Technology plays a huge part in our daily lives now in a way that would have seemed almost unimaginable 20 or 30 years ago. For most Indians, to have mobile phones, access to the internet, and do things such as shop online now is quite an achievement! This is also seen in other major countries around the world, where technology has helped shape society and transform how we all live.
Of course, technology is a very broad term and there are many individual pieces of software and hardware that help our digital world thrive. One such piece of tech that you may have heard of recently are push notifications. But what exactly are they, and what do they do?
What Are Push Notifications?
In basic terms, these are small messages that appear on your mobile or computer screen automatically. They give a quick, user-friendly way to bring breaking stories to your screen so that you can view them with no delay.
Unlike pop-ups, they can do this even if you are not in the website or app to which the push notification is related. The key thing to note is that push messages will be sent to you when needed without you having to ask for the information. The central server simply takes the request and pushes the message to your web browser or mobile phone by itself. Usually, you will have to enable push notifications first on the relevant site or app to get them. This is a key feature so that you do not get bombarded with lots from every one you visit!
Why Do We Need Push Notifications?
Now that we know what this handy way of getting information does, the next question is, why do Indians need them? This is also pretty simple – they give an easy way of receiving updated news and information without you having to do anything. You do not have to worry about doing this yourself and can simply let the tech in your mobile or web browser handle it.
The 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup currently taking place is a great example to use here. Rather than constantly having to go into an app or website to find scores yourself, enabling push notifications will do this automatically for you and send any breaking stories in message format. As cricket is a national obsession in India, keeping up with the Cricket WC India 2019 news in this way is worthwhile.
What other benefits do push notifications give to users though?
Never Miss Out on Key Scores or News
Perhaps the most valuable thing about these notifications is how they stop you missing out on important information. If, for example, you trade on the global FX market, then missing out on a key set of figures that could hit your investments is not an option. However, this could well happen if you rely on manually catching every piece of fresh news every day. Push notifications remove this pressure and room for human error by automating the process.
A Mobile Solution
Another very modern problem that they solve is how to stay abreast of key stories in Indian news or sport when not at your desk or at home. In the past, this was tricky – if you had no access to this kind of information where you were, then you could miss crucial stories. Push notifications can be used from mobile apps on smartphones to solve this. Now, as long as you have your smartphone handy, you can be in touch anywhere.
Saves You Time and Hassle
If you try to stay on top of the latest news manually, it is very stressful and time-consuming. Going into relevant websites to look for fresh stories every day will prevent you from doing other key tasks. You may also simply miss a new story by not looking in the right category! Of course, push notifications also cut back on wasted time from manually checking and there being no fresh news ready. Instead, you can just relax and let the news come to you when it happens.
Can Inform You of Things You Didn’t Know About
Let’s pretend for a moment that you forgot that the 2019 ICC World Cup had started. This might have seen you miss a game and not enjoy it to its fullest. Using push notifications would avoid this as the automatic messages sent in the build-up would have reminded you. This example shows just how these clever messages can tell you about things you find interesting or important but didn’t know were happening.
From Pitch to Screen in a Flash
Push notifications really are a great tech innovation to help us all in our daily lives. They take the hassle and stress out of keeping on top of the latest news stories in India. Compared to trying to do this manually as in the past, it is much more convenient for the average Indian. With one simple message, you can instantly see what has happened to either react or discard.
You may also like to read: What Are the Main Differences Between Push and Pull Marketing?
Header Image Courtesy of Google Chrome Developers