iOS 16.4 - Home To iOS Web Push Notifications

Web push notifications have established a place in the publishers' marketing flywheel with its ease of audience building and the subsequent impact on engagement and retention. However, there was one big limitation i.e. iOS not supporting web push notifications. This meant that brands were missing out on engaging their audience using the iPhone.

With the release of iOS 16.4, support for web push notifications is finally here. This was announced at WWDC 2022. This is a significant shift in Apple's approach, indicating a willingness to embrace new technologies and work towards a more open and inclusive ecosystem. Seems like they finally made it to the other side. 

Web Push Support On iOS Is Now Released

The wait is finally over. Due to a combination of technical and privacy-related reasons, iOS never supported web push notifications. But with the introduction of the Web Push API in iOS 16.4, websites can now send notifications to iPhones as well. 

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How Will Web Push Notifications Work On iOS? 

First and foremost, users need to add your website to their home screen. A user can do this by creating a shortcut for the web page using the ‘Add to Home Screen’ button in the share screen as shown below.

Once the website is added to the home screen, you can then trigger the prompt at a user action such as tapping on a ‘subscribe’ button. Once users subscribe, the notifications will then be shown in iOS Notification Center and Lock Screen. The user can always make permission changes for a web app in the Notification Settings.  Notification badge count can also be set up by web apps and they also support Focus Modes, giving users control over when or where to receive them. 

Home Screen web app shortcuts will also launch in other browsers as well such as Chrome and Firefox and is not limited to Safari. The fallback web app shortcut icon now changes from a mini screenshot of the web page to a monogram placeholder icon with the first letter of the website name as the icon. 

Implementing Web Push Notifications On Web Apps

Any push notification solutions can help you get started with implementing web push on web apps. We at iZooto, being the number 1 audience engagement platform for publishers, ensure our publishers are all equipped to make the best of iOS push notifications.

We are trusted by more than 15k publishers, and send over 250 billion notifications in a month. With push notifications on iOS, the numbers are just going to blow up. 

Are you catering to a huge iOS audience and want to get the ball rolling? Reach out to us at support@izooto.com Get started for free with iZooto right away. Book a demo here.