Push notifications in a Cordova app
Push notifications let you reach and re-engage users even when they aren't actively using your app. The Connect SDK for Cordova integrates with Apple Push Notification service (APNs) on iOS and Firebase Cloud Messaging (FCM) on Android, and lets your marketing team author push content — thumbnail images, expandable rich content, and actionable notifications — from Connect, without any code changes on your side per campaign.
Language: JavaScript, with TypeScript definitions
Availability: Pro, Premium, and Ultimate
Setup is platform-specific, so each has its own guide:
If your app targets both platforms, work through both guides — the setups are independent and can be done in either order.
- Connect app key that supports push notifications. Push requires an app key from a Mobile app integration created after April 2026 — earlier "Web and mobile" integrations don't support push. For instructions, see Connect mobile apps in the Connect user guide.
- The Connect Cordova plugin integrated in your project. If you haven't yet, see Integrate the Connect SDK into a Cordova app first.
- ConnectConfig.json at your project root with
AppKeyandPostMessageUrlset.
Platform-specific prerequisites — a Firebase project for Android, an Apple Developer Program membership for iOS — are covered in each individual guide.
| Platform | Automatic | Manual |
|---|---|---|
| iOS | ✓ (default) | ✓ — your app owns UNUserNotificationCenter.delegate and forwards events via AcousticConnect.push.didReceiveNotification() / didReceiveResponse(). |
| Android | ✓ (default and only mode) | Not supported. enable() rejects 'manual' on Android with ACOUSTIC_PUSH_MODE_NOT_MANUAL. |
Set the mode for iOS with iOSPushMode in ConnectConfig.json ('automatic' or 'manual'). Android always uses automatic mode regardless of this setting.
Push delivery on its own sends to anonymous contacts. To target push notifications at known users, identify them — see Identify users at sign-in and Identify users at registration.