Push Notifications

Description

Push Notifications enable the Meander Mobile App to deliver real-time alerts to peer mentors and coordinators on their devices, even when the app is not in the foreground. The system manages device token registration, notification payload construction, and delivery via platform-specific gateways (APNs for iOS, FCM for Android). Notifications cover assignment dispatches, activity reminders, event updates, and coordinator alerts, ensuring users stay informed without needing to actively check the app.

User Flow

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Analysis

Business Value

Real-time push notifications are foundational to the operational effectiveness of peer mentors and coordinators. Without timely alerts, critical events such as new encrypted assignments, upcoming activity deadlines, and coordinator messages go unnoticed, directly reducing the quality and responsiveness of peer support services. For organizations like Blindeforbundet, push delivery of encrypted assignment dispatches is a hard requirement. From a platform perspective, push notifications drive engagement and reduce the risk of missed follow-ups that could impact Bufdir compliance reporting and reimbursement workflows.

Implementation Notes

The Flutter implementation uses the firebase_messaging package for FCM on Android and APNs on iOS, with the flutter_local_notifications package for foreground notification display. Device tokens are registered with the backend REST API on login and refreshed on token rotation. The backend (Next.js) stores tokens per user in the device_tokens table with platform metadata. Notification payloads are constructed server-side and dispatched via a gateway abstraction layer supporting both FCM and APNs. WCAG 2.2 AA requires notifications to be accessible via the notification inbox screen for users who may miss banner alerts.