--- title: "What Is a Push Notification? Definition and Examples" description: "A push notification is a message a streaming app sends to a viewer's device when the app is closed. See what to send, how often and how to measure it." url: "https://www.rentanott.com/glossary/push-notification" markdown_url: "https://www.rentanott.com/glossary/push-notification.md" category: "Platform" updated: "2026-10-05" --- # What is a push notification? A push notification is a short message that an app sends to a user's phone, tablet or browser, appearing on the lock screen or in the notification tray even when the app is not open. Streaming services use them to bring viewers back to watch. ## How push notifications work The viewer grants permission, and the device registers a token with Apple's or Google's notification service. To send a message, the streaming service passes it with the token to that notification service, which delivers it. Tapping the notification can open the app directly at a title. ## What streaming services send - A new episode of a series the viewer is following - A live event about to start - A reminder to continue something half watched - New arrivals in a genre the viewer watches - A rental about to expire, or a title leaving the catalog - A payment problem, or a trial about to end ## Doing it well Relevance decides everything. A message about a series the viewer is watching is welcome; the same announcement sent to everyone is noise, and noise leads people to switch notifications off, after which you cannot reach them at all. Ask for permission at a moment when its value is obvious, such as when the viewer adds a series to their list. Limit how many messages one person gets per week, respect time zones, and measure opens, plays that follow and opt-outs. ## Push notification on RentAnOTT Campaigns and multichannel notifications are part of the engagement features on RentAnOTT, alongside profiles, watchlists, continue watching and recommendations. [See features](https://www.rentanott.com/features). ## Related terms - [Retention rate](https://www.rentanott.com/glossary/retention-rate) — Retention rate is the percentage of subscribers, or users, who are still with a service at the end of a period out of those who were there at the start. It is the mirror image of churn rate. - [Recommendation engine](https://www.rentanott.com/glossary/recommendation-engine) — A recommendation engine is the system that chooses which titles to suggest to each viewer, based on what they and similar viewers have watched and on the properties of the titles themselves. It fills rows such as recommended for you and because you watched. - [Native app](https://www.rentanott.com/glossary/native-app) — A native app is an application built specifically for one operating system, such as iOS, Android or tvOS, using that platform's own programming languages and tools, and installed from its app store. It has direct access to the device's video player, DRM, storage and notifications. ## Further reading - [How to start a streaming service](https://www.rentanott.com/blogs/how-to-start-a-streaming-service) - [Short video applications compared](https://www.rentanott.com/blogs/best-short-video-application) - [Pricing](https://www.rentanott.com/pricing) ## Frequently asked questions ### Do push notifications work on smart TVs? Not in the same way. Television platforms offer home-screen recommendations and continue-watching rows instead. Push is mainly a mobile and web channel. ### How many notifications are too many? There is no fixed number. Watch the opt-out rate: if it rises after a campaign, the message was not relevant enough to the people who received it. ### What is the difference between push and in-app messages? Push reaches viewers outside the app. In-app messages appear only while the app is open, and need no permission. All 163 terms: [Streaming and OTT glossary](https://www.rentanott.com/glossary). ## Book a demo Tell RentAnOTT what you are launching. The team walks through the platform and maps the path to go-live around your catalog, markets and revenue model. Book a demo: https://www.rentanott.com/contact ## More from RentAnOTT - [Home](https://www.rentanott.com/index.md) — What RentAnOTT is, what every plan includes, and how launch works - [Features](https://www.rentanott.com/features.md) — Every core feature and optional add-on - [Pricing](https://www.rentanott.com/pricing.md) — Platform tiers, apps, add-ons, usage rates and example bills in INR and USD - [Free tools](https://www.rentanott.com/tools.md) — OTT app builder and calculators for streaming revenue, bandwidth, bitrate and pricing - [Insights](https://www.rentanott.com/blogs.md) — All streaming business articles - [Glossary](https://www.rentanott.com/glossary.md) — Definitions of streaming and OTT terms - [Book a demo](https://www.rentanott.com/contact.md) — Talk to RentAnOTT about your launch Full site in one file: https://www.rentanott.com/llms-full.txt