A push notification is a message that appears on someone’s lock screen while your app is closed. That is valuable access, and people take it away quickly when it’s abused. One irrelevant offer too many, and the user switches notifications off or deletes the app. A good push notification strategy treats each message as something the user would have asked for if they’d thought of it. This guide covers when to ask for permission, what to send, how often, and the platform rules that shape all of it.
Permission is now opt-in on both platforms
On iPhone, apps have always had to ask before sending notifications. Android caught up with Android 13: according to Google’s notification permission guide, an app installed on Android 13 or higher has notifications off by default until the user grants the POST_NOTIFICATIONS permission. If your app targets Android 13 or higher, you decide when that prompt appears.
That puts the weight on one moment: the prompt. How you set it up decides how many people you can reach later.
When to ask for permission
Both Apple and Google recommend asking in context. Apple’s guide to asking permission to use notifications gives the example of a task app asking after someone schedules their first task, instead of on first launch. Google’s guide suggests tying the prompt to a user action, such as following an account or placing an order.
In practice:
- Don’t ask on the first screen. The user has no reason to say yes yet.
- Ask at the moment a notification is clearly useful: right after booking (“We’ll tell you when your provider is on the way”), after placing an order, or after following a topic.
- Show a short screen of your own first, explaining what they’ll receive. If they tap “Not now”, don’t trigger the system prompt, and ask again later at another useful moment.
- On iOS, consider provisional authorisation. Apple describes it as delivering notifications quietly to Notification Center, with buttons to keep or turn off, so people can judge your notifications before deciding.
What to send: the usefulness test
Sort every notification you plan into one of three groups:
- Transactional: updates about something the user started. Order confirmed, payment received, provider arriving, appointment tomorrow. These are the most welcome.
- Personal and timely: something new that relates to what the user has shown interest in. A reply to their message, a price drop on a saved item, a slot opening with their preferred provider.
- Promotional: offers, campaigns and announcements. Use sparingly, and only with clear consent.
Apple’s App Review Guidelines (4.5.4) say push notifications must not be required for the app to work, should not carry sensitive personal information, and should not be used for promotions or direct marketing unless people have explicitly opted in through consent language in the app and can opt out inside it. Build that consent and opt-out into your settings from the start.
Before any message goes out, ask: would this user be annoyed if they didn’t get it? If the answer is no, it probably shouldn’t be a push. Put it in an in-app inbox, email or a banner inside the app instead.
Give people control
An all-or-nothing switch pushes people to “nothing”. Offer categories instead: order updates, messages, reminders, offers. On Android, notification channels let users control each category in system settings, so match your channels to these categories. On both platforms, add a notification settings screen in the app that mirrors them.
Say a Hyderabad grocery delivery app sends order updates and twice-weekly offers through one channel. A user annoyed by offers turns off the whole channel and then misses a “driver can’t find your address” alert. With separate channels, they turn off offers and keep the alerts that matter.
Frequency and timing
- Set a cap per user per day and per week for anything non-transactional, and enforce it in code, not by memory.
- Respect quiet hours in the user’s time zone. A reminder at 11 pm reads as noise.
- Send based on behaviour rather than a fixed schedule: “you left items in your cart” an hour later beats a daily “check out our deals”.
- Stop sending a type of notification if a user ignores it repeatedly.
Writing the message
You have a title and a line or two before the text cuts off on most phones. Lead with the useful part:
- Weak: “Hey there! We have an update for you.”
- Better: “Ravi is 10 minutes away. Track his arrival.”
Keep the tone of your app, use the user’s language setting, and make tapping the notification open the exact screen it refers to. A notification that lands on the home screen wastes the tap. Never put OTPs, health details or account balances in the visible text; anyone near the phone can read the lock screen.
Measuring whether your push notification strategy works
Track these per notification type, not as one total:
- Permission grant rate, and how it changes when you move the prompt.
- Open rate for each type.
- The action after opening: did the user complete what the notification was about?
- Opt-outs by category, and app uninstalls in the days after a send.
If opt-outs rise after a campaign, that campaign cost you more than it earned, because you lost a channel you’ll need later.
A launch checklist
- List every notification the app sends, with its category, trigger and target screen.
- Permission prompt placed after a meaningful action, with a pre-prompt screen.
- Android channels and an in-app settings screen with matching categories.
- Consent and opt-out for promotional messages.
- Frequency caps and quiet hours enforced on the server.
- No sensitive data in notification text.
- Analytics events for sends, opens and opt-outs.
Notification design and the backend that sends them are part of our app development service, and the automation side can trigger messages from your other systems. If you’d like a second pair of eyes on your notification plan, we’re happy to talk.
Frequently asked questions
How many push notifications per week is too many?
There is no universal number. Transactional updates the user expects can be as frequent as the activity itself. Promotional messages should be far rarer, and you’ll know you’ve crossed the line when opt-outs or uninstalls rise after sends. Set caps, test different frequencies with small groups, and watch opt-outs as closely as opens.
Why are my Android users not getting notifications?
On Android 13 and higher, notifications are off by default until the user grants permission. If your app never asks, or asks before the user sees any value, many users will have notifications disabled. Also check that your channels exist, that battery optimisation on some phone brands isn’t blocking delivery, and that your sending service shows successful delivery.
Should I use push notifications or WhatsApp messages?
They suit different jobs. Push is free to send and opens your app directly, but only reaches people who installed it and allowed notifications. WhatsApp business messages reach people without the app but carry costs and template rules. Many Indian apps use push for in-app activity and WhatsApp or SMS for critical updates like booking confirmations.