Push notifications for iOS and Android apps
Push notifications have finally arrived in the Church Social iOS and Android apps.
This has been one of our most requested improvements for a long time, and something we've wanted to add for just as long. Email notifications still work well, but push notifications feel much more natural in a mobile app. They're lighter weight, more immediate, and bring you straight into the app when you tap them. And when something isn't important, they're just as easy to swipe away and move on.
To start, we've added push notifications for the following activities:
- New messages
- Message replies
- New bulletins
Message replies
Message replies are especially exciting. Historically, replies could be easy to miss, since we only sent email notifications to the original sender in order to avoid flooding everyone's inbox. With push notifications, replies are much more visible, making it easier for conversations to actually continue instead of quietly getting lost.
We've also updated the message emails sent by Church Social to include a prominent Reply to message button. Instead of simply replying to the sender by email, members are encouraged to reply within Church Social itself. This helps foster better discussion within the congregation, while also making it easier for others to see responses as they come in—whether that's someone volunteering for a task, claiming a free concert ticket, or joining in on a conversation.
Along with these email improvements, members can now also reply to messages directly from the iOS and Android apps. Combined with push notifications for replies, this makes discussions in Church Social feel much more natural and much easier to follow.
How to receive push notifications
To receive push notifications, members will need to update to version 2.0.0 or newer of the Church Social iOS or Android app. They'll also need to allow notifications on their device. In the app, this can be checked under More → My Account → Notifications. On that screen, there is a Push notifications section that shows whether push notifications are enabled, along with a button that takes members directly to their device settings if needed.
Avoiding duplicate notifications
We've also added a bit of automation to prevent members from being notified about new messages twice — once via email and once via a push notification. Once a member is consistently receiving push notifications for new messages on their phone, we'll automatically turn off the matching email notifications for messages and replies. We send a friendly email letting them know about the change, along with simple instructions for turning email notifications back on if they'd still like to receive both.
Other mobile app improvements
This update also includes a number of other improvements to the iOS and Android apps, including:
- Refreshed and modernized app design
- Improved the login flow
- Added the ability to search past messages
- Added support for new/unread message indicators
- Added the option to mute messages
- Simplified account settings
- Added new notification settings
- Added two-factor authentication settings
- Fixed numerous bugs and performance issues
We're really excited about this release and believe it will have a positive impact on how churches use Church Social day to day.