Browser notifications

Turning them on

In the dashboard, open Inbox → Turn on notifications and allow the browser’s prompt. Each browser shows up as a separate device under Devices (e.g. chrome-macos-7f3a), where you can also set per-type rules or remove it. To turn them off in this browser, use Turn off in the inbox.

Clicking a notification opens the message in the dashboard.

Installing as an app

• Chrome, Edge: the install icon in the address bar. PushBell opens in its own window. Its icon shows a mark when a new notification arrives, and the unread count once you open the inbox.
• Safari (macOS Sonoma and later): File → Add to Dock. The web app doesn’t share cookies with Safari: sign in once inside the app and allow notifications there.
• iPhone and iPad: in Safari, Share → Add to Home Screen (iOS 16.4 and later), then open it from the home screen icon and turn on notifications. On phones this step is required; for the full feature set (emergency alarm, custom sounds) the mobile app is better.

When the browser is closed

• Chrome, Edge, Brave, Opera: notifications arrive with the tab closed as long as the browser keeps running in the background. If it’s fully quit (⌘Q on macOS), they don’t. On Windows, allow the browser to keep running in the background when closed, in the System section of its settings.
• Firefox: arrive while Firefox is running. On Windows and Linux, Firefox quits when its last window closes, so keep one window open.
• Safari (macOS): arrive even when Safari is closed.
• A notification sent while the browser is closed arrives once it starts again (it waits up to 7 days, or the message’s ttl).

Sound

Browser notifications can’t play custom sounds. While the dashboard tab is open and on screen, the page plays the project’s sound and the notification comes in silent, so the two don’t overlap. If you haven’t clicked anywhere on the page, the browser blocks the sound; then, and whenever the tab is closed, the system’s notification sound plays.

Emergency notifications

• Chrome, Edge, Opera, Samsung Internet: the notification stays on screen until clicked. The Acknowledge button opens the message page and acknowledges it.
• Others: click the notification, then Acknowledge on the message page.
• Until acknowledged, repeats show the same notification again. Once someone acknowledges, the alarm stops on the other devices too. Details: Emergency notifications.

Differences between browsers

	Logo	Large image	Buttons
Chrome, Edge, Opera, Samsung Internet	✓	✓	up to 2
Firefox	✓	—	✓ (152 and later)
Safari	—	—	— (on the message page after clicking)

• The content of end-to-end encrypted messages isn’t opened in the browser: you see “🔒 Encrypted notification”; read it in the app.
• Brave: first turn on Settings → Privacy and security → Use Google services for push messaging.