Push notifications let a website app reach someone when the app is closed and the site is not open — an order update, a new post, a reminder — and they are the clearest example of something an app does that a bookmark cannot. In a converted website app, push is handled natively: the app registers with Firebase Cloud Messaging through a provider such as OneSignal, you send messages from the provider's dashboard or API, and Android delivers them like any other app's. In the builder it is a Pro step that takes an app ID and nothing else.
How push reaches a WebView app
The website is not involved. The native shell around it registers the device with Firebase Cloud Messaging (FCM), Google's delivery service, and receives a token that identifies this install. A push provider stores the token and, when you send a message, hands it to FCM, which wakes the phone and shows the notification. Tapping it opens the app — optionally at a specific page of your site.
This is the same path every native Android app uses, which is why it is more reliable than Web Push from a browser: no background browser process to be throttled, no permission prompt hidden in Chrome's UI.
OneSignal, and why a provider
FCM delivers messages; it does not manage subscribers, segments, scheduling or a dashboard. A provider layers that on. OneSignal is the one the builder integrates because its free tier covers most small apps (unlimited mobile push subscribers at the time of writing, with limits on advanced features), it has a dashboard a non-developer can use, and an API for sending from your own systems. The setup on OneSignal's side is: create an app, connect it to a Firebase project, copy the OneSignal App ID.
Setting it up in the builder
- Create a OneSignal account and app; follow its Android setup to link a Firebase project (a few minutes, all in the browser).
- Copy the OneSignal App ID.
- In the builder's Push step (Pro), paste it and switch push on.
- Build. The app now registers each install with OneSignal and asks for notification permission on first launch.
- Send a test from OneSignal's dashboard. It should arrive within seconds.
The Android 13 permission
Since Android 13, notifications are a runtime permission like the camera: the app declares POST_NOTIFICATIONS and the user sees "Allow app to send you notifications?" Refuse it and pushes are delivered silently to nowhere. The builder declares it and asks at launch. Two practical notes:
- The prompt can be shown only a limited number of times before Android stops offering it; after that the user has to enable notifications in Settings.
- Acceptance rates are much higher when the ask comes after the visitor understands the value. A builder-generated app asks on first launch; if your onboarding screens explain what notifications are for, the ask lands better.
What to send, and how often
Push is a privilege the user can revoke in one tap, and Android makes it easy. What keeps it granted:
- Transactional first. Order shipped, booking confirmed, reply received. These are wanted every time.
- Relevant, not frequent. A weekly digest beats daily promotions. Segment by what someone did on the site, not just "everyone".
- Deep-linked. A notification about a product should open that product's page. OneSignal's launch URL does this: set it to the page's address and the app opens there.
- Timed to the time zone. Providers support "send at 9am local"; use it.
Push and Google Play
Push is the single most effective answer to Play's minimum functionality rule — an app that notifies is obviously more than a bookmark. Mention it in the listing description and in the review notes. It also touches the Data safety form: the device token stored by your provider is "Device or other IDs", collected and shared with a third party. Declare it. The Play policy guide has the full form.
Web Push as an alternative
If you go the PWA route instead, Web Push in Chrome on Android works and needs no app. It is less reliable — background browser work is throttled on some phones — and on iOS it works only after the site is added to the Home Screen. For a site that has both a PWA and a converted app, the native push in the app is the dependable channel.