Comment by miramba
2 days ago
Just a workaround, but someone made a helping pop-up: https://github.com/ryxxn/pwa-install-prompt
Last time I checked, push messages did not work when the web app was not running, has that changed? Because I think that is the most interesting feature for users: To notify about important things while not using the app. It has also always been abused by app creators with useless stuff to drive engagement etc. I think I never allowed a single webpage to send me notifications - if for example I want to know about the latest news about plant pottery, I will probably just visit that website again...no need to notify me.
Push notifications work anytime, even when your phone is locked and in your pocket. On iOS you need to add the website "to your home screen", which then it becomes like an App (it is a progressive web app, PWA). For Chrome and Safari on Desktop it is the same (you even get notifications when your laptop is locked on macOS, provided you configured that in your settings of macOS).
Source: I run a PWA that enables web push (without any 3rd party push services) and have tested it many times on many platforms, and my users use them too.