Web/mobile push: Introduction and core concepts

What are push notifications?

Push notifications are messages sent to a user’s device from a website or web app (web push) or from a mobile app (mobile push), even when the user is not actively using the site or app. They are a form of real-time communication between a server and a user’s browser or device, commonly used for re-engagement, updates, promotions, or alerts.

How push notifications work

Opt-in based: Users must give permission for a website or app to send them notifications.
Appear on the user’s device: Notifications can be displayed on desktops (Windows, macOS) and mobile devices (Android, iOS).
Web push: Delivered by browsers such as Chrome, Firefox, and Edge.
Mobile push: Triggered by servers and sent through notification services (e.g., Firebase Cloud Messaging for Android or Apple Push Notification Service for iOS).
Work even when the website or app is closed: As long as the browser or app is running in the background, push notifications can still be received.

Technical overview

Web push notifications

Web push notifications are powered by:

Service Workers: Background scripts that handle the receipt and display of push messages.
Push API: Enables servers to send messages to the browser.
Notification API: Controls how notifications are displayed to the user.

Mobile push notifications

We distinguish three services that enable sending push notifications via mobile application: Apple Push Notification service (APNs), Huawei Message Service (HMS), and Firebase Cloud Messaging (FCM).

To be able to use these services and send push notifications via mobile app, integration using our SDK is required.

SDK functionalities are:

subscribe / unsubscribe for push notifications
send event delivered / clicked
send beacon

Documentation can be found here:

iOS: https://github.com/ppgco/ios-sdk
Android / HMS: https://github.com/ppgco/android-sdk
Flutter: https://github.com/ppgco/flutter-sdk

Key benefits and use cases

Benefits:

Reaching beyond your CRM contacts (website/app visitors that agreed to receive notifications but never left their email of phone number),
High visibility and engagement,
Real-time delivery,
Lightweight and quick to implement,
Cross-platform (extra steps for iOS in web push),
Segmentation based on lables, geolocation and user on-site/in-app behaviour, custom triggers,
GDPR compliance.

Use cases:

Breaking news alerts,
Sales or promotion announcements,
Abandoned cart reminders,
Event reminders or confirmations,
Retargeting,
Re-engagement,
Lifecycle marketing.