Web pushes can be sent to phones, but with some caveats. Web push notifications are supported by web browsers on mobile devices, such as Google Chrome or Firefox. The main conditions that must be met for web push notifications to be sent to phones:
- Mobile browser: web push notifications only work in browsers that support them. This is most commonly Chrome on Android and Safari on iOS, although support may be more limited on iOS.
- User Consent: The user must consent to receive notifications from the website in question.
- Background browser: On Android, the browser does not need to be active to receive notifications. It only needs to be running in the background. On iOS, web push notifications are more limited and only work in certain situations.
- Internet connection: The phone must be connected to the internet to receive notifications.
The visual presentation of a Web Push notification varies across different browsers and systems. The table below presents the current level of support offered for Web Push notifications by combinations of systems and browsers.
| System/Browser | Chrome | Firefox | Opera |
|---|---|---|---|
| iOS | None | None | None |
| MacOS | Simple | Simple | Simple |
| Android | Rich | Simple | Rich |
| Windows | Rich | Simple | Rich |
| Linux | Simple | Simple | Simple |
IMPORTANT:
- SALESmanago does not support Web Push notifications for Edge and Safari.
- In accordance with Apple’s policy, iOS does not support third-party Web Push notifications unless they are handled by a Progressive Web App. As the installation of a PWA is not straightforward for the recipient, SALESmanago does not support sending Web Push notifications to such applications.
- Only Chrome and Opera support action buttons in Web Push notifications. In the case of Firefox, any buttons will be replaced with a “close” button in the language of the browser.
- It is important to remember that a Web Push notification will look different depending on the browser that handles it and the device on which it appears.
Note that on mobile devices, Web Push notifications are likely to be initially displayed in a collapsed format. This means that the recipient may need to expand them to see all the contents. For example, the screenshot below shows the same notification (sent through two different browsers) in the collapsed and expanded format.