take into account the topical nature of the information provided.

There are several unnecessary notifications on Android, how to turn them off. Tell me how to connect the new ones?

Answers (2)

On Android, just like on devices with other operating systems, push notifications are used - small messages that are displayed at the top of the screen, and the application does not have to work in the background. This mechanism reduces the load on RAM.

An easy way to turn off notifications on Android:

• In the general phone settings, go to the application subsection;
• Click on the item of the program whose notifications you want to turn off;
• uncheck the box next to enable “show notification”;



• Click “ok” in the window with a warning that you can skip updates.

If it’s difficult to figure out which application the notifications belong to, then do this:

• pull the curtain down;
• click on the notification and hold your finger on it until the application information window “app info” appears;



• Click on it, after which the program settings will appear;
• uncheck the box as described above.

1. On devices with version 5.0 and higher, innovations are provided - there is a notification on the lock screen, more precise settings. In addition, in Lollipop you can make notifications on Android silent.

   Changing alerts on a phone or tablet of this version is done like this:

   • click on the volume carriage, a volume control scale and three points will appear, one of which you need to select;
   • “all” - the mode is enabled in which notifications will appear and be accompanied by sound;
   • Another option is “do not disturb” - in this case, notifications will only be visible without sound. In this mode, the notification sound is turned off;
   • The most convenient mode is “important”, before using it you need to set up notifications on Android.

   To eliminate unnecessary system messages:

   • open device settings;
   • go to the sounds and notifications section;
   • go to the application notifications subsection;
   • A list of applications will appear, tap on the one you need;
   • Click on the switch in the block item.

   To completely turn off Android notifications you need to:

   • in the sounds and notifications section, tap on the item on the locked screen;
   • a window will appear;
   • In it, select “do not show notifications”.

And applications have their own lists of favorite clients and projects. We love our customers, especially those who, in addition to the finished product at the end, want to independently understand the technologies and rise to the level of a specialist. Any methods are used, but “question torture” is especially popular (any tester rests).

Technical portrait of the application being developed

We were creating a mobile application for a clothing store, whose architecture was built on a basic Activity (fragments are used to display information). The Retrofit library was used to download data from the server, and a built-in dependent SQLite database was used to store it. Loaders were selected to execute requests to the server and to fetch from the database.

To make the application interactive and allow you to exchange messages, we enabled push notifications. In this case, VK and Facebook SDK are used to implement authorization/registration through social networks and it looks like this: when a user sends a message, he sends a request with this message to our server. It generates a request with the message and data about the user to whom the message was addressed, and sends all the information to the Google server. It generates a push notification from this request and sends it to the user’s device. Our application receives this push, parses (processes) it and displays it in the chat - communication is realized.

There is a problem: when does the application start running in the background or why do push notifications only arrive after launch?

A client came to us with this question, because through experience he was faced with the following dilemma: when launched from a second device, the application works well, but how does “autoload” work then?

Let's talk. The application starts working in the background immediately after installation, and subscription to push notifications is carried out after registration in the application.

If the user does not register in it, then push notifications will not work for him.

There are other explanations to consider:

1. Push notifications work through the GCM (Google Cloud Messaging) service, so if the device does not have Google Play Services, their operation is unstable, or the manufacturer has made modifications to their operation, then push notifications will not work completely or there will be interruptions in their operation. If Google Play services are not available on your phone, you won’t even be able to register for push notifications. Of course, this can also be done “forcibly”: if, after registration, the subscription to push notifications on the server is unsuccessful, then you need to continue trying each time you log into the application until the result is successful. The reason for this situation may be problems with the operation of Google Play services - in this case, an attempt to subscribe may end in nothing.
2. The reason for incorrect functioning lies in the non-ideal working environment. We recommend to our clients for testing, and call it an ideal environment, the use of Google Nexus phones (they run “pure” Android without any changes, and the OS and services work on it ideally), stable operation of the server and Internet connection. Under such conditions, requests will be issued correctly, without errors and as quickly as possible. In this case, the application will quickly load new data, display it, and there will be no problems with incorrect display of information. In other phones (with a modified operating system - Chinese brands, Samsung, HTC, etc.) you can expect not only unstable server operation, but also limited capabilities of the application being developed (due to the systemic removal of many method-functions) - yes, push -notifications may not be provided at all.
3. Don't forget the main thing - push notifications only come if there is a stable Internet connection. If this is not the case, then the message will come as soon as the connection is restored.

