Push notifications were originally introduced for Android and iOS devices in 2009, and have rapidly grown in popularity.
June 2009 — Apple launches the first-ever push service, APNs, or the Apple Push Notification system, with iOS 3.0
May 2010 — In the wake of Apple’s release, Google launches its Google Cloud to Device Messaging (C2DM) Blackberry and Microsoft Windows Phone 7 add support for push notifications
2013 — Apple adds support for website notifications with the release of Mac OS X 10.9 (“Mavericks”)
2013 —Apple announces that 7 billion notifications are being sent to iOS devices each day
2015 — Chrome launches support for web notifications
2016 —Apple rolls out major additions to push notification capabilities with the iOS 10 release
2017 — With iOS 11, Apple simplifies the lockscreen user experience
2017 — With Android Oreo (8.0), Google adds Notification Categories, which make managing notifications far easier for users and developers alike
2018 — iOS 12 brings a new authorization model called Direct To History and introduces Notification Grouping
2019 — iOS 13 introduces a separate OS for iPhones and iPads, enhanced privacy, and Smart Notifications
2019 — With the release of Android 10, or Android Q, Google refines their push notification UI, adds a new “Stay Silent” option, and changes how users dismiss notifications
2020 — With iOS 14, Apple introduces App Clips
2020 — Android 11, changes how users can silence notifications and introduces the option to turn on notification history
2021 — iOS 15 introduces Focus Modes, Notification Interruption Levels, and Notification Summary
2021 — Android 12 brings Custom Notification changes, notification UX changes, and faster, more responsive notifications
2022 — With Android 13, Android users will need to explicitly opt in to receive notifications
2022 — Apple announces upcoming support for Safari web push notifications slated for 2023
All notification platforms support receiving short messages from applications, and some include support for additional features such as custom sounds, images, or contextual buttons within the notification itself.