--- title: "Push notifications for your app: one API, one platform" description: "Send push notifications to your mobile app users through one REST API, by user ID, device token, topic or segment, and back them up with SMS or WhatsApp." canonical: "https://omnichannels.ai/channels/push-notifications/" language: "en" updated: "2026-11-04" publisher: "BroadNet Technologies" brand: "OmniChannels.ai" --- # Push notifications for your app: one API, one platform Canonical: https://omnichannels.ai/channels/push-notifications/ Language: en Publisher: OmniChannels.ai by BroadNet Technologies Send push notifications to your app's users from the same REST API you use for SMS, WhatsApp and RCS, then reach everyone who has not opened the app on another channel. **Short answer:** OmniChannels.ai is a push notification service and API for mobile apps. You call POST /push/message/send with a title, body and audience: user IDs, device tokens, topics or a segment. Notifications can carry images, deep links and action buttons, use stored templates, be scheduled, and be validated with a dry run first. Our team connects your Firebase Cloud Messaging project and, for iOS, your APNs credentials during onboarding. ## What the push notification API does - **Target by user, token, topic or segment:** Address your own user IDs (userRefs), explicit FCM device tokens, FCM topics, or a segment defined by country, city, language and tags. - **Rich notifications:** Add an HTTPS image, a deep link opened on tap, and action buttons such as Confirm or Reschedule. - **Stored templates:** Create, preview, test-send and publish templates with version history, then send them by templateId with your own variables. - **Priority, time to live and scheduling:** Mark time-sensitive messages as high priority, set a time to live, replace older notifications with a collapse key, or schedule a send. - **Dry run before you send:** Set dryRun to true to validate a payload end to end without delivering anything to real users. - **Batch control:** List batches, read their details, and pause, resume or abort a batch with the batch endpoints. - **Location-triggered notifications:** Geofences can trigger notifications by location. Our team enables geofencing for your app on request. - **Delivery statuses by webhook:** Track delivery statuses on the webhook URL configured on your account, the same way as for the other channels. ## Push, SMS or WhatsApp: which should you use? | Channel | Reaches | Best for | Note | |---|---|---|---| | Push notification | Users who installed your app and registered a device | App activity: order status, reminders, in-app offers, re-engagement | Use as the first step when the user is in your app. | | WhatsApp | Opted-in customers by phone number | Rich conversations, templates, support and receipts | Use when you need a conversation or media. | | SMS | Any mobile number | OTP codes, urgent alerts and customers without the app or WhatsApp | Use as the universal fallback. | ## How to start sending push notifications 1. **Connect your app:** Our team connects your Firebase Cloud Messaging project and, for iOS, your APNs credentials, and gives you your app ID. 2. **Register devices against your user IDs:** Your app registers each device against your own identifier, the userRef, so you can send to people instead of tokens. 3. **Check a payload with a dry run:** Call POST /push/message/send with dryRun set to true and confirm the request is valid before real users see anything. 4. **Send or schedule:** Send to userRefs, tokens, topics or a segment, or schedule the send. Save repeated messages as templates. 5. **Add a fallback:** Decide which messages need a second channel, for example SMS for an OTP or a delivery alert, and set the order per use case. ## When is push the right channel? ### A good fit when - You have a mobile app and want to reach installed users without needing their phone numbers. - Messages are tied to app activity, such as order status, appointment reminders or account alerts. - You want one API and one webhook format for push, SMS, WhatsApp and the other channels. - You want to send by your own user ID rather than manage device tokens. ### Good to know before you start - Push only reaches people who installed your app and allowed notifications. - The documented API covers mobile app push through FCM and APNs. Ask our team about anything beyond that before you plan around it. - Do not rely on push alone for OTP codes or critical alerts: add SMS or voice as a fallback. - Geofencing is enabled on request for your app. ## Push notification service questions ### What is a push notification service? A push notification service delivers short messages from your servers to users' devices, even when your app is closed. On Android the delivery runs through Firebase Cloud Messaging and on iOS through Apple's APNs. A service like OmniChannels.ai sits in front of both and gives you one API to call. ### How does a push notification API work? Your app registers each device with a token. Your backend then calls the API with the audience and the content, and the service hands the notification to FCM or APNs for delivery. With OmniChannels.ai you call POST /push/message/send and can target users by your own user IDs. ### What is the difference between push notifications and SMS? Push reaches people who installed your app and allowed notifications, and it needs a data connection. SMS reaches any mobile number without an app. Push suits in-app updates and engagement. SMS suits OTP codes, urgent alerts and customers without your app. ### Can I send a push notification to a segment of users? Yes. Besides user IDs, device tokens and topics, the API accepts a segment object with criteria such as country, city, language and tags, together with your app ID. You can also schedule the send and label it with a campaign name. ### Can I test a push notification before sending it? Yes. Set dryRun to true to validate the request without delivering anything. For templates you can preview with sample data and send a test to your own device before publishing a version. ### Can I add images, links and buttons? Yes. Notifications can include an HTTPS image, a deep link that opens on tap, custom data for your app, and action buttons, each with an ID, a title and an action. You can also send data-only and silent messages. ### What if the user has not opened the app or has turned notifications off? Push cannot reach them. For messages that matter, configure a fallback to another channel such as SMS or WhatsApp. The fallback order is set per use case, and delivery statuses arrive in one webhook format. ### How do I start? Book a demo. Our team connects your Firebase project and APNs credentials during onboarding, gives you your app ID, and you can then call the API with your token. The developer documentation lists every push endpoint. ## Official sources - [Firebase Cloud Messaging — Firebase](https://firebase.google.com/docs/cloud-messaging) - [User Notifications — Apple Developer](https://developer.apple.com/documentation/usernotifications) Updated: 2026-11-04