Notifications

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Learn about the technical aspects of notification delivery on device, including notification types, priorities, and notification center management.

Notifications Documentation

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AlarmKit alarms do not fire when foregrounded app is in landscape
Hello! When setting an alarm in an AlarmKit app, the alarm will not fire properly/reliably (the alert presentation is not shown) while the device has an app foregrounded in the landscape orientation. This behaviour has been present since the betas, however until the first party Reminders app showed the behaviour in the iOS 26.2 beta I suspected the issue was in my own code. The behaviour is exhibited when scheduling alarms in several AlarmKit apps: The Reminders app The AlarmKit WWDC Demo Project My own AlarmKit app However alarms scheduled by the stock Clock app do not seem to exhibit the behaviour. Minimal repro with first party app: Be using iOS 26.2 beta Open Reminders app Create an urgent reminder for a time in the not too distant future Open Mail.app Change to landscape orientation Wait for the fire time Observe the phone vibrates at the correct time but no alarm is fired Drag the notifications pane down, observe the LiveActivity has been started Change to portrait orientation Observe alarm fires I have noticed this behaviour from the AlarmKit apps mentioned while foregrounding other apps besides Mail, both first and third party: Photos YouTube Netflix The behaviour does not seem to occur when the foregrounded app is restricted to portrait mode, no matter the actual orientation of the device. In the case of my own app I have tried a multitude of ideas to get it to work reliably, getting alarms to fire in landscape is very intermittent at best and most often works after a fresh reboot. I've submitted a Feedback for the Reminders app: FB20956492. Any advice or suggestions would be appreciated!
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189
Nov ’25
Alternate App Icon Change Does Not Reflect in Notification Center on iOS 18.1+
Version: iOS 18.1 and later (works as expected on iOS 18.0 and earlier) Area: SpringBoard / Notification Center / App Icon Rendering Description: When changing the app's alternate icon using UIApplication.setAlternateIconName(_:completionHandler:), the icon is updated correctly on the Home Screen and App Switcher. However, in Notification Center, the old app icon is still shown for notifications, even after the change has completed. This issue only occurs on iOS 18.1 and later. In iOS 18.0 and earlier, Notification Center correctly reflects the updated icon. - Steps to reproduce: Create an iOS app with alternate app icons configured in the Info.plist. Use UIApplication.shared.setAlternateIconName("IconName") to change the icon at runtime. Send a notification. Pull down Notification Center and observe the icon shown beside the notification. - Expected Behavior: Notification Center should reflect the updated (alternate) app icon immediately after the change. - Actual Behavior: Notification Center continues to display the old (primary) app icon. The new icon appears correctly on the Home Screen and App Switcher. Restarting the device does cause Notification Center to update and reflect the correct icon, which suggests a cache or refresh issue in SpringBoard or Notification Center. - Notes: Issue introduced in iOS 18.1; not present in 18.0. Reproduces on both physical devices and simulators. Occurs with both scheduled local notifications and remote notifications. Restarting the device updates the Notification Center icon, but this is not a viable user-facing workaround.
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204
Apr ’25
APNs Feedback Service Domain Unavailable
The APNs Feedback Service domain “feedback.push.apple.com” was deprecated on March 31, 2021, and became unavailable after August 2025 due to domain name resolution failures. Will this feedback service become available again in the future? Also, is it possible to use the APNs Feedback Service with a domain different from “feedback.push.apple.com”?
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73
Sep ’25
Not Receiving Incoming VoIP Push Notifications on iOS 18.4 (React Native App)
Hi Apple Dev Team, We have a React Native application that includes call functionality using PushKit and VoIP notifications. We are using APNS to send the VoIP notifications, and everything has been working smoothly on iOS versions up to 18.3.1. However, after updating to iOS 18.4, we are no longer receiving incoming VoIP push notifications on the device. There have been no code changes related to our PushKit or notification logic — the exact same build continues to work correctly on devices running iOS 18.3.1 and earlier. We're trying to understand if anything has changed in iOS 18.4 that affects VoIP push delivery or registration behavior. Would appreciate any guidance, and happy to share code snippets or configuration if needed. Thanks in advance!
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167
Apr ’25
Background Push Notifications for Emergency App Delayed Despite Critical Alert Entitlement
I’m using Appnotic from my server to send notifications for an emergency service, where it is critical that notifications are delivered immediately. My payload looks like this: "aps": { "alert": "Test alert", "sound": { "critical": 1, "name": "sound.wav", "volume": 0.5 }, "content-available": 1, "category": "alert" }, "topic": "com.fireservicerota.FSR-Primary-Alerting", "custom_payload": { "id": "11", "type": "alert", "incident_id": 23434, "incident_response_id": 2652343, "expiration_time": "2024-06-06T16:59:05+01:00" } } I already have the critical alert entitlement and background processing enabled. Everything seems fine when debugging, but I’m experiencing issues: • Some notifications never arrive • Around 60% of notifications arrive with noticeable delay Since this is an emergency app, delivery speed is crucial. What could be causing this inconsistency?