Summary

• An ideal environment (flawless Internet, “clean” platform) is ideal, so warn clients about all possible errors and limitations of the application’s functionality.
• Don't be afraid of customer questions - they will carefully look for flaws in your work and find them! Thank you and fix the bugs promptly.
• First of all, create an application for users, focus on their technical capabilities and do not create unnecessary things.

You probably receive notifications by email: go to your email client and look at the incoming letters. In this case, this technology is pull technology, i.e. you go to the site and “pull” data from it when you need it.

In the case of push notifications, the resource pushes new data to you itself. At the same time, you immediately receive the latest data, because this technology does not have a specific data verification period; it comes online. Using push notifications you do not necessarily need to receive notifications. Using push technology, you can, for example, synchronize data if it has been updated.

Notifications are:

• Browser - via push api or via add-on
• Mobile - via mobile application
• On PC via application, regardless of browser

You can immediately start creating a Push Notification channel,

Browser (web) push notifications

They come to the browser from the site to which the user is subscribed. They can arrive both on a computer and on an Android device in the Chrome browser, but iOS devices cannot receive web pushes under any circumstances.

This is what different types of notifications look like in the Chrome browser

First the notification is made via the standard Notification API, second done via Push API. These alerts don't go away - but they don't have image smoothing applied on many platforms. (you can see by the quality of the pictures)
Third push was made via Rich Notification. These notifications come through extensions, they may contain additional information, buttons, or an image under the notification. There are more possibilities - but they are automatically hidden, although perhaps in the future they will be available from “pinning”.
These are notifications in Chrome, but there are also notifications in Firefox and Safari.

Firefox

Safari

Many web push notification services provide these types of alerts. However, we want to explain to you that sending notifications itself is free. These alerts are sent via:

GCM: Google, completely free, you just need to create a key in the developer console
APNS: Apple requires any developer you know with a certificate, or for $100 a year you can take it yourself
MSP: Mozilla Push Service, completely free. You don't even need registration. Open standard.

We warn you that you do not need to pay several thousand rubles for the number of alerts or subscribers. Since the mailing service itself is free (unlike, for example, SMS, where you need to pay the operator), you can only charge money for intermediary services, convenience, statistics, etc. But it’s not worth several thousand rubles, especially as the number of subscribers grows. Yes, the load of a million alerts per hour will be significant - you can pay money for such numbers, because your server may not be able to handle it. But believe me, sending even 100 thousand notifications per day is nonsense. Through GCM you can send more than 5-7 thousand push notifications in 5-7 packets in a second. Many web push services require 1000 rubles per month or even more for this. In 1 second of a small script.
PushAll supports all these types of notifications and allows you to send newsletters absolutely free and without restrictions.

Mobile push notifications

These are alerts that come to your mobile phone from various applications. For example, notifications on Android through the PushAll application look like this
And this is how it is on iOS in our application

You will not be able to attach these alerts “natively” to your website. It is possible to receive browser notifications on Android via Chrome, but these notifications are very cumbersome and of poor quality, the difference can be appreciated in the example below:

Alert comparison

For example, you can send an alert via telegram (1) , but then you won’t have an icon for your site, and when clicked, the user will be taken to a dialogue, and not immediately to your resource. (2) This is just a browser notification on Android, not so noticeable in this screenshot, but the image is of lower quality, an extra button with settings, and a line with the site address. Plus, due to content updates, an unnecessary notification may appear. (4) . Native solution through the application (3) is the most attractive solution for the user.
Push notifications on Moto 360 smartwatches:

The difference is most noticeable on smart watches. Top web alert, bottom app alert

Also, notifications on Android in the latest version of our application can be grouped by channels:

Grouping notifications on Android Android History inside the iOS app

Exotic Alerts

You have already seen above that notifications from our service can even come through telegram. Due to this, users who actively use Telegram can easily connect. We also send alerts by email. In this case, notifications arrive “in batches” at set intervals.

As a result, it turns out that we provide a secure “bridge” between the user and a third-party service. The user can entrust his email account to an intermediate party in which he is confident and not be afraid that his email account will be compromised or it will end up on the spam list. At the same time, the sending site also does not pay for mailings as well as for all other types of notifications.

Letters arrive in the style of notifications

What types of alerts are most popular?

