Announcing Web Push on Appboy [Product Update]

UPDATE: Web Push support is now available through Appboy’s Web SDK. Appboy supports both the new web standard as well as former implementations of Chrome on desktop and mobile (version 42), Firefox (version 44), and Safari (version 7+). You can see how it works here.

When Google releases Chrome 48 and Mozilla releases Firefox 44 (early next year), they will each include a brand new feature with built-in support for receiving content via the push notification message itself. It works the same way app push notifications operate on your phone. Google’s Chrome team had been waiting to modernize the way they send web browser notifications for an encryption scheme to be finished — and now, it’s here.

Why is this different than what has previously been announced?

This new support is important, because previously you couldn’t send any data within a web push and had to perform an additional operation (a fetch) to get the information needed to populate the notification. This means you can now integrate web push behaviors and data with your other marketing systems offering you a single view of your customer so you can provide a more seamless experience for each individual customer. Users of both browsers can opt-in to receiving timely web push notifications from web applications whether or not the web page is loaded.

We here at Appboy believe that this is the future of web push standards. Google and Mozilla are betting on web push and refining their approach. So are we. We’re proud to announce that we’ll be supporting web push on Chrome and Firefox as part of our existing Web SDK.

We’ve been supporting on-site in-browser messages — along with email — on desktops and the mobile web since July 2015. With support for web push, marketers will be able to leverage this additional channel to keep customers engaged and retained. Through the Appboy Web SDK, you have a single unified view of each customer across screens. This personal understanding gives you the ability to make messages relevant and valuable to each user in real time. The possibilities are just beginning.

Here are some ideas to get you started:

Keep customers engaged with your website

Give customers the information or personalized content that they need

Let customers know what their friends are doing

Reach abandoned carts with a daily offer

To get ready, learn more about Appboy’s Web SDK and prepare for how web messaging can move your business forward.