How to create and send Push Notifications

Push notifications are the built in mass notification system available in all AppArmor mobile safety applications. The notifications are similar to a text message; they will pop up on the device’s main screen and alert the user to an emergency situation.

At install, the user is prompted to “allow” your mobile safety app to send it push notifications. The vast majority of users consent. The notifications will also appear regardless of whether or not the app is running. It is an extremely effective form of mass notification.

You can send a push notification through your online dashboard:

1. First, sign into your dashboard using your credentials.
2. Then, on the left hand side of the screen is the “Push Notifications” button. Click it.
3. The button will then reveal two sub menu options: Send a push notification and push notifications log.
4. The log simply archives previous pushes so that you can review past activity.
5. For this example, we want to send a push notification, so click “send a push notification”
6. We’re then taken to the main push notification page. You’ll notice three tabs:

Sample

This is where you can see what a push notification looks like to a user.

Canned

This is where you can create push notifications in advance and make it easier to “load” in the event of an emergency.

Push

This is where you create a new push notification on the spot.

Let’s first create a canned push notification:

1. Click the “canned” tab.
2. Once there, you’ll see four fields:

Canned Push Notification drop down list

This identifies what pushes we’ve already created and saved using this tool.

Canned Push Notification Name

This is the internal name of the push notification; the user will NOT see this name.

Title

This is the heading which the user WILL see so name it carefully.

Notification Text

This is the body of the push notification message. This is where you’ll want to put the content of your push.

In your push text you can insert quite a few things, including map URLs, links to videos, and other important information. Please note that there is a 120 character limit and that any URLs must be fully qualified; that is, they must have the “http colon forward slash forward slash”.

Once you have the all the fields complete, it’s time to save the canned message:

1. Do that by clicking the save button.
2. You’ve now saved the push and can access it later in the Canned Push Notification Drop down list.
3. Let's finish this off by sending this saved push.

To send the push:

1. First, we need to load it. We can do this by clicking the “load” button.
2. Your push is now automatically loaded and you’ve been moved to the “Push” tab.
3. Press the “Send Push Notification” to send your push.
4. You will be prompted by your browser to ensure that you want to send this push – click yes.
5. And voila, you’ve sent your push notification!

NOTE: You don’t always have to create a “canned push” to send a push notification. You can simply go to this push tab and send a push at any time.

If you ever have any questions do not hesitate to reach out to us at support@apparmor.com