Overview

Push tokens are unique identifiers from Firebase Cloud Messaging (FCM) for Android and Apple Push Notification Service (APNS) for iOS devices. These tokens allow you to send push notifications directly to your users' devices. However, when users stop interacting with the app or use only one of their devices, some push tokens may become stale.

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Example

Jane has both iOS and Android devices but only interacts with her iOS device. Despite having the app installed on both devices, she has not clicked on any push notifications or opened the app for a while on her Android device. Due to this, the push notification token on her Android device goes stale.

Managing Stale Tokens

At Netcore, we follow recommended practices to manage stale tokens:

• Android Push Tokens: We consider a push token stale if the user has not interacted with the app for a month. When stale tokens reach 270 days of inactivity, we will consider them invalid tokens.
• iOS Push Tokens: We consider a push token stale if the user has not interacted with the app for a two-month period. Active devices refresh their tokens regularly, so tokens older than two months likely belong to inactive devices.

To ensure accurate reporting and effective delivery, we:

• Track Token Activity: We monitor the status of each push token. If a token becomes stale (i.e., the user has not interacted with the app or received notifications within the specified time frame), we exclude it from the sent count of campaigns.
• Adjust Campaign Sent Counts: When this feature is implemented, you may notice a decreased sent count. This reduction reflects the removal of stale tokens from the count, leading to more accurate delivery statistics.
• Re-include Active Devices: If a previously inactive device becomes active again, its token is re-included in the reachable user base.