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146
Apr ’25
PushKit with CallKit - CallKit not shown when app is in background or terminated
Hi team, I am developing VOIP feature using PushKit and CallKit but CallKit is not show when app in background or terminate state, now in foreground state I can call reportNewIncomingCall from pushRegistry-didReceiveIncomingPushWith and it's work as expected but the problem is in background or terminate state it's not my setup: PushKit is configured In Signing & Capabilities I add background modes (Remote notifications and Voice over IP) In info.plist I add <key>UIBackgroundModes</key> <array> <string>voip</string> I'm not sure should I create new VOIP Certificate but now I can receive message notification normally. Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated Thank you
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Jul ’25
pushkit and callkit
I am currently implementing VoIP push notifications in my iOS app using PushKit. On iOS 18, I am able to receive VoIP notifications successfully when the app is in the foreground. However, when the app is in the background or in a terminated (kill) state, the notifications do not arrive. In earlier iOS versions, my existing implementation worked as expected across all app states. This issue seems to have started after testing on iOS 18, which appears to have introduced stricter permission or background execution requirements. Questions: Has iOS 18 introduced new permission requirements or entitlements for VoIP push notifications? Do I need to explicitly request a new type of user permission for VoIP notifications? Are there additional background modes, Info.plist keys, or PushKit changes required for VoIP to work in background and terminated states on iOS 18? Additional Information: . Foreground: Works fine, pushRegistry(_:didReceiveIncomingPushWith:for:completion:) is triggered. . Background/Terminated: No call to the above delegate method. . Using correct voip push type in the payload. . PushKit is configured in AppDelegate. . Background modes for "Voice over IP" and "Background Processing" are enabled. . Using a real device with iOS 18 for testing (not simulator). Any guidance or updated documentation references for handling VoIP pushes in iOS 18 would be greatly appreciated.
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298
Aug ’25
Provisional Permission is not working as expected in iOS 16
We recently developed the provisional permission for our app, but we have noticed that is not working as expected in iOS 16 (We have tested only there). Currently we request the permissions like this: UNUserNotificationCenter.current().requestAuthorization(options: [.alert, .badge, .sound, .provisional]) { [weak self] _, _ in // here we register for pushes in case authorizationStatus is provisional or authorised } What happens is we do get the 1st notification with the keep CTA - once tapped we see that there pops an action: "Deliver Immediately", but even though the user selects that, we still see under setting the pushes are marked as "Deliver Quietly". In addition to this the sound and bage still stay as toggled off - and the lock screen and banner as well stay off. Basically, nothing changes after the user selects "Deliver Immediately"
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793
6d
Critical Alerts Entitlement
Hi Team, We’re following up on our request for the Critical Alert entitlement for our app, which we plan to use to notify users about critical states of their devices. It’s been almost 4 weeks since we submitted the request, and we wanted to check on the typical review timeline so we can plan our upcoming work accordingly. If there’s anything we can provide or clarify to help complete the review or make the process easier, we’d be happy to assist. or the right forum to reach out to.
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63
Jul ’25
APNs Background Push Success but Wallet Pass Fails with ‘Unable to Deserialize JSON Payload’ on Device
I'm working on implementing Apple Wallet passes using background push notifications. My server successfully sends the push notification using APNs. The response from the server is HTTP/2 200, and the device receives the push — I can confirm this from device logs. However, the device logs show the following error: "Failed to parse JSON message payload for topic " "Unable to deserialize JSON message payload" My payload is below 2 payload. //string payload = "{"aps":{"content-available":1}}"; string payload = JsonConvert.SerializeObject(new { aps = new Dictionary<string, object> { { "content-available", 1 } } }); string curlArgs = $"-s -o nul -w \"%{{http_code}}\" " + $"--data-binary \"{payload}\" " + $"-H \"apns-topic: {bundleId}\" " + $"-H \"apns-push-type: background\" " + $"-H \"apns-priority: 5\" " + $"-H \"content-type: application/json\" " + $"-H \"authorization: bearer {jwt}\" " + $"--http2 https://api.push.apple.com/3/device/{token}"; I’ve confirmed that: The device has the Wallet pass installed. The apns-topic header is set to my passTypeIdentifier. The apns-push-type is background and apns-priority is 5. Steps to Reproduce: Install Wallet pass on iOS device. Send background push to device using the above payload. Observe the device logs using Console.app or log stream. See error: unable to deserialize JSON message payload. Is there a specific payload format expected for Wallet passes? Or any additional fields required in the push payload to avoid this deserialization error?
