Why do web push notifications stop working on mobile?
Mobile operating systems and browsers deactivate web push notifications if you haven't opened the progressive web app from your home screen recently. This restriction causes users to completely miss critical updates and alerts from apps they do not check daily.
Overview
People affected2 accounts across 2 forums
Workarounds found5 items attempted
Community agreement1 total upvotes
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
5 items+ Contribute
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
- 1Using Firebase Cloud Messaging (FCM) or Apple Push Notification service (APNS) with mobile appsDid this help you?
- 2Relying on native app push models or alternative notification delivery mechanismsDid this help you?
- 3Clearing Safari data for the siteDid this help you?
- 4Checking that 'start_url' in manifest.json is correctDid this help you?
- 5Deleting the old home screen icon and re-adding freshDid this help you?
Tried another approach not listed above?+ Share your workaround ↑
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
r/Wordpress1 person · September 2026
Hacker News1 person · August 2026
“My biggest problem with web push is that you won’t get notifications on iOS anymore, if you haven’t opened the app for a while.”source ↗
mrklol · Hacker News
Where this came up
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