[HN Gopher] Web Push for Safari
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       Web Push for Safari
        
       Author : tosh
       Score  : 37 points
       Date   : 2022-06-12 20:41 UTC (2 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (developer.apple.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (developer.apple.com)
        
       | randyrand wrote:
        
         | TomGullen wrote:
         | That's a little harsh - he seems to be talking at a good
         | understandable pace and very clearly.
        
       | mihaic wrote:
       | I know I'm a bit tangential, but what are some actually useful
       | examples of push notifications for browsers?
       | 
       | Every time I've seen them in action was with spam/clickbait,
       | after someone accidentally subscribed and couldn't remove it.
        
         | tehlike wrote:
         | I am working on a pwa for android/chrome extension for desktop
         | that would let users know if the price of an item they were
         | watching drops.
         | 
         | If you assumed pwa, you can see why they are useful.
         | 
         | Also if slack were mobile friendly, i could see notifications
         | being helpful there too
        
         | simion314 wrote:
         | You could run Slack or Discord in browser instead of an
         | application, then notifications could be used exactly as for
         | the apps.
        
         | anvuong wrote:
         | Agree, I've never found browser notification useful.
        
         | swatcoder wrote:
         | All the same things they're useful for in apps (which are also
         | prone to spam/clickbait).
         | 
         | Web push is a prerequisite for moving a ton of apps out of app
         | stores and into the platform agnostic thin client model of the
         | web: messaging clients, timers, background tasks,
         | transaction/shipping status updates, trading tools, etc
        
         | micromacrofoot wrote:
         | You can run apps in the browser instead of giving them all
         | sorts of device permissions.
        
         | fuzzy2 wrote:
         | What I know and appreciate: Notifications for replies on
         | forums, chats and web mail, notifications about CI pipeline
         | status on GitLab.
        
         | morepork wrote:
         | Push notifications are useful in browsers in all the same
         | places they are useful in mobile apps. Note that browser push
         | notifications also work on mobile, so you don't need to install
         | an app to get real time alerts.
         | 
         | For example:
         | 
         | - Sites with chat can send you messages even if you don't have
         | the tab open (or even browser in some cases)
         | 
         | - Online game e.g. board game or chess can push to you when
         | it's your move.
         | 
         | - Home alerts, e.g. that your garage door has been opened
         | 
         | Sure there are a lot of spammy notifications, e.g. sales
         | alerts, news items, etc. that most people probably don't want,
         | but there are genuinely useful use cases.
        
           | starik36 wrote:
           | > chess
           | 
           | Perfect for lichess when my mind wonders and I switch to
           | something else.
        
         | airza wrote:
         | It would be nice if mobile browsers had push notifications in
         | IOS because it would make it possible to have browser based
         | mobile apps with some chance of feature parity.
        
       | kgbcia wrote:
       | Web push would be great for emails or transit updates, but most
       | of the time there is an app. Also, I don't want to be disturbed
       | at night or work. So I end up blocking everything except
       | messages.
        
         | al_borland wrote:
         | If a user only wants notifications, web push might be a good
         | alternative to installing a whole app just for a notification
         | service.
        
       | candiddevmike wrote:
       | Wonder if FCM's JS libraries will abstract all of this or if
       | you'll have to write custom code to support Safari...
        
       | infocollector wrote:
       | This is support for web push notifications in safari it seems.
       | (https://web.dev/push-notifications-overview/) - and it plays
       | nice with macs. I guess it is useful if you want to support
       | Safari for your webapp + use push notifications.
        
         | lxgr wrote:
         | Where in the linked article is Safari mentioned?
         | 
         | This simply isn't possible at all on iOS as of now, and on
         | macOS it requires registering an Apple developer account, as
         | far as I understand.
        
       | pvg wrote:
       | Big thread a few days ago, 172 comments
       | 
       | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31644424
        
         | randyrand wrote:
         | Note: the url discussed there is just the announcement not the
         | details
        
           | pvg wrote:
           | The threads are essentially the same because the story is the
           | same so it ends up being an HN dupe. It was also discussed in
           | a number of the other Safari-related WWDC posts.
        
       | the_gipsy wrote:
       | Will it be like on Android with the standards APIs, or is like
       | safari macOS which requires special APIs and a 100$/year account?
       | 
       | Because if it's as easy as on Android, then why would anyone
       | bother with apps, if a webapp can do?
        
         | tosh wrote:
         | Supports Web Standard API, works without Apple Developer
         | Account
        
         | valleyer wrote:
         | "... today I'm happy to announce that we have added support for
         | Web Push, and this really is Web Push! The same combination of
         | various web standards as implemented in other browsers. We'll
         | go over those standards more later, but... the most important
         | takeaway is that if you've coded your application to web
         | standards, you won't need to make any changes for it to work in
         | Safari."
         | 
         | "... no Apple Developer account is required to reach Safari
         | users."
        
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       (page generated 2022-06-12 23:00 UTC)