Create and send push notifications

Create and send push notifications

In your OneSignal dashboard, go to Messages > New Push.



Optional: Input a Message Name for internal recognition of the message. See Message Name for more details.

Step 1. Audience

The Segments of devices in which you wish to include and exclude from receiving this notification.



There are two options for selecting which devices are eligible to receive notifications.
OptionDescription
Send to Subscribed UsersSends to your default segment which you can set. Otherwise, this defaults to all subscribed devices.
Send to Particular Segment(s)You can both include and exclude devices within segments from receiving the message.

- Targeting multiple segments, OneSignal will automatically filter out duplicate user records so the device only gets one push.
Exclude SegmentsAny device in the excluded segment will not get the push notification.

Segments can be Edited
Any selected segments can be edited and new segments can be created on the fly.




Step 2. Message

OptionDescription
Add LanguagesSelect Add Languages to add multiple Supported Languages.
TitleWeb: Defaults to the Site Name set in Settings.
Android & iOS: Not required.
Huawei: required.
SubtitleSupported on iOS mobile apps.
MessageRequired for all platforms. Larger text input field.
ImageThis will populate the large image for all applicable platforms. The recommended image is a jpg filetype with 2:1 aspect ratio landscape, size 512x256px or 1440x720px.

More details on images see:
Web Push Images
Mobile App Push Images

You can override images for specific platforms below in platform settings.
Launch URLThe URL a user will be directed when clicking the push. https:// URLs will open the web page or an in-app browser on Mobile Apps.

Details on Deep Linking see Links, Deep-links and URLs.

Notification Appearance Guide

Details on Character Limits, Emoji Support and more in the Push Notification Guide.

Sending to Test Devices

If you set test devices use the Send To Test Device button. Test Messages will be available in Delivery tab > Source: Test Messages.

Platform Settings

Custom features available by platform.
Each Platform can be disabled (no push sent to those devices) by toggling the platform switch on/off

iOS Options

iOS OptionsDescription
BadgesRed Dots with numbers on the app icon.
Don't set - no badge set
Set to - specify exact badge count
Increase by - increment the badge count by your desired amount
SoundThe sound that plays when this notification is received by the device. If no sound is specified, the device's default sound will play. Use nil to play no sound.
Content AvailableFor native iOS apps only. Wakes your app when the notification is received so you can do work in the background. See also Apple's 'content-available' documentation for more details.
CategoryThe UNNotificationCategory. Used with the UNNotificationContentExtension for action buttons.
Target Content IDUse to target a specific experience in your App Clip, or to target your notification to a specific window in a multi-scene App. Details in App Clip Support.
MediaRich media attachment. Image, sound, or video to show when viewing the notification. Skip if set already unless you want a different image for iOS.
Mutable ContentNative only code. Allows you do modify the notification from your app before it is displayed. See Apple's 'mutable-content' documentation for more details

Android/Huawei Options

Android OptionsDescription
CategoryHighly recommended for Android 8+ devices. Settings will carry over to android 7 and lower.
SoundThe sound that plays when this notification is received by the device. If no sound is specified, the device's default sound will play.

Recommended: Use Notification Categories instead.
LED ColorSets the device's LED notification light (if the user's device has one). If no LED Color is specified, the device's default color will show.

Recommended: Use Notification Categories instead.
Lockscreen VisibilityOnly applies to apps targeting Android API level 21+ running on Android 5.0+ devices.

Recommended: Use Notification Categories instead.
Small IconDefaults to a bell unless specifically added. Icon shown in the status bar. Also show to the left of the notification text unless a large icon is set. Do not include a file extension.
Large IconIcon that shows to the left of the notification text. Include a file extension or upload your icon. Do not include a file extension.
Big PictureShows up in an expandable view below the notification text.
Group KeyNotifications with the same Group Key will be stacked together as a single summary notification with the number of unopened notifications.
Group MessageOnly applies to Android 6.0 and older. By default '# new messages' will shown on the device when 2 or more notifications are received with the same group key. Enter a custom message with '$[notif_count]' in the message text so the count can be replaced.
Background DataLegacy option for pre 3.0 versions of the OneSignal Android SDK. Read our documentation for a new way to set this up.

Advanced Settings

OptionDescription
Additional DataCustom key : value data pairs sent to your app through the notification. Use data when sending from our REST API.

More details on this below in our FAQ How To Use Additional Data.
Collapse Key/IDCurrent notifications with the same id/key will be replaced instead of showing a whole new notification on the device. Limit of 64 characters.
Web Push TopicSet different values to show multiple web push notification at once to a user. If not set, then newer notifications will replace current notifications on device.
PrioritySets the Delivery Priority. Can override certain device and browser settings. Some devices de-prioritize notifications to show at a later time if the battery is low. This will attempt to show the notification even if the device has low power.

For Android 8+ you must use Importance for Display Priority instead. This is set in the Notification Categories and this will override the Priority flag for Android 7 and lower devices.
Time To LiveThe default time is 259,200 seconds (3 days) but can be any value from 0 to 2,419,200 seconds.

The notification will expire if the device remains offline for these number of seconds.

Affects iOS, Android, and Chrome Web Push.
Action ButtonsAndroid and iOS mobile apps only.

Buttons show on the notification itself. Works on iOS 8.0+, Android 4.1+.


Step 3. Scheduling



You can schedule a notification up to 30 days in advance.

The OneSignal Dashboard detects timezone according to your Operating Systems time.

Selecting Begin sending at a particular time will allow you to set when the notifications will start to be sent. That time is displayed on the bottom right circled in red in the image.

Notifications will be delivered to users based on the Per-User Optimization selection.


Per-User Optimization Limitation with Throttling

If you selected the Throttling option, then Intelligent Delivery and Timezone sending will be ignored.

Message Throttling takes precedence over Intelligent Delivery and Timezone sending.

Intelligent Delivery

Intelligent Delivery is a unique feature of OneSignal that optimizes notification delivery time based on when each user most frequently access your app or website and is the best way to optimize notification open rates.

Each time a device accesses your website or mobile app with our SDK active, our SDK tracks their Last Session and notes the hours in which these devices most commonly return. This is based on up to a 3 month rolling average of a user's past actions.

With Intelligent Delivery, each user will receive your notification within 24 hours of you initiating delivery. For example, you sent a message at 7 PM and the user is most likely to open the app/site at 1 PM, the notification will be delivered 18 hours later (at 1 PM the following day). If your notification is very time-sensitive we instead recommend either Sending Immediately (which initiates delivery right away to all users, regardless of their activity or timezone) or Time Zone optimization (to deliver at the same time across user timezones).

Optimize by the user time zone

Once you schedule the notification to go out, you can set the delivery based on each device's set timezone. This is based on the device's settings.

So if you want a notification to be delivered to all your users in different timezones at 1PM for example, you can do this with OneSignal!

Keep in mind that if a timezone has already passed when you start sending this notification, they will get the notification at the set timezone, the next day. So it is important to make sure you start sending 24 hours before






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