Why is My Push Notification Delivery Rate Low?

There are several reasons why delivery rates can be low on push notifications.

Devices are Minimising Background Activity

These days, many Android devices minimise background activity to save battery life. When contacts’ devices do this, and notifications reach them, two things can happen:

  1. The notification displays next time the contact opens their browser (which is most often the case).
  2. The notification is discarded altogether, and the contact will never receive it. This is the biggest reason why your Android contacts may not be getting your push notifications.

The Contact’s Browser Was Closed

Web push notifications rely on the contact having their browser open for the notification to be delivered. Some mobile devices keep your browser open in the background for a while. If the browser has been closed and is not running in the background, the push notification will only be delivered next time the contact opens the browser – provided that nothing else is stopping delivery.

Note: The contact doesn’t need to have your website open on their browser for the notification to be delivered – the browser simply needs to be open.

Contacts Have Cleared Their Browser Data

When contacts clear their browsing data, they might also unintentionally uninstall the service worker asset that displays your push notifications to them. This means the push notification will not be delivered to them. Everlytic’s Web SDK mitigates this issue by asking contacts to resubscribe next time they visit your website.

Spotty Network Connections

If a contact’s device has a bad internet connection, or stays disconnected for an extended period of time, two things can happen:

  1. The push notification may still get delivered, but Everlytic won’t record a delivery (since the device can’t talk to our servers).
  2. The push notification does not get delivered (since we can’t talk to the device).

The Notification Has Expired

When you’re setting up your push notification, you’ll also set an expiry date for it. If a contact has not received your notification by the time the push notification expires, the notification will be discarded, and the contact will never receive it.