Overcoming Challenges in Web Push Notifications: Ensuring They Don’t End Up as Spam
Implementing a reliable push notification system is crucial for engaging users in any modern web application. Recently, I embarked on creating a social media platform using Next.js and integrated Ably’s Push Notification service to keep users informed in real-time. While the development process has been successful overall, I encountered a common obstacle: my notifications are being flagged as spam and do not behave as intended.
The Implementation Journey
Using Next.js introduced some constraints; notably, native WebSocket support isn’t straightforward, leading me to choose Ably’s robust push notification solutions. After thorough testing, I confirmed that the notifications are sent successfully—covering key attributes like icons, badges, TTL, tags, and collapse keys. Despite these measures, users aren’t seeing the notifications pop up as expected.
Challenges Faced
The main issues I’ve observed are:
- Notifications are often marked as spam or ignored by browsers and devices.
- Notifications do not reliably wake up phones or appear prominently in the notification bar.
- Instead of displaying your app’s logo upon arrival, a generic icon (like the Chrome icon) appears.
- Multiple notifications with the same tag/colapse key continue to generate separate alerts, cluttering the user experience.
Desired Outcomes
To optimize push notifications for better engagement, I aim to achieve:
- Notifications should wake up the user’s device and grab their attention.
- Alerts should be clearly visible in the device’s notification area.
- The application’s logo or icon should represent the notification, not the browser’s icon.
- Group similar notifications (using tags/colapse keys) instead of flooding the notification area with duplicates.
Additional Features & Considerations
An important aspect to explore is whether interactive notifications are feasible— such as including action buttons for like, reply, or other quick responses, to foster more engaging user interactions directly from the notification.
Concluding Thoughts
While sending push notifications might seem straightforward, ensuring they are perceived as legitimate and engaging requires careful configuration. Properly setting icons, tags, and actions, as well as managing browser and device constraints, are essential steps for a successful implementation.
If you’re facing similar hurdles, review your notification payloads—ensure you’re using the correct parameters, and verify that your server and client configurations align with best practices. Sometimes, working with different browsers or device settings can also influence how notifications are perceived and handled.
**Final Tip
