Push Notification
Push Notification
A system that automatically delivers messages from apps or websites directly to your phone or computer screen.
In Simple Terms
Push notifications are how your phone or computer can show you new information even when you haven't opened an app. A common example is news headlines or message previews that appear on your phone's lock screen. Websites use them too — through your browser — to let you know when new articles are published. Rather than checking for updates yourself, push notifications deliver information to you in real time.
Behind the Name
The name "Push Notification" comes from the idea of "pushing" information out to you. "Push" means to send something proactively — rather than waiting for you to come looking for it. "Notification" simply means a message or alert. Put together, a push notification is information that gets pushed out to you directly, without you having to open the app first.
Take a Closer Look!
Push notifications are a system that lets a service send messages directly to your device.
In the past, things like email worked in a "pull" model — you had to go check for new messages yourself.
Push notifications flip that around: just as the name suggests, the server pushes information out to you. That means you can catch news and messages without ever opening the app.
Here's how it works: an app developer sends a message to a dedicated server, which routes it through your phone's system and displays it on your screen.
Websites can do this too, using browser features to deliver notifications. Of course, being bombarded with alerts would be overwhelming, so users can choose — app by app, site by site — which ones are allowed to send them.
Notifications can carry more than just text: they can display images and take you straight to a specific page with a single tap.
For businesses, push notifications are a way to bring users back and remind them a service exists.
But overdo it, and users will turn notifications off — or delete the app entirely. That's why it matters to think carefully about what to send and when, making sure each notification is genuinely useful to the recipient.
Think of it like a delivery service for information — instead of going out to get it, it comes straight to you.