EDLINK18 Notifications - Getting Started
Getting Started
EDLINK18 utilizes ntfy to send alerts/notifications to clients from our various systems.
Phone Notifications:
You can use the ntfy Android App or iOS app to receive notifications directly on your phone.
You can get the Android app from both Google Play. The iOS app can be downloaded from the App Store.
Alternatively, you may also want to consider using the progressive web app (PWA) instead of the native app. The PWA is a website that you can add to your home screen, and it will behave just like a native app.
Overview:
A picture is worth a thousand words. Here are a few screenshots showing what the app looks like. It's all pretty straight forward. You can add topics and as soon as you add them, you will start receiveing messages from them.
Message priority:
Supported on: Android & iOS
When we publish messages to a topic, we can define a priority. This priority defines how urgently Android will notify you about the notification, and whether they make a sound and/or vibrate.
By default, messages with default priority or higher (>= 3) will vibrate and make a sound. Messages with high or urgent priority (>= 4) will also show as pop-over, like so:
High and urgent notifications show as pop-over
You can change these settings in Android by long-pressing on the app, and tapping "Notifications", or from the "Settings" menu under "Channel settings". There is one notification channel for each priority:
Per-priority channels
Per notification channel, you can configure a channel-specific sound, whether to override the Do Not Disturb (DND) setting, and other settings such as popover or notification dot:
Per-priority sound/vibration settings
Web Notifications:
The web app lets you subscribe and publish messages to topics. For EDLINK18, the web app is available at ntfy.mgmt.edlink18.net. To subscribe, simply type in the topic name and click the Subscribe button. After subscribing, messages published to the topic will appear in the web app, and pop up as a notification.
Background notifications
While subscribing, you have the option to enable background notifications on supported browsers (see "Settings" tab).
Note: If you add the web app to your homescreen (as a progressive web app, more info in the installed web app docs), you cannot turn these off, as notifications would not be delivered reliably otherwise. You can mute topics you don't want to receive notifications for.
If background notifications are off: This requires an active ntfy tab to be open to receive notifications. These are typically instantaneous, and will appear as a system notification. If you don't see these, check that your browser is allowed to show notifications (for example in System Settings on macOS). If you don't want to enable background notifications, pinning the ntfy tab on your browser is a good solution to leave it running.
If background notifications are on: This uses the Web Push API. You don't need an active ntfy tab open, but in some cases you may need to keep your browser open. Background notifications are only supported on the same server hosting the web app. You cannot use another server, but can instead subscribe on the other server itself.
If the ntfy app is not opened for more than a week, background notifications will be paused. You can resume them by opening the app again, and will get a warning notification before they are paused.
From the Desktop:
While ntfy doesn't have a native desktop app, it is built as a progressive web app (PWA) and thus can be installed on both desktop and mobile devices.
This gives it its own launcher (e.g. shortcut on Windows, app on macOS, launcher shortcut on Linux, home screen icon on iOS, and launcher icon on Android), a standalone window, push notifications, and an app badge with the unread notification count.
Web app installation is supported on (see compatibility table for details):
- Chrome: Android, Windows, Linux, macOS
- Safari: iOS 16.4+, macOS 14+
- Firefox: Android, as well as on Windows/Linux via an extension
- Edge: Windows
Installation
Chrome on Desktop
To install and register the web app via Chrome, click the "install app" icon. After installation, you can find the app in your app drawer:
Safari on macOS
To install and register the web app via Safari, click on the Share menu and click Add to Dock. You need to be on macOS Sonoma (14) or higher.
Chrome/Firefox on Android
For Chrome on Android, either click the "Add to Home Screen" banner at the bottom of the screen, or select "Install app" in the menu, and then click "Install" in the popup menu. After installation, you can find the app in your app drawer, and on your home screen.
For Firefox, select "Install" in the menu, and then click "Add" to add an icon to your home screen:
Safari on iOS
On iOS Safari, tap on the Share menu, then tap "Add to Home Screen":
Background notifications
Background notifications via web push are enabled by default and cannot be turned off when the app is installed, as notifications would not be delivered reliably otherwise. You can mute topics you don't want to receive notifications for.
On desktop, you generally need either your browser or the web app open to receive notifications, though the ntfy tab doesn't need to be open. On mobile, you don't need to have the web app open to receive notifications. Look at the web docs for a detailed breakdown.