Notifications

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Learn about the technical aspects of notification delivery on device, including notification types, priorities, and notification center management.

Notifications Documentation

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Can iOS automatically launch an app or show a screen upon receiving a push notification (including critical alerts)?
Hi all, May I please ask for an official clarification or documentation reference from Apple regarding this scenario: Is it possible for an iOS app to automatically launch or open a specific screen when a push notification is received — while the app is in the background or terminated (killed) state? I understand that for most cases, user interaction (such as tapping the notification) is required before the app can show UI. However, I’d like to confirm whether this is also true for time-sensitive or critical alert notifications, including emergency use cases (e.g. public safety alerts). Specifically: Can a critical alert notification directly launch the app or present a view controller? Or is user interaction always required before the app can present any UI, even with the critical alert entitlement? I would appreciate if anyone — especially Apple staff or engineers — could share an official Apple document or statement that confirms this behavior. Thank you very much! (Use case context: I’m developing an emergency broadcast feature for a property management / tenant app.)
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128
Oct ’25
iOS 18 Sending Duplicate Push Notifications
When sending a single push notification to iOS 18 devices users receive the same notification multiple times. This issue appears specific to iOS 18 and was not observed in previous iOS versions Our server logs confirm each notification is sent only once. Notification payloads include proper apns-id values for identification and no network issues detected on our side
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87
Jul ’25
Questions for AlarmKit
We are so interested in AlarmKit which is presented at WWDC25. While we planning our app using AlarmKit, We had a few questions come to mind and were hoping you could provide some clarity. Please excuse the rather long list of questions, as we don't currently have a device available to test these features ourselves. System Actions Related Is there a limit to the number of alarms that can be scheduled using AlarmKit? Are alarms scheduled with AlarmKit persistent across device reboots? When an alarm is dismissed (either by swiping or pressing the power button), can our app detect this action and execute code in response? Can we control the behavior of the physical Lock Screen buttons when an AlarmKit alarm is active, for instance, to trigger a snooze action? Does AlarmKit function correctly during Do Not Disturb or Low Power Mode? What is the expected behavior when an alarm from our app (using AlarmKit) overlaps with an alarm from another app that also uses AlarmKit? Which one is going to get its priority? Thank you for your help. Sincerely
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243
Aug ’25
Weather Notifications
I'm strugling about the way how to code notifications for my weather aplication. I use data from my server that receives weather changing values from my own weather station and want to notify user of my app when eg strong wind will blow or temperature go under eg 3℃ etc. The weather station has 8 sensors so there is sometimes a lot of data changing in particular minute that i set to parse data from server and notify user about it. But the notifications only works only when app is on and couple minutes after locking display. So please what could i use strategy for the app to works even when the app sleeps ?
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94
Mar ’25
Inconsistent grouping of notifications
I'm sending push notifications to a notification extension, and within the extension setting the threadIdentifier to be the same. But I'm observing inconsistent grouping behaviour, and behaviour that changes over time. The general iPhone settings are to display notifications as a Stack, and the app settings are to show on lock screen, notification center and banners and the notification grouping is set to by app (changing it to automatic doesn't affect the behaviour below). Pushes are displayed on the lock screen grouped together, then if the device is roused and the screen swiped down to reveal the notification center then they are still grouped. So far so good. If the iphone is active then the notifications appear at the top of the screen, one by one, but in this case if there is a swipe down to reveal the notification center then the notifications are not grouped when displayed, but shown individually. But then if one waits a few minutes and then displays the notification center for a 2nd time, sometimes now they will be grouped, but sometimes not. Why are they not (always) being displayed as grouped in the notification center?
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84
Mar ’25
Clarification on Timing for Critical Alerts Approval in iOS
We are currently planning the development of an iOS healthcare application that will require the use of Critical Alerts. I understand that these notifications bypass Do Not Disturb and Silent mode, and therefore require special entitlement from Apple. We understand that Critical Alerts require a special entitlement from Apple. Could you please clarify: Do we need to request and obtain Apple’s approval for Critical Alerts before we begin development of the app? Or can we apply for this entitlement after we have a working build or prototype ready? We want to ensure compliance and streamline our development process, so any guidance on the appropriate timing for the entitlement request would be greatly appreciated.
