Apple is working on finally bringing web-based notifications to iOS, which would finally allow developers to send notifications to iPhone and iPad users, which would improve the effectiveness of apps made for the web.
The first betas of iOS and iPadOS 15.4, released last week, include a “Push API” toggle in the Experimental settings page for Safari. Spotted by developer Maximiliano Firtman, while the toggle is visible, the API itself is not yet enabled. Also, Apple has yet to implement a UI prompt into Safari on iOS to ask users for permission to display web-based notifications.
While web-based notifications have long been available on the macOS platform, only apps from the App Store can send notifications on iOS devices. The inclusion of the “Push API” toggle in the 15.4 betas appears to lay the foundation for expanding the feature to the iOS and iPadOS platforms.
While Apple appears to be laying the groundwork for implementing the notifications feature in its mobile operating systems, it is unsure as to when the feature may go live. Apple is currently beta testing both iOS 15.4 and iPadOS 15.4.
