Creating Mobile Push Message

In this guide, you will learn how to create mobile push notifications.

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Important

To send mobile push messages via Reteno, you need to set up a connection between your mobile app and our system.

Once you set up the integration, you can prepare and send your mobile campaign.

Creating New Mobile Push

Go to MessagesMessages → select the Mobile Push section in the left sidebar. Click the New Mobile Push button.

Mobile push editor

Main settings

Fill in the following fields:

  1. Name. The system name that the recipient will not see.
  2. Title. Required field, the recipient will see its value in the message.
  3. Subtitle. Optional field, which value only iOS users will see.
  4. Text. The main content of a push message is up to 1000 characters long.
Mobile push settings

Use emojis in the title, subtitle, and text fields.

Emojis

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Note

One emoji takes up two characters. Keep this in mind when creating messages

  1. Personalization. Use the dynamic variables to add a name, city, bonuses or any personal data available in the user profile. Click on the Personalization icon in the Title, Subtitle or Text field to select data.
Personalization
  1. Image Add a 2:1 aspect ratio image, approximately 512x256, to your message body. Larger images will be scaled. The typical file size is up to 5 MB. For iOS, you can upload a GIF file that will display as a static image on Android.
  • Image — one picture.
  • Image carousel — up to 10 scrolling images. The carousel is available on Android and iOS devices. Before using the image carousel for iOS, you must set content extension.
Image carousel

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Note

You can edit the image directly in the editor when uploading (if it does not meet the requirements) or after uploading (the Edit button). After editing, the image is saved in PNG format.

Image editor
  1. Link. The URL can be opened by a device browser or as a deep link to a specific location within your mobile app. If no link is specified, a tap on the push notification will open the app. Also, you can set an individual link for each user using the personalization option.
  2. Buttons. Use buttons to trigger any event. For example, some answer options or the transition to the specified URL. When a recipient touches the screen for an extended period of time (long pressing), it displays the actions assigned to your push notification.
Link and buttons

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Note

  • We do not recommend using links with the HTTPS protocol in mobile pushes because, after the first click, the user will see a pop-up window asking where to open the link — in a browser or in a mobile app.
  • For the user to immediately get to the desired screen of the app by clicking, use links of the format myphotoapp:Vacation?index=1. Read more >
  • For iOS, you can add up to four buttons; for Android — up to three.

To add the action buttons to your mobile push notification, click + Add Button and enter the following parameters:

ParameterDescription
Action IDA unique identifier of the button action.
TextThe text that the button displays.
iOS icon pathThe icon associated with an action. Available in iOS 15 and later. Enter the name of an image in your app’s bundle, preferably in an asset catalogue.
Launch URLA URL or a deeplink that opens when the notification is selected.
Custom dataAdditional parameters associated with the button in JSON format.

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Note

You must enter the values in Action ID and Text for a button to work correctly. Use different Action IDs when you add several buttons.

To learn more about notification action icons, see Apple documentation.

For click event handling, you can use your preferred tools.

Also, you can use our SDK for this purpose. Learn more about installing and using our SDK for mobile apps.

  1. Tags. Select tags from the list or enter a new one and click Enter. Use tags to filter search results and set campaign frequency strategy.
Tags

Additional settings

Fill in the following fields:

  1. Custom data. You can create push notification messages using custom data in JSON format. If custom data is used in a multilingual message, it can be applied to all language versions. To do this, activate the Use custom data from the default language version for all versions switcher. If the switcher is disabled, different custom data can be used in each language version.
Custom data

Also, you can use dynamic variables to add data into the Custom data parameter: message name, first name, city, and so on. Click on the personalization icon and select the required.

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Note

This option will only work if your app supports custom data, regardless of the user’s device. Please make sure that your app’s developers have provided this option.

  1. Sound. A sound to play when the device receives the notification.

  2. Unread messages badge. By default, each notification increments a number displayed in the long-press menu. To display arbitrary values, activate the switcher and specify the desired number. For example, you can enter a value greater than the real one to attract attention or, conversely, lesser so as not to disturb the user with many unread messages.

Unread messages badge
  1. Annoyance level. Prioritize your notifications to protect subscribers from intrusive messages.
  2. Subscription categories. Manage subscription categories to send messages to your contacts based on their preferences.
  3. Time to Live (TTL). TTL — the period after which the message will not be displayed if it has not been delivered by this time. By default, it’s 1 day, but you can select other options.
Time to Live

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Note

Your organization’s logo is added to the mobile push notification from your app automatically.

Multilingual version (optional)

You can create a multiple language message if this option is available in your pricing plan. Click the globe icon in the top panel, specify the default language and add language versions. Fill each version with the content in the corresponding language. You can switch between versions within one template in one click.

 Multilingual version

Learn more about multilanguage >

Testing Message

  1. Test the messages by clicking the Test button on the top panel.
Test message
  1. In a popup window, enter a phone number enter email, contactID, or phone number linked to the mobile push token.
Sending message
  • Under Application, select the app in which you want to send your push notification. If you have only one app, it will be selected automatically.
  • Under Search, enter email, contactID, or phone number to send your push notification to.
    If the contact is an app user, you will see such status:

Searching contact

It means the provided contact data has a matching mobile token. You can send a test notification to this contact. Otherwise, you will receive the next notification: The contact does not have an application token.
After sending your test mobile notification, you’ll see how your push notification will look on the device it’s sent to. There are three options for how your push notification can be displayed:

On iOS: Push notifications display as a banner in the notification tray.

Push example

On Android:

  • A cropped push notification is displayed in the push notification drawer.
  • The push notification is expanded in the push notification drawer.
Push on Android