This article introduces Mobile push notifications management on Android and iOS.
Topics covered in this article:
- What are mobile push notifications?
- Managing mobile push notifications
- Automated notifications
- Manual notifications
- Deep links
- AWS Pinpoint core areas
AXIS 9.8 delivers push notifications management with Ref App support coming soon to Android and iOS platforms.
Important: Reference App integration is required. Register the AXIS Ref Apps with Amazon Pinpoint and synchronize user attributes to successfully target and send notifications to end-users.
Push notifications in AXIS Reference Apps
Android and iOS 6.9 delivers Reference App support for mobile push notifications.
What are mobile push notifications?
- Mobile push notifications are popups that can:
- Inform users when new content is available
- Remind users when a live event is about to start
- Notify users when content is leaving the service
- Recommend specific content based on user data
Notifications can contain embedded deep links to specific pages within your app.
Managing mobile push notifications
Users are given access to AWS Pinpoint to create and manage push notifications to Android and iOS devices. Pinpoint sends notifications via campaigns, using segment data.
Deltatre provides out-of-the-box Pinpoint permissions for template creation and configuration, however, developers can manage these permissions to suit project needs.
Templates follow a naming convention that links to the associated environment, and AWS user permissions. Permissions are set at the environment level and determine the control over editing and creating templates.
Automated notifications
Automated notifications use scheduled AWS Pinpoint campaigns, set up and configured by back-end developers.
Operators can control the notification content, including the title and body copy.
Use the backend service to configure further settings, including:
- Who to push notifications to
- The notification time and date
- How long before the event/deadline notifications send
- Target item types (last chance notifications)
Automated notification supports the following use cases:
Live event notifications
Ensure your end-users don’t miss out on the action. Use push notifications to notify your end-users about an event relating to a persona or team they follow or an event they’ve bookmarked. For example, send a notification one week before the event starts (offer start date) at midday.
Last chance/leaving soon notifications
Keep your end-users in the know. Use push notifications to inform your users when the content they’ve bookmarked or part-watched is leaving your platform, giving them a last chance to watch it. For example, send a notification five days before a movie is no longer available (the latest offer date), at midday, to all premium subscription users.
Which targeting/segmentation options are available for automated campaigns?
Currently, targeting and segmentation options include:
- Users who have bookmarked the content in question
- Users who are following a team participating in the event in question
Are scheduled notifications updated when item metadata changes?
Yes, scheduled campaigns automatically update when item metadata changes. This means when an item is published or unpublished, any existing scheduled campaigns are deleted, and new ones are created based on current configurations.
Can operators update templates for scheduled campaigns?
Yes, each notification profile configured in the Notification service has an associated template in Pinpoint. Update these templates as and when required.
Manual notifications
Operators can create manual notifications within AWS Pinpoint on an ad-hoc basis. Manual notifications can include deep links to pages within your application.
Typical use cases include:
- Letting users know about a new show that's just arrived on your service
- Informing users of upcoming content
- Promoting a subscription upgrade offer
Notification deep links
Embed deep links in notifications to point end-users to a specific place, for example, link to an asset item detail page, or a promotional page. Deep links need to be specifically crafted, see details below.
When crafting a new push notification in AWS Pinpoint:
- Select the Open a deep link action.
- Select APNs for iOS and FCM for Android notifications.
- Specify deep link URL. Deep link URLs are platform, environment, and catalog specific.
Deep link URL example:
American Horror Story S1 E1
- APNs deep link: axis-qa1://item/1878
- FCM deep link: axispush://item/1878
AWS Pinpoint deep link configuration:
Core areas of AWS Pinpoint notification configuration
It's important to understand the core areas of configuration for push notifications, including campaigns and segments.
AWS Pinpoint Campaigns
A campaign is a messaging initiative that engages a specific audience segment.
Campaigns send tailored messages according to defined schedules and help to increase engagement through push notifications linking to content, promotions, or inviting users back to your application. Read the Amazon Web Services documentation on Managing campaigns.
AWS Pinpoint Segments
When creating a campaign, choose the segment to send that campaign to.
A segment is a group of your users that share certain attributes, for example, all users in London, or a particular age group.
Read the Amazon Web Services documentation for information on:
AWS Push notifications instructions
AWS Pinpoint service
After logging in to Amazon Web Services, search for and select the Amazon Pinpoint service.
AWS Pinpoint - Region
The Region displays in the header and is project-specific.
AWS Pinpoint - Projects
A Project is a collection of recipient information, segments, campaigns, and journeys. Here, you are likely to see one project per environment, for example, dev, test, stage, production, etc.
Read more about Amazon Pinpoint Projects.
Select a campaign name to view/edit notification details.
Note: Backend engineers set up templates for automated campaigns. Operators can find this segment and update the notification copy with injectable placeholders, including the notification title, body, and time until the event, etc.
Step 1: Create/edit a campaign
Read the step-by-step Amazon Web Services documentation: Step 1: Create a campaign.
- Enter/edit campaign details using the available fields.
- Select the Channel Push notifications.
Step 2: Choose a segment
Read the step-by-step Amazon Web Services documentation: Step 2: Specify the audience for the campaign and Associating users with Amazon Pinpoint endpoints article.
Segments are used to define the end-users you want to target.
Out-of-the-box Pinpoint user attributes to target manually created notification campaigns on Android and iOS include:
- `UserId` – the profile ID
- `FOLLOWING` – list of item IDs the current user is following
- `BOOKMARKS` – list of item IDs the current user has bookmarked
- `FULLY_WATCHED` – list of item IDs that the current user has fully watched
- `PART_WATCHED` – list of item IDs the user has partially watched
- `ACTIVE_SUBSCRIPTION_CODE` – the active subscription code on the account
- `MARKETING_ENABLED` – whether the user has opted into marketing
- `AXIS_SEGMENTATION_TAGS` – list of AXIS segments the current user is in
- `LANG` – the language of the current user
- `DOWNLOADED` – list of item IDs the current user has downloaded on the device
Step 3: Create your message
Read the step-by-step Amazon Web Services documentation: Step 3: Configure the message.
Here, you have two options: Choose an existing push notification template or Create a new push notification.
3a. Choose an existing push notification template:
Select Choose a template to select a predefined message that displays in the notification.
3b. Create a new push notification
Specify the notification type, title, body, action, time-to-live (TTL), and send a test push notification.
It’s possible to localize notification copy or change content for different users based on attributes. For more information, see the AWS Send localized messages using Amazon Pinpoint templates and standard demographic attributes article.
To create a notification that links to a specific page within your app, select the Open a deep link action. Read more about embedding deep links in notifications.
Step 4: Choose when to send the campaign
Read the step-by-step Amazon Web Services documentation: Step 4: Choose when to send the campaign.
Step 5: Review and launch
Read the step-by-step Amazon Web Services documentation: Step 5: Review and launch the campaign.
AWS Pinpoint - Analytics
Gain insight into your user base by viewing trends such as user engagement, campaign outreach, revenue, etc. Read more about Amazon Pinpoint analytics.