Overview

If you have one of the following issues with push notifications:

• Unable to send push notes.
• Receive a push note certificate-related error when sending.
• Push notifications not being received by app users (notifications don't appear/show up on the mobile device).
• Push notifications that used to work do not work anymore.

You should follow the troubleshooting steps below to fix your app's Push Notification problems.

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Solution  

If you receive one of the following errors, please follow the relevant article:

• "Cert Error" When Push Publishing the Apple Push Notification (APN) Certificate.
• "There was a problem sending out your push notifications" error while sending iOS Push Notification.
• "You do not have the correct Android Market URL input" error upon sending Android Push Notifications.
• "We're unable to read your APNS Certification file" error sending iOS Push Notifications with Skipper.

If Push Notifications don't work and you did not receive one of these error messages, then please follow the cases below. The cases below do now show any symptoms other than Push Notifications not working.

Note: As app users may have different notification/location permission settings and for privacy reasons, we do not have information regarding how many users received, dismissed, or opened a particular notification.

Case 1: Push Notifications were not set up or used correctly

If this is one of your first times using Push notifications, or if you aren't sure if it's set up correctly, please follow this article to configure and use Push Notifications.

Case 2: App is not on the most recent release

For Push Notifications to work, the app must have been published recently (e.g. last 3 months) in the Client CMS and must also be submitted to Google Play or Apple's App Store. 

Also, note that support agents can only escalate issues to the Development Team if the problems are reproducible on the latest release.

If your app is not on the latest release, please follow this article to republish your app in CMS.

Case 3: Location-based delivery failures due to Privacy settings

The following process must be followed for location-based (radius or geofenced) Push Notification issues.

Since this kind of notifications requires location permissions to be enabled to work, the users must be able to grant them to the application:

1. As an app user on your device go to Settings > Privacy > Location Services and scroll through the list to locate the app.
2. Make sure that the Location Services switch is turned on and it's set as Always next to the 'Maps' option for the App. If it says Never, click on the app and change it to Always.
3. Return to the Home screen.
4. Lock your device.
5. Send the push notification from the CMS or the Skipper platform once more, to test if the permission was granted correctly.

Note: The actual menu may vary based on the model 

Case 4: iOS -Certificate related delivery failures

iOS push notification issues can often be resolved with a Certificate Rebuild. In order to rule out certificate related issues, please follow this article to Rebuild your IOS/Apple Push Notification Certificate.

Case 5: Android Only - "Floating Notification" or "Lock screen notification" settings are disabled 

Floating and Lock screen notification settings have to be enabled for Push Notifications to work. Please follow this article for enabling those settings.

Case 6: Android Only - Push Notifications feature not enabled

For newly approved apps, you need to activate your app's Push Notifications so that Push Notifications can work. Please follow this article for enabling the Push Notifications feature.

Case 7: Progressive Web Apps -  PWA URL blocked

PWA URL has to be allowed in Google Chrome for Push Notifications to work. Please follow this article for allowing the PWA URL.

Case 8: Push Notifications not working on Facebook / Twitter

Please follow the articles below:

• Push Notifications not working on Facebook
• Push Notifications not working on Twitter

Case 9: Delay in Scheduled Push Notifications

Customers that are expected to receive Push Notifications may experience delays in receiving them when sent from the Push Notification Center in the CMS or Skipper. These messages may be sent immediately or scheduled. The following factors can influence the delay.

• Low battery on a customer's device can make checking Push Notifications not happen as often.
• There could be a large queue at the time of processing due to the number of apps we handle.
• Depending on how many app users you have sent the notification to, it might take a while to process the deliveries (around 0.2s per user). If one company has 5000 devices, it can take up to 17 minutes for all notifications to be sent.  When sending immediately from the CMS, a notice is displayed showing the time for the Push Notification Delivery Status for iOS Devices. Recommendation: Schedule messages at least 30 minutes earlier.

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Testing

After following the cases above, you should be able to send Push Notifications without any issues.

If none of the cases above applies, then please provide the following info (by creating a new ticket or appending it to your existing ticket), so that our customer support agents can troubleshoot the problem and escalate to the Development Team if needed.

Information needed on the ticket:

1. What are the platforms where Push Notifications don't work? (Android, iOS, PWA)

2. What are the device types that do not receive the notifications? (Android, iOS) 

3. What is the device brand and model that failed to receive the Push Notification (e.g., Samsung Galaxy S10 or iPhone 8 Plus)?

   NOTE: Older (i.e., out of support) devices like iPhone 5 are not supported.

4. What version of the OS is running on the device (e.g., Android 9.0 Pie or iOS 12)?

5. From where was the Push Notification sent?

   • Reseller CMS
   • Client Panel
   • Skipper

6. What type of Push Note was sent?

   • To all
   • To an individual
   • To a specific group or groups
   • To subscribed only devices

7. Was the Push Note scheduled, a regular one, or location-based?

8. If the Push Note was location-based, was GPS on the device enabled? If so, does it have a good connection?

9. Does the Push Note link to a feature? If so, which feature?

10. Is the Push Notification shown in the Message Feature, but not creating an alert?

11. Are push notifications enabled on the device?

12. Is DND (Do Not Disturb) on or off?

13. Is the app open, closed, or in the background?

14. What was the state of the battery (i.e., is the battery fully charged or nearly dead)?

15. Is Battery Saver mode, which can cause the app to shut down, enabled, or disabled?

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