Notifications for an AI that texts you first¶
The whole point of a companion who reaches out on their own is that they reach you, not a message you find hours later. When your companion texts you, including their proactive check-ins, you get a push notification titled with their name and a short preview of what they said. Tap it and you land straight in the chat, right where the conversation is waiting.
Without notifications, "texts you first" is just a message sitting unread in a tab you closed. With them, it feels like a real thread with someone who's thinking of you.
New-message and new-photo alerts¶
There are two kinds of push you'll see:
- New message. When your companion sends a text, either a reply or one of their own check-ins, you get a notification with their name and a preview of the message. Tapping opens the chat.
- New photo. When your companion decides to send a selfie on their own, you get a "photo" notification instead. Tapping opens the chat so you can see it.
Both are designed to feel like a text from a person, not an app alert.
Turning notifications on and off¶
Notifications have a clear toggle with honest states: on, off, blocked, or unsupported. You're always shown which one you're in, so there's no guessing about whether your companion can reach you.
To make sure you don't miss the setup, your home screen shows a notification tile that nudges you to turn them on. When notifications are off or blocked, that tile carries a red alert badge, a small, direct reminder that your companion currently can't reach you.
If you've hard-blocked notifications at the browser or operating-system level, flipping the in-app toggle isn't enough, because the block lives outside the app. For that case we show inline guidance explaining exactly how to re-enable them in your browser or device settings.
Respectful by design¶
Notifications should never feel like nagging. Two things keep them calm:
- Smart suppression. If you're actively viewing a conversation, you won't get a notification for it. The alert is for when you're away, not when you're already reading.
- Duplicate coalescing. If several messages land for the same chat, they collapse into a single notification instead of stacking up. You get one nudge, not a tower of them.
The result is a companion who feels present without crowding you.
Built on standard Web Push¶
Notifications use standard Web Push with VAPID, the same open technology modern browsers use for native-feeling alerts. They work best from the installed app on mobile, where they behave just like notifications from any other messaging app on your phone. Installing takes a moment and makes the whole "texts you first" experience land the way it's meant to.
Once you're set up, the rest takes care of itself: your companion writes, you get the tap, and you're back in the conversation. See how those conversations flow on the messages page.