Skip to main content
Send notifications to your users’ devices. Hercules manages push notifications end-to-end: setup, permissions, and delivery.
Send push notifications in Hercules

​
Set up push notifications

Just ask Hercules to: Set up push notifications for my app, making sure to handle enabled, disabled, and not available states.

​
Prompt users to opt into notifications

We strongly recommend your app handles all of the following 4 permission states.
For the best experience, prompt users when notifications are most relevant (e.g. after they place an order) rather than immediately on first visit.

​
Send notifications to your iOS app

Your App Store build receives push notifications natively through Apple Push Notification service (APNs). The same sends reach both your web app and your iOS app, so a user signed in on both gets the notification on each device. Apple requires a push notification key from your Apple Developer account. Apple doesn’t let other services create one for you, so you create it once and upload it to Hercules.
1

Turn on push notifications for iOS

Click Mobile → App settings, switch on iOS push notifications, and save.
2

Create an APNs key

In the Apple Developer portal, open Certificates, Identifiers & Profiles → Keys and click +. Name the key, enable Apple Push Notifications service (APNs), and register it. Download the .p8 file. Apple lets you download it only once, so keep it somewhere safe.
3

Upload the key

In App settings → iOS push notification key, click Upload key. Choose the .p8 file and enter the Key ID (shown on the key’s page) and your Team ID (under Membership details).
4

Build a new iOS version

Build and submit a new iOS version. The new build asks users for permission and registers their device for notifications.
Until a key is uploaded, notifications to iOS app users count as failed. Your web subscribers still receive them.
In the iOS app, tapping a notification can open a specific screen. Ask Hercules: “When a user taps an order notification in the iOS app, open that order.”

​
Send notifications to your Android app

Your Google Play build receives push notifications natively through Firebase Cloud Messaging (FCM, Google’s push service for Android). The same sends reach your web app, your iOS app, and your Android app. FCM delivers through your own Firebase project, so you create one and give Hercules a key for it.
1

Add your app to Firebase

In the Firebase console, create a project (or open an existing one) and add an Android app with the package name from Mobile → App settings.
2

Turn on push notifications for Android

In App settings, switch on Android push notifications, upload the google-services.json file Firebase gives you under Android push notification config, and save.
3

Create a service account key

In the Firebase console, open Project settings → Service accounts and click Generate new private key. This downloads a JSON file. It is a different file from google-services.json, and it is a secret, so keep it somewhere safe.
4

Upload the key

In App settings → Android push notification key, click Upload key and choose the JSON file. Hercules checks the key with Google before it saves it.
5

Build a new Android version

Build and submit a new Android version. The new build asks users for permission and registers their device for notifications.
Until a key is uploaded, notifications to Android app users count as failed. Your web and iOS subscribers still receive them. Use the same Firebase project for google-services.json and the key: a key from another project cannot reach your app’s devices.
In the Android app, tapping a notification can open a specific screen, the same as in the iOS app. A notification’s image also shows on Android.

​
Send notifications

​
From the Hercules UI

Go to the Push Notifications tab to send notifications manually. When your app supplies an authenticated end user’s name or email while registering a subscription, that app-scoped snapshot is shown here. Anonymous subscribers continue to show their visitor ID. Devices subscribed from your iOS app are marked iOS app, and devices subscribed from your Android app are marked Android app.
1

Select recipients

Choose to send to all subscribers, or search and select specific users.
Select users to send push notifications
2

Compose your message

Write a title (required) and body (optional). Keep messages short and valuable.
Compose push notification message
3

Send

Click Send Notification to deliver immediately.

​
Triggered by events

Send notifications automatically when something happens in your app. Ask Hercules:
  • “Send a notification when an order is placed”
  • “Notify users when their order ships”
  • “Send a notification when an order is out for delivery”
  • “Notify users when their order is delivered”

​
Scheduled from your app

Schedule notifications to send at specific times or after delays. Ask Hercules:
  • “Send a welcome notification 1 hour after sign up”
  • “Remind users about abandoned carts after 24 hours”
  • “Let me schedule notifications from an admin page”

​
Test push notifications

Push notifications do not work in Hercules preview. Follow the mobile app testing instructions to test on a real device:
  1. Publish your app
  2. Install on a real device (Add to Home Screen)
  3. Grant notification permission when prompted
  4. Send a test notification from Mobile → Push Notifications

​
FAQ

No. Push notifications do not work inside the Hercules preview. You must test on a published URL
Yes. From the Push Notifications UI, search by email, name, or visitor ID to select specific users.
You can’t re-prompt programmatically. Guide users to their device settings to enable notifications for your app. Show a helpful message with instructions.
Yes, as of iOS 16.4+. Users must add your PWA to home screen first. Notifications won’t work from Safari directly, only from the installed PWA.
No. Test on a real iPhone with a TestFlight build. The iOS Simulator can’t register with Apple for push notifications.
Yes, once you turn on iOS push notifications in the app’s mobile settings, upload an APNs key, and build again. iOS apps have no web push, so native builds use Apple Push Notification service (APNs) instead: your app registers through window.Capacitor.Plugins.PushNotifications. See Send notifications to your iOS app.
Yes. The Android app Hercules builds shows your app in Android WebView, which has no web push, so native builds use Firebase Cloud Messaging (FCM) from your own Firebase project instead. Turn on Android push notifications in the app’s mobile settings, upload your google-services.json under Android push notification config, upload a Firebase service account key under Android push notification key, and build again. Your app registers through window.Capacitor.Plugins.PushNotifications. See Send notifications to your Android app. Browser-based Android packaging, in an early test for some accounts, hands web notifications to a compatible browser instead.
  • Title: Bold headline (keep it short, max 200 characters) - Body: Main message (optional, max 500 characters) Known limitation: Web notifications can’t deep-link to a specific screen. They open the app generically. In your iOS and Android apps, a tapped notification can open a specific screen.