Push Notifications allow you to send messages to mobile app users to announce, inform, or promote anything related to your products or campaigns. This feature is available only in mobile applications and is a great way to keep your users engaged with your app. 

There are a few layers to consider when creating a Push Notification within Countly. This introduction will guide you through the relevant articles to help you understand these layers and ultimately create a Push Notification.

Integrating Push Notifications

Countly relies on push notification providers to deliver notifications:

• For iOS, we use APN (Apple Push Notification Service).
• For Android, Countly supports 2 providers:
  • FCM (Firebase Cloud Messaging) for Google-enabled devices, and
  • HMS (Huawei Messaging Service) for Huawei devices.

The Countly push SDK includes all the required code to receive push notifications, so you can start using it in your app within seconds. 

You will need to integrate the appropriate SDK into your application. To do so, please refer to the following Integration article:

After the SDK is integrated, when a user opens the app for the first time, your mobile application retrieves a device token from the push notification provider (Firebase or Huawei Push Kit for Android, APN for iOS) and sends it to your Countly server for storage. A token is unique to a device, meaning it identifies that specific device.

The Countly SDK automatically manages token retrieval and transmission to the Countly server, so you won’t need to worry about this process after properly integrating the SDK, as outlined in the SDK documentation.

Push Notifications Overview

Once the integration is complete, it is essential to understand the different types of push notifications, their performance, capabilities, and other key details. 

For more details, please refer to the Push Notifications Overview article: 

Push Notification Feature Layout

Once you have a better understanding of what Countly Push Notifications can do, let's explore the layout of the Push Notification feature in the Countly dashboard:

Creating Push Notifications

When you're ready to dive in, this article will walk you through creating your first Push Notification:

Push Notifications Troubleshooting & FAQ

For common issues, error codes, and frequently asked questions about push notifications, see our dedicated troubleshooting page: