Push notification
Sent by your server and shown on the lock screen, a push notification reaches someone even when the app is closed, bringing them back at the right moment.
Updated October 2026 · with examples from our own builds
What does push notification mean in practice?
Push messages travel through Apple's and Google's services, usually via Firebase Cloud Messaging. They carry new messages, booking offers, reminders and alerts, and a high-priority one can wake a locked phone.
Push is a retention tool and a nuisance risk at the same time. Reminders that fire at the wrong hour, or keep firing after someone stopped caring, get notifications switched off. Timing in the user's own time zone, quiet hours and sensible frequency matter as much as the message.
Setup has costs that surprise people: an Apple developer account and push credentials for iOS, permission prompts, and server-side logic deciding who gets what.
Push notification at a glance
- Delivered via
- Apple and Google push services, often through Firebase
- Needs for iOS
- An Apple developer account and push credentials
- Get right
- Time zone, quiet hours and frequency
Where has push notification come up in our builds?
A booking offer rings on the nearest eligible drivers' phones through Firebase, even when the phone is locked.
A review found that a water group nobody watered was never reminded again. The server now works out each reminder in the user's own time zone, respects quiet hours and sends a push itself for people who stop opening the app. iOS push waits on an Apple developer account.
Push notifications were one of two items in the client's July 2026 technical review that we classed as a new feature rather than a defect.
Common questions about push notification
Can a push notification reach a phone when the app is closed?
Yes. It goes through Apple's and Google's push services rather than the app, and a high-priority message can ring on a locked phone, as Pakka's booking offers do for drivers.
How many reminders is too many?
There's no safe number, but there are safe rules: send in the user's own time zone, respect quiet hours and group related reminders into one. LeafRanger sends one reminder per group of plants with the same needs rather than one per pot.
Related terms
Sources
Planning a product and not sure where push notification fits? Ask us, or browse all 116 terms in the glossary.