Apple's recent release of the iOS and iPadOS 16.4 beta 1 marks a significant milestone for marketers. The update brings support for web push and a range of new features for WebKit, as just announced on their website.
This means that you will soon have the ability to send push notifications to your website users on iOS devices providing a powerful new tool to engage with their audience.
Web Push for all
Web push notifications have become an increasingly popular tool for engaging website visitors and driving conversions. According to a recent study, web push notifications have an average opt-in rate of 17.05%, with some industries seeing even higher rates of up to 25%. Additionally, web push notifications have an average click-through rate of 4.09%, which is higher than email marketing and social media advertising. Until now, web push notifications only worked on desktop browsers and Android devices.
Websites and Progressive Web Apps (PWA)
With the addition of web push to iOS, marketers can now use this as a full-fledged marketing channel to keep their audience up-to-date with the latest news, promotions, and events.
With the announced feature, there is only one caveat. On iOS devices, Web Push only works if you add the web app to your Home Screen. Home Screen web apps have been available to iPhone and iPad users for the past decade. When users tap on the icon of a web app on their Home Screen, it opens like any other app on iOS or iPadOS instead of opening in a browser.
After this, it allows web apps to request permission to receive push notifications from users, providing an easy and effective way to stay connected. Users can manage push notifications per web app in Notifications Settings, just like any other app on iPhone and iPad.
Moreover, notifications from web apps work exactly like notifications from other apps and show on the Lock Screen, in Notification Center, and on a paired Apple Watch.
Another feature that marketers will find useful is the Badge API. Supporting that little red dot to your app icon means web apps can now also set their badge count. Once a user gives permission to allow notifications, the icon on the Home Screen will immediately display the current badge count. Users can then configure permissions for Badging in Notifications Settings, just like any other app on iOS and iPadOS.
...and now we wait
In conclusion, adding Web Push support for Home Screen web apps in iOS and iPadOS 16.4 beta 1 is a significant step forward for web-based businesses looking to engage with their users. With Web Push, marketers can send notifications to users through the Notificare Platform. Now, these notifications can also be delivered to a web app added to the Home Screen of an iOS or iPadOS device. Notificare will support Web Push for iOS as part of all plans. And as you have come to expect from us, there's no need to worry about which users are on which platform - we'll take care of that.
To learn more about Web Push and how it can benefit your business, read our White Paper "Web Push Explained" or contact us directly for more information.
While iOS and iPadOS 16.4 beta 1 has just been released, support for Web Push and Home Screen web apps is not yet available to the public. But there has never been a better time to get started with web push and make your preparations. At Notificare, we are keeping a close eye on the development and will officially announce it when iOS 16.4 is officially released to the public!