Browser and phone notifications
The community's notifications in the browser and on the phone (Web Push). How to turn them on, install on the iPhone, unblock them in each browser, choose what arrives, show or hide the text, see and remove devices, and what happens to your data.
Browser and phone notifications tell you right away when someone sends you a message or mentions you, even with the community closed: on a computer they show in the corner of the screen; on a phone, on the lock screen, like any app's. They don't replace the bell or the e-mails: they are one more channel, which you turn on and off.
What arrives as a notification
Everything that reaches the bell also arrives as a notification, by category:
| Category | When it arrives | On by default |
|---|---|---|
| Messages | A new chat message, a connection request and an accepted connection | Yes |
| Channels: mentions and replies | Someone mentions you in a Channel or replies in a thread you follow | Yes |
| Team notices | A notice the team or an automation sends you ("New notice from the team") | Yes |
| 1:1 | The other person recorded your 1:1 | No |
| Upvote: topics you support | A new topic, or a topic you support changed status, was reopened or merged into another (Upvote) | No |
| Achievements | You received a badge | No |
| Join requests | Requests to join the community waiting for an answer. Owner and admin only | No |
| Automations | An automation is failing a lot, someone turned on an automation that sends on your behalf, and other notices from automations | No |
Several messages in a row from the same person become a single notification ("Ana sent you 5 messages"). More than 3 bell notices within a minute become a single notification, "You have N new notifications", which opens the bell. Tapping a notification opens what it is about: the conversation, the thread, the 1:1, your achievements, the request queue, the automation or, for a team notice, the bell. A bell item you have already read, or that left the bell, sends no notification.
Nothing arrives while you have the community open and active (you already see it in the app), and no chat notification arrives while your status is Busy or Unavailable.
How to turn them on
Notifications are turned on on each device: the computer's browser, the phone, the tablet. The browser only asks after you click Turn on.
- Right after you sign in, a window asks "Install {community} for the best experience" (where installing is possible, with Install) and then "Turn on notifications". Not now closes it.
- A band under the header reminds you while the device isn't ready: "Install the app for the best experience", "Turn on notifications to know right away about messages and mentions" or "Notifications are blocked in this browser", with Turn on, How to install or How to allow. Not now hides the band until the next time you open the community. The band comes in the community's main color, with the button standing out, so it isn't missed; the blocked one stays yellow. Right after signing in, it only shows once you've answered the window.
- In My Account › Notices, on the Browser and phone card, with Turn on for this device.
- The panel under your photo also shows "Notifications off · Turn on" while the device doesn't receive them.
In Chrome, Edge and on Android, installing the community on the home screen is optional: notifications work in the browser. In Firefox and in Safari on the Mac, the window goes straight to the turn-on step.
On the iPhone and iPad
On the iPhone and iPad, notifications only arrive through the app installed on the home screen (iOS and iPadOS 16.4 or newer):
- In Safari, tap Share.
- Choose Add to Home Screen.
- Open it from the new icon on the home screen.
- Log in again with your e-mail and password: the installed app has its own sign-in.
- Tap Turn on and allow notifications.
Once installed, the community shows with its name, logo and color. Each address of the community is a separate install: if the community changes its domain, install and turn them on again.
If the browser blocked them
Whoever tapped Block on the browser's prompt can't be asked again by the site: they have to unblock it in the settings and reload the page. How to allow shows the step for your browser:
| Where | How to unblock |
|---|---|
| Chrome or Edge on a computer | Click the padlock (or the settings icon) left of the address › Notifications › Allow. Then reload the page |
| Firefox | Click the padlock left of the address › Permissions › Send notifications › clear the block. Then reload the page |
| Safari on the Mac | Safari › Settings › Websites › Notifications, find the community's address and choose Allow |
| Android | Tap the padlock left of the address › Permissions › Notifications › Allow. If the system blocked them, go to Settings › Apps › Chrome › Notifications |
| iPhone (installed app) | iPhone Settings › Notifications › the community's name › turn on Allow Notifications |
If they still don't arrive, check that the device isn't in Focus or Do Not Disturb. In-app browsers (Instagram's, WhatsApp's) don't receive notifications: open the community in Safari or Chrome.
Choosing what arrives
In My Account › Notices, the Browser and phone card applies to this community:
| Option | What it does |
|---|---|
| Get notifications from this community | The main switch. Off, no device receives anything |
| What arrives | Turns each category on and off; Messages, Channels: mentions and replies and Team notices come on (what you turned off stays off; a new category that is on by default arrives on for everyone, including people who had already saved their preferences) |
| Show the message text | Off by default: the notification only says who and what ("New message from Ana"). On, it brings up to 100 characters of messages, mentions and team notices (the notice's title and text), or the name of the thread, badge or automation, including on the lock screen. Never for a blocked conversation or HR matters |
| Devices | Each device that receives them (for example, Chrome on Mac), with the last notification delivered, Send test and Remove |
Send test sends a notification to that device ("Test sent. It should arrive in a few seconds."). Remove asks "Remove this device?": it stops receiving this community's notifications; your preferences stay, and you can turn them on again whenever you like.
Logging out removes the device you were on. Leaving the community removes all your devices in it. A device the browser no longer accepts, or that went 60 days without receiving any, leaves the list by itself.
Through the assistant (MCP)
Any role, always only your own data:
| Tool | What it does | Type |
|---|---|---|
get_my_push_preferences | The main switch, the categories (chat, channels, team_notices, one_on_ones, upvotes, achievements, workflows and, for owner and admin, signup_requests; with each one's name and whether it already sends notifications) and the show-text option | Read-only |
update_my_push_preferences | Changes the main switch (enabled), the show-text option (show_preview) and the categories | Changes |
list_my_push_devices | Your devices, with type and dates | Read-only |
remove_my_push_device | Removes a device | Asks to confirm |
send_test_push | Sends a test notification to a device | Changes |
The assistant doesn't turn on a new device: that only happens in the app, on the device itself, because its browser is what asks for permission.
Ask like this: "Turn off Channels notifications on my phone" · "Which devices get my notifications? Remove Chrome on the old laptop."
Privacy
- Who delivers. The notification goes through the push service of the browser or of the device's system: Google's (Chrome and Android), Apple's (Safari and iPhone), Mozilla's (Firefox) and Microsoft's (Edge and Windows). The content travels encrypted to the device: these services don't read the text, they only see that there was a delivery, its time and its size.
- The text is optional. By default, the notification doesn't carry the message text; it only shows if you turn on Show the message text, and never for HR matters (feedback, development plan, review).
- What Memberfy keeps. Only what is needed to deliver: the delivery address the browser creates, its keys and a device label (Chrome on Mac). None of it is visible to the community's team. Everything is deleted when you remove the device, log out on it, leave the community or delete your account. See Terms of use › Personal data.
In the API
The routes live under /api/push, with X-CommunityId, for any role and only with the caller's own data: GET /api/push/config, GET and POST /api/push/subscriptions, GET and DELETE /api/push/subscriptions/{id}, POST /api/push/subscriptions/{id}/test and GET and PUT /api/push/preferences. Someone else's device answers 404. See the Push tag of the API reference.
In GET and PUT /api/push/preferences, available is true for chat, channels, oneOnOnes, upvotes, achievements, workflows, signupRequests (owner and admin only) and teamNotices, a notification-only category, on by default; each category carries label, its name in the caller's language. The team notice and the "You have N new notifications" summary open /_/notifications, which opens the bell.