A Guide to Push Notification Character Limit For Mobile Marketers

Push notifications are an essential part of mobile marketing, offering brands the ability to reach users directly and in real time. Learn how push notification character limit governs the success of your mobile marketing strategy. 

For push notifications to be a successful mobile marketing strategy, it is important to ensure they are entirely “visible” to your audience, especially when the average US smartphone user receives 46 push notifications per day. When used correctly, they can help you draw frequent users back to your app for repeat business or remind infrequent ones about your offerings. 

When the text of your notification exceeds the number of characters supported by the user’s device or browser, the text is cut off due to push notifications character limit. This affects the readability of your notification and, likewise, the user’s interest. 

Understanding the rules around push notifications character limit is crucial for maximizing user engagement. Understanding platform-specific limits and optimizing your messages ensures that they aren’t truncated, preserving their full impact. 

We’ve broken down the character limits for push notifications by device and browser to help you stay on top of your notification marketing efforts. 

Push Notification Character Limit: Why Do They Matter?

A well-crafted push notification can boost app engagement and user retention. Yet, character limits pose a unique challenge, as exceeding these limits can lead to truncated messages, reduced visibility, and lost opportunities to connect with users.

Notifications often consist of multiple components, including titles, body text, and images, each of which has specific constraints based on platform guidelines. This makes it essential to understand the character limit for push notifications on different operating systems and browsers to ensure your message is effective.

Components of Push Notifications

Push notifications typically consist of four main components: title, body, and rich media (image and buttons). Each component plays a crucial role in capturing user attention and conveying your message effectively. It is important to understand the character limit for push notifications across all components, but mainly across the title and description.

• Title: The first impression of your notification, serves as the headline. It’s typically shorter, with the character limit depending on the platform. It needs to be catchy and informative, immediately grabbing the user’s attention. 
• Body: The main message of the notification, limited by platform-specific constraints. The body, with limits ranging from 50 to 240 characters, provides more details about your message. It’s essential to craft a compelling narrative within these constraints.
• Rich Media: Elements like images and buttons don’t directly have character limits but consume space and impact user engagement. 
  • Images, while not subject to character limits, are restricted by file size and dimensions. They can significantly boost engagement, with studies showing that rich media can increase open rates by up to 56%. 
  • Buttons, typically limited to fewer characters, offer clear calls-to-action. They’re crucial for driving user interaction but must be concise to fit within limits.

These push notification character limits profoundly impact user engagement. Shorter, well-crafted messages often see higher open rates, with one study reporting that notifications under 25 characters had a 50% higher open rate.

However, overly brief messages might lack context, potentially reducing effectiveness.

Balancing information and brevity within these limits is key to maximizing engagement. Successful notifications deliver value quickly, respecting both the user’s time and attention span.

Mobile Push Notification Character Limit

App push notifications pop up on the phone’s lock screen, alerting users of new promotions or enticing them to open the app. While you can have more text involved in the notification, only a certain amount will be displayed onscreen. 

An app push notification strategy centers around conversions. Thus, you’ll want to keep the app push notifications character limit in mind to create notifications that are brief, timely, and on brand. 

When to Use App Push Notifications?

App push will most likely be your primary mode of mobile push notification. App push notifications are a great way to connect with your customers, advertise to them, and remind them of your offerings. They can also be a useful tool to help remind users of appointments, travel plans, and other logistical life happenings. 

Marketers will mainly use app push notifications for advertising and connections. Thus, you’ll use them when you have something new to advertise or when you want to get attention during peak times.

Different platforms have varying character limits for push notifications. Let’s break down the limits.

 iOS Push Notification Character Limit

For iOS devices, the iOS push notification character limit can vary depending on the device and iOS version. Typically, the iOS push notification character limit is 178 before the text is cut off. This means four lines of text. It is advisable to set the push notification title character limit to 25-50 characters, while allowing the body text to have about 150 characters. 

Longer messages will be truncated. For mobile push notifications, iOS also supports expanded notifications where users can swipe down to view more content.

• iOS Push Notification Character Limit

• • Title: ~25-50 characters 
  • Body: ~150 characters

Android Push Notification Character Limit

For mobile push notifications, Android offers more flexibility, but it’s generally recommended to keep the android push notification character limit in mind and create a body text under 250 characters to ensure it displays properly across devices. Notifications can often be expanded by the user, allowing for longer messages. On Android, the character limits are 65 characters for titles and 240 for descriptions. 

• Android Push Notification Character Limit: 

• • Title: 65 characters
  • Body: 240 characters

Android push notifications can contain an icon and a large banner (also called a hero image). 

Androids can also support mobile web push notifications. For people who don’t have your app downloaded, a browser or web push notification can still get their eyes on your product. Sending them a push notification while they’re surfing the web on their smartphone is another way to attract attention and up your marketing game. 