We have extensive experience in sending push notifications, we have sent over 60 million of them. Below is data on the 33,214 devices in our system, as well as which devices and connection methods users prefer:

• 11936 35% - Android application
• 6992 22% - Chrome add-on
• 6204 18% - WebPush
• 3514 11% - Telegram
• 2688 8% - Email
• 1465 4% - SocketPush
• 227 1% - iOS
• 188 1% - Safari

As you can see, about 60% of users choose native solutions that are installed on their devices. Simpler doesn't mean better. Only 18% of users choose one-click alerts, most likely due to previous bad experiences on other sites. 11% of users use Telegram - most of them are iOS users who were previously waiting for a native solution.

As a result, we want to convey to our readers that implementing web push notifications on your website will cover only 18% of the needs of your audience, you are losing mobile users, losing those who had a bad experience with web push notifications, and much more.
Also interesting is the high share of Email and SocketPush. For the user, this is the most secure method when he can open a site and receive notifications from services, and then close it and they will stop bothering him. At the same time, you need to understand that the same principle works here as in other Push notifications - when the user appears online - all missed notifications come. For some reason, many web push notification services present this function as an innovation, but this is already included in the GCM and APNS protocols.

It's interesting to see the statistics for the last 2 weeks, the fact is that we recently released an application for iOS, and we updated the application for Android and everything has changed somewhat.
It should be taken into account that no new large channels have been added during this time - that is, this is a purely passive influx of new users - 950 devices.

• 202 20% - WebPush
• 72 8% - iOS
• 38 4% - Email
• 3 about 0% - Safari
• 1 about 0% - SocketPush

These statistics show that WebPush is growing passively as the easiest subscription method for a small number of channels. However, 70% use a native solution. Moreover, iOS applications are installed more often than a bot is added to Telegram.

What if I still need clean web push notifications on my website?

Let's start with what you'll need:
1. SSL certificate. It can be obtained for free, but its main problem is not that it can be bought or obtained. The main problem is the load. The fact is that when making an encrypted connection, a lot of server resources are consumed. This means that if your server could handle the load without SSL, but was loaded at 50%, most likely you will have to buy 2-3 more servers, or carry out a lot of optimization. Also, during mailings, you will need to give the content (header and text) of the notification to all users who accept it. That is, if you have 100 thousand subscribers, then several thousand requests will come to your server in 10 seconds and all of them will require SSL Handshake.

2. Device control and database. You will need to record each user and their key, make sure it is new (it is updated sometimes), discard old data, collect statistics yourself, etc.

3. The key for GCM in the Google console is free. To send notifications on Safari, you need a developer account - it costs $100 per year.

Inept use of notifications, especially if you call the request window immediately when the user enters the site, can lead to disastrous consequences

iGuides users 'really excited' for alerts

The fact is that many users activate alerts without understanding what they are. In fact, if the user has not confirmed his desire to receive mailings from you (in his right mind), and you send him content, then by law it is spam. That is, any user who accidentally clicks “Allow” on your website, and you do not warn him on your website that you will be sending him notifications, can sue you for spam.

You can implement alerts yourself, and we will not completely rewrite it here (only if later, in detail, the instructions themselves with code)

Are there ready-made solutions for browser notifications?

If you yourself cannot implement notifications, but you need browser notifications on your site, you can try, for example, OneSignal. They provide decent alerts, and the free plans should be enough.

Never use services that ask you for money for the number of subscribers. The point is that over time, more and more users will disable these alerts on your site. You'll find that a certain percentage of your alerts don't get through. At first it will be 30%, then 40% and can even reach 80%. In this case, they will demand from you the amount for the full number of subscribers.

Also pay attention to small text - some services limit notifications. For example, a limit of 30 notifications per month per user. What does it mean? This means that you can send 1 notification per day to all users. If you have articles on your website, this is not so bad - you can highlight one important one and send it. If you need to send personal messages and sometimes more than 1 notification per day, this is unacceptable. Such services will require you to pay the full monthly fee for every 30 alerts - for free alerts.

Results

Push notifications are a useful tool, but you need to know how to work with them and know the pitfalls. This market is now just developing, services are appearing that demand money “for novelty.” But in fact, throughout the civilized world, notifications have been used for a long time, and there they are already, for the most part, free. You also need to take into account the interests of users and not limit them in choosing methods for receiving notifications.

We've provided you with compelling evidence that alerts are used across multiple platforms and that users love the approach. And if users are happy, then notifications will be perceived in a positive way. Users will receive the most useful information from you in a form convenient for them, which will expand the active audience of your resource.