What are push notifications for iPhone and iPad web apps? New in the update to iOS 16.4 and iPadOS 16.4 are push notifications for web apps on the Home screen.
Apple still wants to release AirPower
What are web push notifications?
Web push is the name of a technology that refers to notifications that can be delivered directly to a user’s screen, on a mobile or desktop device similar to what happens with messaging apps such as WhatsApp and the like, when a new message is received of a user.
Developers who create a website can take advantage of notifications and ask the user if they want to accept or refuse to receive notifications, in opt-in mode. With the feature introduced by Apple in iOS 16.4, it is possible to add websites to the Home screen of the iPhone or iPad from the Share button (the icon in the shape of a small square with an arrow at the top), choosing from the menu that appears the item ” Add to Home Screen”. Once the web page of our interest has been added, if it supports push notifications, the iPhone and iPad operating system will take this into account, displaying them like other iOS apps.
What web push notifications look like?
This type of notifications are completely similar to the classic notifications of other apps for iPhone and iPad. On the Home screen, we will see incoming notifications like any other, thanks to the support of specific developer APIs called Badge APIs.
How do you check the permissions of Web Apps?
Web app permissions for the Home screen are granted when you allow a particular site to send notifications. If necessary, you can manage or remove the permissions in question from Settings > Notifications.
Where do web push notifications appear?
Like notifications from various apps, notification badges for web apps appear on the Home screen, in Notification Center, and—when paired—on Apple Watch.
Do web notifications support Full Immersion?
Full Immersion is a feature present from iOS 15/iPadOS 15 onwards that allows you to focus on the present when we can’t get distracted or have to move away from the device. You can customize your Immersion settings and choose when to receive alerts and notifications, as well as let other people and apps know when you’re busy.
The “Focus” mode (which can be activated by going to Settings > Full immersion) supports web push notifications and from here we can select the notifications allowed or silenced from People, Apps and web apps, connect the lock screen or the Home screen, set the automatic activation of full immersion and add filters for full immersion.
How do I get website notifications with multiple accounts?
If you log in to a site that supports web push notifications with multiple accounts, multiple copies of the same site can be shared on the Home screen, which also accounts for logins with multiple accounts.
Does this mean that web apps are now more like apps?
Yes, web apps allow you to offer functionality like real apps, supporting a wide variety of features that were previously only available with native apps, an important step even for the (rare) lazy developers who don’t want to or don’t they can develop specific apps for specific sites/services.
The actual implementation is however very simple and requires a few lines of code to cover all use cases. Interestingly, it is possible to retrieve data in the background and receive push notifications, which in turn can update the web app badge.