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161
Jul ’25
How does AccessoryNotifications forward notifications to BLE accessories? What Service/Characteristic should the accessory implement?
Environment: iOS 26.4 beta Xcode 26.4 beta Framework: AccessoryNotifications, AccessorySetupKit, AccessoryTransportExtension Description: I'm implementing notification forwarding to a custom BLE accessory using the new AccessoryNotifications framework in iOS 26.4. I've set up an AccessoryDataProvider extension following the documentation, but I'm unclear about how the data is actually transmitted to the BLE accessory. Current Implementation: Main App - Uses AccessorySetupKit to discover and pair accessories: let descriptor = ASDiscoveryDescriptor() descriptor.bluetoothServiceUUID = CBUUID(string: "FEE0") let displayItem = ASPickerDisplayItem( name: "Notification Accessory", productImage: UIImage(systemName: "applewatch")!, descriptor: descriptor ) accessorySession.showPicker(for: [displayItem]) { error in // Handle error } AccessoryDataProvider Extension - Implements NotificationsForwarding.AccessoryNotificationsHandler: @main struct AccessoryDataProvider: AccessoryTransportExtension.AccessoryDataProvider { @AppExtensionPoint.Bind static var boundExtensionPoint: AppExtensionPoint { Identifier("com.apple.accessory-data-provider") Implementing { AccessoryNotifications.NotificationsForwarding { NotificationHandler() } } } } // NotificationHandler sends messages via: let message = AccessoryMessage { AccessoryMessage.Payload(transport: .bluetooth, data: data) } try await session?.sendMessage(message) Info.plist Configuration: EXExtensionPointIdentifier com.apple.accessory-data-provider NSAccessorySetupBluetoothServices FEE0 Questions: What BLE Service and Characteristic should the accessory advertise? - The documentation mentions specifying transport: .bluetooth, but doesn't explain what Service/Characteristic the accessory needs to implement to receive the notification data. 2. How does AccessoryMessage with transport: .bluetooth actually transmit data? - Is there a specific Apple-defined BLE protocol? - Does the accessory need to run specific firmware or support a particular protocol stack? 3. Is there any documentation about the accessory-side implementation? - The iOS-side documentation is clear, but I couldn't find information about what the BLE peripheral needs to implement. 4. Is MFi certification required for the accessory? - The documentation doesn't explicitly mention MFi, but it's unclear if custom third-party accessories can use this framework. Any guidance on how the BLE communication works under the hood would be greatly appreciated.
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4d
Push notifications on macOS "discarded due to expiry"
I'm having a reproducible problem receiving push notifications on macOS 26.2. The pattern is that the push is received and then discarded almost immediately (there is a 60s expiration date) when on battery power and then when I plug in pushes start working and even if I unplug again it works for hours until breaking again. These are alert notifications with priority 10. Other team members have had similar problems but less reliably broken and even get a "stored for device power considerations" message followed by discarded (see apns-unique-id c29250a3-abbf-008a-96f9-a5384e32d1df). An example from my machine with the apns-unique-id 6b2dfe3d-af99-182a-0e1e-6b811d3ec486 which fails immediately. iOS is working fine however so this seems to be confined to macOS only.
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221
Jan ’26
Real-time notification
I need to create a background notification that counts down time and uses buttons to add or subtract time. Currently, I'm developing in React Native and using Expo Go to develop my app. I managed to display a simple notification, but I can't get it to work in real-time, so that when the time is up, it emits a sound indicating that the break is over. How can I implement this feature? My application now: My goal:
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109
Nov ’25
Can iOS automatically launch an app or show a screen upon receiving a push notification (including critical alerts)?
Hi all, May I please ask for an official clarification or documentation reference from Apple regarding this scenario: Is it possible for an iOS app to automatically launch or open a specific screen when a push notification is received — while the app is in the background or terminated (killed) state? I understand that for most cases, user interaction (such as tapping the notification) is required before the app can show UI. However, I’d like to confirm whether this is also true for time-sensitive or critical alert notifications, including emergency use cases (e.g. public safety alerts). Specifically: Can a critical alert notification directly launch the app or present a view controller? Or is user interaction always required before the app can present any UI, even with the critical alert entitlement? I would appreciate if anyone — especially Apple staff or engineers — could share an official Apple document or statement that confirms this behavior. Thank you very much! (Use case context: I’m developing an emergency broadcast feature for a property management / tenant app.)
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150
Oct ’25