{"id":6266,"date":"2012-12-10T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2012-12-10T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/azure.microsoft.com\/blog\/best-practices-for-using-push-notifications-sms-and-email-in-your-mobile-app"},"modified":"2025-09-10T13:54:27","modified_gmt":"2025-09-10T20:54:27","slug":"best-practices-for-using-push-notifications-sms-and-email-in-your-mobile-app","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/azure.microsoft.com\/en-us\/blog\/best-practices-for-using-push-notifications-sms-and-email-in-your-mobile-app\/","title":{"rendered":"Best practices for using push notifications, SMS and email in your mobile app"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

After we delivered iOS client libraries for Mobile Services in October, many of you asked when support for iOS push notifications would follow.  As Scott Guthrie announced Wednesday<\/a>, Mobile Services now supports sending iOS push notifications!  We\u2019ve also improved our iOS Client API by adding an even easier login method; configuring user authentication now only takes a single line of Objective-C code. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With this update, Mobile Services now fully supports Windows Store, Windows Phone 8, and iOS apps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since we now support three means of communicating with your customers\u2014push notifications, SMS via Twilio, and email via SendGrid<\/a>\u2014across three platforms, this post will first cover the basics of iOS push and then turn to general guidelines on when and why to use each. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Basics of Configuring iOS Push Notifications <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Scott\u2019s blog<\/a> has all the details you need to get started with push, but to summarize the two big takeaways:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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  1. Mobile Services makes it incredibly easy to send a push notification.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Mobile Services gives you the tools you need to handle feedback for expired devices and channels right in the portal<\/a>. Periodically pruning your database of invalid tokens allows you to save money by not sending notifications to uninstalled apps.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    Josh Twist<\/a>, another member of the Mobile Services team, demos these new additions in the following video:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    There are also two fantastic tutorials available in the mobile dev center.  The first<\/a> provides a walkthrough of the basics of configuring your iOS app for push and sending push notifications.  The second<\/a> details how to use a table to store APNS tokens that can then be used to send push notifications to an app\u2019s users. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    You can also review our reference docs<\/a> for complete details on how to use the APNS object to send your push notifications.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    When to use Push vs Email vs SMS<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    Just as important as understanding how<\/em> to use these push notifications, is understanding when<\/em> to use a push notification versus an SMS versus an email.  The easy answer is that it depends on the app. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    I\u2019m going to share, however, some general guidelines we\u2019ve adopted as best practices as well as share some examples that illustrate exceptions to the rule.  I\u2019d love to hear some of your own best practices in the comments, as well as discuss when it makes sense to depart from these or your own general guidelines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Push Notifications: the Canonical Default<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Push notifications were created specifically with smartphones and apps in mind.  They are the most powerful and effective channel for engaging your customers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    Be careful, though, because with great power comes great responsibility.  Most users will give you some leeway at the outset and allow push notifications.  They will withdraw that consent just as quickly, however. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The most common danger zones?<\/p>\n\n\n\n