Push alerts

Push alerts show a notification on your phone or computer the moment it comes, even with Plan Things Better closed. They're yours alone, and you turn them on for each device you want them on, in Settings → Notifications.

#Turning alerts on

On the device you want them on, open Settings → Notifications. Under Push alerts on this device, a card says how alerts are on that device: "Off on this Mac (Chrome)", "On on this iPhone", and so on.

Press Turn on alerts. Your browser asks whether Plan Things Better may show notifications - choose Allow. That's the only time it asks. The card then says "On on this ...", and Send a test sends an alert to this device, so you can see how they look.

Do the same on each phone and computer you want alerts on. Under the card, "On on 1 other device: iPhone" lists the others.

#iPhone and iPad

On an iPhone or iPad (iOS or iPadOS 16.4 or later), push alerts only work in Plan Things Better added to your Home Screen:

Open Plan Things Better in Safari.
Tap Share, then Add to Home Screen.
Open Plan Things Better from its icon on your Home Screen, sign in, and turn alerts on in Settings → Notifications.

In a Safari tab, the card says "Add PTB to your Home Screen first".

#Which browsers work

Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Opera and Samsung Internet on a computer or Android, and Safari on a Mac (macOS 13 or later), iPhone and iPad. A browser that can't show alerts says "Not supported in this browser". Private or incognito windows usually can't.

#What sends one

The same notifications as your Inbox, with the same switches as notification emails, each with a Push column beside Email:

What notifies you - a Push switch for each kind (mentions, replies, your tasks, tasks you follow, sign-offs and signatures, workspaces and channels). They all start on.
Workspaces - a Push switch for each workspace you're in.
A muted Everywhere channel doesn't send alerts.
Pause until stops push alerts as well as emails, until the day you pick.

Email's Right away, Daily summary and Off are for emails only: alerts come as each notification does, whichever you pick. A notification you've already read never sends one.

An alert says who did what and where - "Dana mentioned you", "T-0042 Fix login on Safari - Acme". It shows the task's key and title, or the doc's, channel's or workspace's name, but never the text of a comment or message. On a locked screen, anyone who sees your phone can see those names; your phone's own settings can hide alert previews while it's locked.

Several notifications close together come as one alert that updates quietly instead of buzzing each time - "Dana assigned you 30 tasks", "3 new notifications in Acme". A change to a task you follow alerts you once ("Bea moved T-0051 Avatar flicker to Done"), and more changes from the same person soon after update that alert quietly ("Bea moved 50 tasks you follow to Done"). Replies in one comment thread share an alert of their own.

While Plan Things Better is open and in front, alerts still come, but quietly, without a sound: the app shows the notification itself.

#Opening an alert

Click or tap an alert to open what it's about. If Plan Things Better is open, it comes to the front and goes there, keeping your tabs; if not, it opens.

#Turning alerts off

On this device: press Turn off on its card.
On another device: press the × beside it, under the card.
Signing out from the menu turns this browser's alerts off, so whoever uses it next doesn't get yours. If your session ends some other way (it runs out, say), alerts stay on there: remove that device from Settings → Notifications on another device, under Push alerts on this device.

To stop one kind or one workspace everywhere, switch its Push off instead.

#If alerts are blocked

If you chose Block when your browser asked, the card says "Blocked in this browser's settings", and Plan Things Better can't ask again. Allow notifications for the site, then come back and press Turn on alerts:

Chrome, Edge: the icon left of the address → Site settings → Notifications → Allow.
Firefox: the icon left of the address → clear the Blocked permission for notifications.
Safari on a Mac: Safari → Settings → Websites → Notifications → Allow.
iPhone, iPad: Settings → Notifications → Plan Things Better → Allow Notifications.
Android: long-press the alert, or Settings → Apps → Chrome → Notifications.

Your computer's own settings can silence alerts too (Focus, Do Not Disturb, or notifications switched off for the browser).