Mobile Push Notifications via Pushover
What is Pushover?
In order to receive a push notification on your phone, you need to have an app installed that is listening for push notification events. Since Series Reminder does not have it's own mobile app, that's where Pushover comes in.
Their app is specially designed for receiving push notification events and alerting you. It is a small, easy to use app, and the only thing it does is listen for push notification events and alert you. There are Android, iPhone & iPad, and Desktop clients that you can choose from and each can be downloaded from their respective stores. Read more about Pushover app and service on their blog and help pages.
Series Reminder Push Notifications
Throughout the day, Series Reminder is periodically checking your notification settings for each series and making a determination if there are any notifications to send or not. The notification preferences for each series are the same for both email and push notifications.
For example, if you select First Episode for a particular series, that will apply to both email and push notifications. However, push notifications and email notifications can be turned on and off independently on the Account Preferences page. You can have push notifications turned on and email turned off or any combination you like.
Connecting Pushover
Before going any further, the Pushover app itself is not free. After a 30 day free trial period, it has a one time cost of $4.99 which buys a lifetime license to use their app on that platform. This fee has nothing to do with Series Reminder and I do not make any commission from it. Frankly, I use it myself and I think it's worth it. If this is something you are okay with, setting up the Pushover app and configuring Series Reminder is pretty simple.
Step 1: Create an account on https://pushover.net.
Step 2: Download and install one of the Pushover Clients. After installing, authenticate with your Pushover username and password. This will begin your 30 day free trial for that platform (if you do not already have a license).
Step 3: Go to your Series Reminder Account Preferences page and click "Connect Pushover". This will take you to the Pushover website where you can confirm your subscription. It helps if you log into pushover.net before clicking the connect button. If you have to, close the browser window after authenticating and click "Connect Pushover" again.
Step 4: Set your Time Zone! The default time zone is UTC. Push notifications are sent between 8AM and 4PM of the time zone you select.
Series Reminder Configuration Options
Sound: Select the sound that will play when notifications arrive, including none (silent), or vibrate only. You can hear samples of all the built in Pushover Sounds here. This sound option can be overridden in the Pushover app itself, discussed below.
Time Zone: Series Reminder sends push notifications between the hours of 8AM and 4PM of the time zone you select. I do not want these push notifications to be annoying or happening during the middle of the night for you. Please select the time zone that will best fit your preferences. 95% of the time the messages are going to arrive shortly after 8AM.
In the future, if there is enough demand, I will add a notification window that you can specify. Let me know if you would like this!
Pushover App Configuration Options
The Pushover app itself has several configuration options for when and how you want to receive push notifications. Configuration options discussed in this section are for the Pushover App itself can be found under the 3 vertical dots in the top right corner of the screen.
Do Not Disturb: Notifications will still be received by the Pushover App, however no sound or vibration will be activated, and they will not show up in your push notification bar. They will only be visible within the Pushover App itself. This option can also be configured on the Pushover website here.
Quiet Hours: Similar to do not disturb, accept that the messages will still show in your push notification bar. Series Reminder notifications are always sent on Normal priority, so therefore any notifications sent to your devices during this time will not make sounds or vibrate. This option can also be configured on the Pushover website here.
Sounds: The pushover app can play a sound when notifications arrive. In the Series Reminder configuration for the Pushover app you can select which sound you like, or no sound at all, or vibrate only. The Series Reminders settings will override the settings for the Pushover app itself.
Vibration: Vibration settings can only be set in the Pushover App itself. You can turn them on/off and set the number of times it will vibrate for each notification.
Advanced Options:Take a look through the advanced options and tune them to your liking. You can define how many messages to keep and how long to keep them amongst other things. These options are only available in the Pushover app itself.
Multiple Devices: Pushover supports multiple devices of the same kind as well as different. When connecting to Pushover, you can select an individual device or all devices that you want to receive notifications on.