Nextcloud’s push notifications for iOS and Android

Post date

October 24, 2023

What is a push notification?

Push notifications are alerts that notify users of a new message or update while an application is in standby or not actively running.

At Nextcloud, push notifications are designed to protect users and their data. Since push notifications on your iPhone or Android phone depend on Apple and Google, we made an effort to implement ours with your data privacy in mind.

How do push notifications at Nextcloud work?

Thanks to the Nextcloud Push Proxy, the free, hosted service from Nextcloud, notifications are sent through the proxy and not directly to Google and Apple to prevent any data going to them from your instance.

Nextcloud’s push notifications are this secure because of encryption. When you log into one of our mobile applications (like the iOS Files app), a public and private key are generated on the device itself and the public key is sent to your Nextcloud instance. When a push notification is sent to your device, that public key is used to encrypt the data before sending it to the Nextcloud Push Proxy. Only after receiving the notification on the device, it is decrypted using the private key of the device.

Overall, our push notifications enable you to be the one in control – not even Nextcloud can gain access to your data.

Benefits of mobile push notifications

1. Doesn’t drain your battery

If you always kept your application open, your battery would drain quite fast and not be efficient at all. That’s why our push notifications are implemented right into your operating system.

2. Speed

Push notifications are instant, without delay. This makes them great for calls and messages in Nextcloud Talk.

3. Convenience

When a file or chat message is shared with you, you’re informed right away on your mobile device.

For a new chat message on iOS, a notification banner will pop up even if your phone is locked and you can directly open the file from the push notification.

For a new file on iOS, simply click on the push notification and you’re taken to your notifications page where you can then go to the file.

Whether you’re away from your laptop or not, you won’t miss any important updates.

Want to learn more?

In Nextcloud Talk for iOS and Android, we have extensive documentation for debugging and troubleshooting push notifications available. Get access in the links below!