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89
Jul ’25
Device token not being extracted - iOS app registered for push notifications but callback methods not called
Background: The project was created in Xcode 5, then recreated in new Xcode. Before migration, push notifications worked without issues, after migration device token stopped being extracted. Problem: iOS app registers for push notifications, but didRegisterForRemoteNotificationsWithDeviceToken or didFailToRegisterForRemoteNotificationsWithError methods are not being called. Current situation: App is registered for push notifications (isRegisteredForRemoteNotifications = true) Notification permissions are granted Entitlements are configured correctly (aps-environment: development) Bundle ID: com.autoserviceonline.app Team: BUSINESSVISION COMPANY, TOO (NS3FSG45V7) But callback methods are not being called What I've already tried: Deleted and recreated all App IDs in Apple Developer Portal Cleared Xcode cache and derived data Created new APNs certificates and provisioning profiles Removed "ghost" certificate from Keychain Access Problem persists Additional information: Also noticed that Push Notifications Console opens non-existent project "BV.TestSwiftData" with Personal Team instead of current corporate App ID com.autoserviceonline.app. These issues might be related to project migration from old Xcode. Request: Why iOS doesn't call callback methods for device token, although registration was successful?
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78
Jul ’25
APNs "Discarded - Token Unregistered" showed an upward trend, from millions to tens of millions.
Dear Apple Engineer Recently we found that our push delivery rate has decreased. On the website "https://icloud.developer.apple.com/dashboard/notifications/teams/43Y657P48S/app/com.taobao.fleamarket", we found that starting from January 8, 2025, "Discarded - Token Unregistered" showed an upward trend, from millions to tens of millions. We have not found the reason, and hope you can help us. Team ID: 43Y657P48S Bundle ID: com.taobao.fleamarket Here are some failed tokens, in "Device Token Validator" The query is valid, but the user cannot receive the message: 56025f656cc3aa701898037f59e8d0cb937263ff5585cd1cec9ae661dcc15b19 5fbbd1e604d3662d7583e9377676f8fa276005145278d6dea04b4fc85a7b070e f0970602551f8d249d8f97960a74006ad78688b52fec6b0d19a585 207caff62e 9388fb40209c100afc2db728342f6fe86c7e34787a8fe4a92b73d2503c5286e0 a2819a4708462588b07452ed827d9afb03c343b586e70dcb67a9981f76295704 8949373cd43783fa3e23d38d55ee1fd72475b39f9c2d2fedca3ecb925b094240 Best Regards!
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341
Nov ’25
Does UNNotificationRequest have a 64-notification scheduling limit?
Hi, We have a simple calendar reminder app that uses UNNotificationRequest to schedule local notifications for user events. I’m wondering whether UNNotificationRequest has a system-imposed limit of 64 upcoming scheduled notifications, similar to the deprecated UILocalNotification. We’re asking because one of our users is not receiving recently scheduled reminders. Our current workflow is: We schedule notifications on app launch and when the app is about to quit. Before scheduling, we call removeAllPendingNotificationRequests(). We then fetch the 64 nearest upcoming events and schedule them using UNUserNotificationCenter.current().add(...). This approach works fine during our testing, but we’re unsure what might be causing the issue for some users. Any insights would be appreciated. Thanks!
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227
Jan ’26
Are notification pushes not being received when in Picture-in-Picture mode?
Hello, I recently had an unusual experience, and I’m wondering if this is related to Apple’s policies, so I wanted to ask. While a call is in Picture-in-Picture (PIP) mode, notification pushes from the same app do not appear. The API is being triggered, but the notification banner does not show on the device. Once PIP is closed, the notifications start appearing normally again. Is this behavior enforced by Apple’s policies? What’s interesting is that banners from other apps do appear — only the banners from the app currently in PIP are not shown.
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170
Dec ’25
iPhone push notifications stop: DeviceTokenNotForTopic
We are facing an issue: push notifications are not being received. We are using the Marketing Cloud SDK for push notifications. On install, the app correctly registers for push notifications. We pass the required information to Marketing Cloud — for example, contact key, token, etc. Marketing Cloud also confirms that the configuration is set up, and we have tried sending push notifications with proper delivery settings. The issue is that after some time, the device gets automatically opted out in the Marketing Cloud portal. When we consulted their team, they said this is caused by the “DeviceTokenNotForTopic” error received from APNs. I have verified the certificates and bundle ID from my end — everything looks correct. Device: iPhone 15, iPhone 17 iOS: 18.7.2, 26.1
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145
Dec ’25
After uninstalling the app, ManagedSettingsStore.shield is still active — seems to be an Apple system behavior
I’m using the shielding API, my code: let store = ManagedSettingsStore() let whitelist = SharedDefaults.whitelistApplications store.shield.applicationCategories = .all(except: whitelist) And to clear the shield, my code is: store.shield.applications = nil store.shield.applicationCategories = nil The issue: Some users report that after uninstalling my app, the shield is still active, and the UI changes to the default iOS system interface. Even after restarting the device, the apps on the phone remains locked, so the user has no way to remove the shield. Recently I’ve received several complaints on social media and App Store comments, accusing my app of being malicious software. This is not a 100% reproducible bug, but it happens frequently enough. I was also able to reproduce it myself by uninstalling the app during an active lock session. Could Apple engineers please look into this issue and advise how to ensure that once the user uninstalls the app, the device is no longer locked?
