XF 2.3 How do you all handle expiring push notifications?

[TheGroove]

I can't be the only one dealing with this on the iPhone, every time a user is forced to re-enable push notifications they have to delete the bookmark from their home screen, re-add and then re-enable again. As a result most simply give up on using it.

 

[unproperlypropagated]

If a site force me to enable push notifications I'll never use that site again.
Push notifications is an awful idea that quickly got taken over by scammers and ad companies.
It's the first thing I disable in a browser and I sleep very well.

 

[TheGroove]

If a site force me to enable push notifications I'll never use that site again.
Push notifications is an awful idea that quickly got taken over by scammers and ad companies.
It's the first thing I disable in a browser and I sleep very well.

Fair enough, but if you opt-in why should you be forced to re-opt-in all the time. This should be a setting that does not expire. In the end it cripples the service and people quit using it as a result of having to repeat all those steps on a regular basis.

 

[unproperlypropagated]

I'll let someone that uses them answer

 

[Paul B]

There is no forced opt in in XF - it's up to each member whether they want to allow them or not.

The push notification approval is stored in the browser.

If members are being prompted to sign up again then it's either a browser issue, or they have removed the push notification setting for the site.

 

[TheGroove]

There is no forced opt in in XF - it's up to each member whether they want to allow them or not.

The push notification approval is stored in the browser.

If members are being prompted to sign up again then it's either a browser issue, or they have removed the push notification setting for the site.

Right, being stored in the browser makes it subject to being timed out, this happens to all of the users on my site. If this were a tick in the DB it would be a set it and forget it setting.

My goal here is to see how many others are dealing with this and whether or not they've either come up with a better solution or have just given up on it. This feature is indeed crippled by design.

 

[Paul B]

If this were a tick in the DB it would be a set it and forget it setting.

It doesn't work like that.
It's a per browser/device setting.

This feature is indeed crippled by design.

XF does not control the specifications for push notifications and how browsers handle them.

This is not something we've ever had anyone complaining about previously.
I have never had to re-enable push notifications on any device.

 

[digitalpoint]

The reason iOS users “lose” their push notification subscriptions with the PWA is because XenForo is relying on a browser’s willingness to resubscribe to the push notification without human interaction (a click for example). iOS/Safari doesn’t allow this, so push notification subscriptions are lost if you need to reauthenticate (logging into admin or redoing your two-step auth after 30 days).

See:

Post in thread '"Lost" push subscriptions for iOS PWA'

Dec 5, 2023

So a little more digging today on the lost push notifications. It does appear that push subscriptions are lost for Safari (desktop version as well as PWA) due the above (more specifically, Safari requires a user gesture to re-enable push notifications even if Notification.permission = "granted" already). Chrome (probably other browsers too, but I'm only testing with Chrome and Safari right now) does not require a user gesture to re-enable push notifications.

So in the case where a two-step auth (maybe other places as well) unsubscribes from notifications, only to resubscribe...

• digitalpoint

Was able to work-around XenForo’s behavior (mostly) with this addon:

[DigitalPoint] PWA

Jul 22, 2023

Add some missing things to XenForo's progressive web app

• digitalpoint
• pwa
• Add-ons [2.x]

…but the “right” thing to do is for XenForo to not rely on a browser’s willingness to subscribe to push notifications without human interaction.

 

[Paul B]

Figures it's a Safari only issue

 

[digitalpoint]

Figures it's a Safari only issue

For now… Safari doesn’t allow tend to be first with tightening security/privacy. I wouldn’t rely on other browsers not following suit.

Purely from a security/privacy standpoint, it does probably make sense to not allow websites to sneak a push notification subscription without user interaction.

Basically XenForo is relying on something that probably is going to be “fixed” someday in other browsers beyond Safari. It’s similar to how back in the day browsers could throw popups without a user clicking something, but browsers locked that down and you can’t do that anymore.

 

[jeb35]

Could also be user is clearing cookies when exiting browser or running a program that does it.

 

[digitalpoint]

Could also be user is clearing cookies when exiting browser or running a program that does it.

Indirectly, ya… because of the same reason. XenForo deletes push subscriptions on its backend if the user isn’t logged in, rather than flag it as inactive.

 

[TheGroove]

The reason iOS users “lose” their push notification subscriptions with the PWA is because XenForo is relying on a browser’s willingness to resubscribe to the push notification without human interaction (a click for example). iOS/Safari doesn’t allow this, so push notification subscriptions are lost if you need to reauthenticate (logging into admin or redoing your two-step auth after 30 days).

See:

Post in thread '"Lost" push subscriptions for iOS PWA'

Dec 5, 2023

So a little more digging today on the lost push notifications. It does appear that push subscriptions are lost for Safari (desktop version as well as PWA) due the above (more specifically, Safari requires a user gesture to re-enable push notifications even if Notification.permission = "granted" already). Chrome (probably other browsers too, but I'm only testing with Chrome and Safari right now) does not require a user gesture to re-enable push notifications.

So in the case where a two-step auth (maybe other places as well) unsubscribes from notifications, only to resubscribe...

• digitalpoint

Was able to work-around XenForo’s behavior (mostly) with this addon:

[DigitalPoint] PWA

Jul 22, 2023

Add some missing things to XenForo's progressive web app

• digitalpoint
• pwa
• Add-ons [2.x]

…but the “right” thing to do is for XenForo to not rely on a browser’s willingness to subscribe to push notifications without human interaction.

Thank you, this is really useful.

Figures it's a Safari only issue

Which is used by nearly all iOS users who want to use Xenforo notifications as it relies on it for the push.

 

[Kirby]

Which is used by nearly all iOS users who want to use Xenforo notifications as it relies on it for the push.

Easy solution:
Don't use Apple hardware and enjoy proper PWA support

That being said, it really would be nice if XenForo just disabled push subscriptions in the DB instead of deleting them.

 

[digitalpoint]

Easy solution:
Don't use Apple hardware and enjoy proper PWA support

That being said, it really would be nice if XenForo just disabled push subscriptions in the DB instead of deleting them.

Also future-proofs the situation where other browsers decide maybe it’s not such a great idea to allow push subscriptions without a user triggered event (like a confirmation or click).

 

[TheGroove]

Easy solution:
Don't use Apple hardware and enjoy proper PWA support

That being said, it really would be nice if XenForo just disabled push subscriptions in the DB instead of deleting them.

You bet, there are only 1.46 billion of them, I'll get a memo out.