In the competitive world of iOS vs Android there is one feature that is undoubtedly winning the hearts over for the iPhone ecosystem: notification badges. These small red circles definitely make our life easier, drawing attention to something new or important going on in the app, either new messages, new mail, new offers or an update in your travel itinerary.
The best part of iOS badges is that they are supported out of the box, all you need is to tell Pushwoosh which badge you want to set with a push. Naturally, there are many requests to support badges for Android, it looks such a straight-forward feature. Over years we had to disappoint our users, telling them that it’s simply not possible without third-party apps or widgets.
So here is the great news part: yes, you can! It would require a slight code modification, but now you can send badges to most of the Android devices now present in the market. Wonder how?
The only thing you need to do is to make changes to the AndroidManifest.xml as outlined in our Android Manifest Modifications guide.
Badges are a huge part of a very polite but powerful user re-engament technics. Without being intrusive or disruptive, you indicate that there’s an urgent need to revisit the app. Do not forget to use it wisely, so there should be real value behind dry numbers on the home screen!