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203
Oct ’25
Error when validating the APNS Certificate
I trying to validate the certificate I created for APNS using the following command but I get an error. openssl s_client -connect gateway.push.apple.com:2195 -cert temp.pem -debug -showcerts Error: getaddrinfo: nodename nor servname provided, or not known connect:errno=0 Any help will be greatly appreciated.
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174
Sep ’25
Provisioning Profile Not Including Push Notifications Capability
Provisioning profiles created for my App ID are not including the Push Notifications capability, even though Push Notifications is enabled in the App ID configuration in Apple Developer Portal. I have enabled Push Notifications for my App ID (com.abc.app) in the Apple Developer Portal. The capability shows as enabled and saved. However, when provisioning profiles are generated (either manually or through third-party tools like Expo Application Services), they do not include: The Push Notifications capability The aps-environment entitlement This results in build failures with the following errors: Provisioning profile "*[expo] com.abc.app AppStore [timestamp]" doesn't support the Push Notifications capability. Provisioning profile "*[expo] com.abc.app AppStore [timestamp]" doesn't include the aps-environment entitlement. Steps Taken ✅ Enabled Push Notifications in App ID configuration (com.mirova.app) ✅ Saved the App ID configuration multiple times ✅ Waited for Apple's systems to sync (waited 5-10 minutes) ✅ Removed and re-added Push Notifications capability (unchecked, saved, re-checked, saved) ✅ Created Push Notification key in Apple Developer Portal ✅ Verified Push Notifications is checked and saved in App ID ❌ Provisioning profiles still created without Push Notifications capability Expected Behavior When Push Notifications is enabled for an App ID, any provisioning profiles created for that App ID should automatically include: Push Notifications capability aps-environment entitlement (set to production or development) Actual Behavior Provisioning profiles are created without Push Notifications capability, even though: Push Notifications is enabled in App ID App ID configuration is saved Sufficient time has passed for sync Additional Information Push Notification Key: Created and valid (Key ID: 3YKQ7XLG9L and 747G8W2J68) Distribution Certificate: Valid and active Provisioning Profile Type: App Store distribution Third-party Tool: Using Expo Application Services (EAS) for builds, but issue persists with manually created profiles as well Questions Is there a delay or sync issue between enabling Push Notifications in App ID and it being available for provisioning profiles? Are there any additional steps required to ensure Push Notifications is included in provisioning profiles? Is there a known issue with Push Notifications capability not being included in provisioning profiles? Should I create the provisioning profile in a specific way to ensure Push Notifications is included? Environment Platform: iOS Build Type: App Store distribution Xcode Version: (via EAS cloud build) Thank you for your assistance. I've been unable to resolve this issue and would appreciate any guidance. iOS Deployment Target: Latest
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182
Nov ’25
Alternate App Icon Change Does Not Reflect in Notification Center on iOS 18.1+
Version: iOS 18.1 and later (works as expected on iOS 18.0 and earlier) Area: SpringBoard / Notification Center / App Icon Rendering Description: When changing the app's alternate icon using UIApplication.setAlternateIconName(_:completionHandler:), the icon is updated correctly on the Home Screen and App Switcher. However, in Notification Center, the old app icon is still shown for notifications, even after the change has completed. This issue only occurs on iOS 18.1 and later. In iOS 18.0 and earlier, Notification Center correctly reflects the updated icon. - Steps to reproduce: Create an iOS app with alternate app icons configured in the Info.plist. Use UIApplication.shared.setAlternateIconName("IconName") to change the icon at runtime. Send a notification. Pull down Notification Center and observe the icon shown beside the notification. - Expected Behavior: Notification Center should reflect the updated (alternate) app icon immediately after the change. - Actual Behavior: Notification Center continues to display the old (primary) app icon. The new icon appears correctly on the Home Screen and App Switcher. Restarting the device does cause Notification Center to update and reflect the correct icon, which suggests a cache or refresh issue in SpringBoard or Notification Center. - Notes: Issue introduced in iOS 18.1; not present in 18.0. Reproduces on both physical devices and simulators. Occurs with both scheduled local notifications and remote notifications. Restarting the device updates the Notification Center icon, but this is not a viable user-facing workaround.
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193
Apr ’25