There are many possible reasons you or someone you know is not receiving push notifications. In this article, we'll go over things you can check and things we can check to make sure push notifications are working properly. We'll also discuss some of the variables outside our control that may cause push notifications to fail.
Things You Can Do
On Your Phone or Tablet
Here are some things to check on your phone/tablet.
- If you said "no" to push notifications when you first downloaded the app, then you will not receive the notifications. To fix this, please uninstall the app, wait one day, and then re-install the app. Then, say "yes" to push notifications.
- If you said "yes" to push notifications but later turned them off or made them silent or non appearing in your phone settings (not in the app but in your phone settings) then you probably won't receive the notifications. To fix this problem, go to your phone settings (not in the app but your phone) and turn on all notifications for the app. You should also make sure notifications are on in general for your phone.
- Location Services: If you said no to location services or have turned off location services for the app, you may not receive the push notification. This is not always the case, but it something to check if you are having trouble receiving notifications. You can go to the settings on your phone and make sure location services is on in general and then on in particular for the app.
- If the app is open or running while the notification is sent, sometimes the notification does not pop up. Try closing out of the app completely before testing.
- If you recently sent a notification and send another one a few minutes later, sometimes the device will not show the 2nd notification.
- If your device does not have an internet connection it cannot receive a notification. Sometimes cell or WiFi signals can be poor.
- Sometimes your network can block notifications. Consider conducting a test with your device on a different network such as at home or at a public WiFi location.
- Some older and more generic or less common brands of Android devices are not fully compatible with our apps. There are many many Android devices so it is hard to list the them here, but if you have an old or rare type of Android device, you may not receive push notifications.
When Sending the Push Notification
Make sure you've clicked and highlighted both the Apple and Android icon on step 1 of sending a push notification. If you don't highlight one of them, the notification will not be sent to that device type.
Run Some A Test
You can send a push notification with "test" as the content or perhaps you can invent a relevant message to use a test.
Other Apps / Old Phone
Sometimes other apps can interfere with push notifications. And, sometimes an old or slow or overloaded phone can interfere with push notifications.
Things We Can Do
OOPS, APNS Error
If you see an "Oops, APNS Error" when you try to send a push notification, please let us know. We have to update a push notification certificate with Apple once per year. It is an easy fix on our end and usually goes through in 5 minutes or less from when we make the update request.
Official App Update for Android
If we have not done an official app update for awhile on Android, this could cause notifications to not work perfectly on Android devices. You can always ask us to check and see if this might be a cause of problems.
Redo the Apple Certificate Again
We can also re-do the Apple Push Notification certificate anytime to just to make sure it is firing properly.
Check Android Store URL
We have to connect our server to your Android store URL. Sometimes we can tweak or verify this entry to improve deliver-ability.
Run a Test
We can send a test push notification to see if it shows up on our devices.
Apple App Update
If we aren't able to see the push notifications on our Apple devices after doing the above, we can do an official app update for Apple. This requires the app review process again and may require you to obtain an Apple Developer Account (if your app was published with us before Feb 2018).
Things Beyond Our Control
Push Notifications run through our servers and then through Apple / Android servers. They then travel through the maze of the internet to your local internet service provider and then to your local network and then to your phone. There are many variables on this path which might cause a notification to be delayed or stopped. Sometimes it can even be local firewall settings that interfere. It also possible that other apps that are running on your phone can interfere. Apple nor Android guarantee push notifications to work 100% of the time, and, unfortunately, we cannot guarantee 100% deliver-ability either. The best thing we can do is for you to check everything in the above "Things You Can Do" section and for us to check in the "Things We Can Do" section.
Server Slow Downs
You can also always ask us if we're experiencing reports of troubles. Sometimes our servers do have hiccups and sometimes the Apple / Android servers do have hiccups. Usually, in these cases, we hear reports from our customers and can let you know that there is a problem somewhere that is being addressed.
Consider Text Messages and Email
You've probably experienced a situation in which you've sent a text message or email to a friend and your device shows that the message was sent. But, upon examining your friend's device, you see the message was not receive or was received hours later. This happens even inside Apple's own iMessage text messaging system which occurs only on Apple's servers. If messages from phone to phone inside of Apple's own network sometimes don't reach their destination, it is understandable that push notifications which travel through multiple servers and networks sometimes don't reach their destination. Likewise, you've probably also experienced emails that seem to have been lost in cyberspace.
Search the Internet for "Push Notification Reliability"
If you search the internet for "Push Notification Reliability" or "Push Notification Failure Rates", you'll see that many apps as well as many app developers experience less than 100% push notification deliver-ability. It is a common issue among all apps and development companies.
Working Together
But, if you check the above notes/tests for your phone and we check things on our end, together we can achieve the highest deliver-ability rate possible.
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