Ask HN: Should I use Web Push Notifications?

7 points

5 years ago

I was thinking of adding web push notifications to a web-based instant messenger. Reading https://developers.google.com/web/updates/2015/03/push-notifications-on-the-open-web I realized that even though there's a standard API, each browser uses a proprietary "push service" to which my own server sends messages first, before they are delivered to the user's browser: https://developers.google.com/web/fundamentals/push-notifications/how-push-works

In particular, the last link says: "Each browser can use any push service they want, it's something developers have no control over.". Given this, I wanted to know HN opinion on two questions:

1. Is the latency of these "push services" small enough to be used for the instant messaging notifications?

2. Given the recent news of Google/Apple deplatoforming Parler, and the recent push to deplatform Telegram (e.g. https://www.vox.com/recode/22238755/telegram-messaging-social-media-extremists ), is it wise to rely on Google's push service long term? For example, Google Chrome's endpoint URL is fcm.googleapis.com/fcm/send. Is this an unacceptable business risk to rely on Google for push notifications delivery?

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