Mobile web push notifications character limit varies by web browser and operating system.  

Web Push Notification Character Limit

Web push notifications are sent to the user via web browser while surfing the internet on a computer or mobile device. These functions are similar to app push notifications in that they also issue a call to action and pop-up during the user’s experience. 

Browser push notifications, on the other hand, show up while using a computer or tablet. The character limits for these notifications vary by browser, but are typically between 35 and 100 characters for titles and 30 and 250 characters for descriptions.

When to Use Web and Browser Push Notifications

When app push isn’t an option, you’ll resort to web and browser push notifications. These serve to help markets expand their omnichannel marketing strategy and form connections with customers who don’t have your app installed. They function similarly to app push, but with the goal of getting a conversion from a new customer rather than an established one. 

Web push notifications depend upon the device’s browser, operating system, and type.

Here is the full detail for the web push notification limit of different systems and devices:

Windows Web Push Notification Character Limit

Windows-supported characters are different across different versions, and it also depends on whether the notification consists of a hero image. Here is the list of Windows push notification character limits:

Mac Web Push Notification Character Limit

Macbooks support different character limits for different browsers. Here is the list of Mac push notification character limit:

Tips For Optimizing Push Notification Character Limit

The character limit for push notifications directly impacts how well the message is received. Finding the “sweet spot” for notification length is essential to reduce the impact and visibility of the notification.

Keeping the message concise ensures that it is fully visible, even on smaller mobile screens, while still delivering the essential information. While it’s tempting to squeeze in as much detail as possible, it’s important to focus on a clear call-to-action (CTA) that drives engagement.

Here are some push notifications length limit tips to keep in mind:

Impact of Notification Length on Open Rates

Shorter notifications often lead to higher open rates. 

This is because a clear, concise message is easier for users to digest at a glance. Longer messages, particularly those that are truncated, can confuse or overwhelm users, leading to reduced interaction. Users are more likely to engage with notifications that quickly convey their value. 

Testing different lengths can help brands optimize for their specific audience, but a general rule of thumb is to aim for brevity.

Push Notification Title Character Limit

The title of a push notification serves as the first point of engagement for users. An effective title is crucial as it grabs the user’s attention and sets the tone for the message. 

An impactful title can make or break the success of your push notification. It needs to be both informative and engaging, encouraging the user to tap on the notification. The title should immediately convey the core message or benefit. If the title is too vague or long, users may ignore the notification altogether.

Crafting a compelling title within character limits requires careful word choice. Use active verbs, strong keywords, and urgency to motivate action. Including numbers (e.g., “50% Off”) can also catch users’ attention. 

Avoid filler words and keep the language straightforward. Test different variations of titles to find the one that resonates most with your audience. A/B testing can reveal what types of titles are more likely to increase click-through rates.

Push Notification Text Limit

After the title, the body of the push notification is where you convey the main message. Staying within push notification text limit limits ensures your message isn’t cut off, but crafting a compelling message in such a tight space can be challenging.

Every word counts when you have limited space. Focus on the essentials when optimizing for push notifications character limit: what the user needs to know and what action you want them to take. Use short sentences, avoid jargon, and get straight to the point. 

Prioritize key information at the beginning of the message to ensure it’s seen, even if the notification is truncated. Including a strong CTA, such as “Shop Now” or “Claim Offer,” helps direct the user’s next step.

Using Rich Media to Complement Text

Rich media such as images, icons, and emojis can enhance your push notifications without eating into your character count. These elements not only make your notification more visually appealing but also help convey emotion or urgency. Emojis, in particular, can be used to replace words, saving space while adding a friendly, informal touch to your message. However, it’s important to use them sparingly and ensure they align with your brand’s tone.

By optimizing your push notification’s length, title, and body text, you can significantly improve engagement and ensure your message reaches users effectively.

Best Practices for Push Notification Character Limit

​​Writing a good push notification can make or break your marketing strategy. There are a few push notification best practices that can get you started right. 

1. Captivate your audience. Write short, snappy copy that will get a user to engage.
2. Brevity is your friend. Just because you have the characters doesn’t mean you need to use them.
3. Clarity is important. It won’t do you any good to get a chuckle but not a click. Make sure your notification includes a clear goal or call to action that will lead your users to convert.
4. Relevance is crucial too. Push notifications can annoy the user if they’re ill-timed or insulting. Make sure not to send out push notifications that could be taken the wrong way, such as during times of national tension or crisis.

Navigating push notifications character limits across platforms is crucial to creating engaging and effective notifications. By optimizing the length and content of your notifications, you can improve open rates and foster stronger engagement with your users. Stay within these limits, test your strategies, and continue to refine your approach for the best results.

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