With Advanced HomeKit Notifications, you can get messages about events in your home. This documentation explains the different types of notifications that Controller for HomeKit supports and their respective settings. Look at the Notification Documentation to learn more about Advanced HomeKit Notifications.
All our notifications have a common structure and functionality. However, there are different types that differ in how they are triggered and how exactly they work.
Common Structure
Title
The headline that you'll see when you receive the notification. The title is required. It's also important to note that the title must be unique for server notifications. See more here.
Text
The message that you'll see when you receive the notification. The text is optional.
Interruption Level
The interruption level tells your device how urgent a notification is. It will determine how the device tries to get your attention.
- Passive notifications are delivered silently. They will not play a sound and don't light up your display.
- Active notifications play a sound and light up your display. However, they can be muted by Focus Modes, Notification Summaries, or if you mute your device.
- Time-sensitive notifications are important messages and will be delivered even if a Focus Mode or the Notification Summary is active.
Behavior
The behavior determines how the device deals when the same notification is delivered multiple times.
- With Keep Latest Notification, when a notification is delivered, all previous instances of this notification are removed. For example, you'll probably want this if you have a notification that allows you to execute a scene. There is no reason to have multiple instances of a notification that all do the same thing.
- With Keep All Notifications, all instances of a notification are kept until you dismiss them. For example, this is useful if you want to see how often a motion detector is triggered. Then you'll have an instance of the notification for every time it detected motion and when it happened.
Actions
Notification actions give Advanced HomeKit Notifications their power. They let you add actions to a notification that you can instantly execute when you receive it. In contrast to Automations, you can choose between different actions depending on your current needs or opt not to perform an action. That makes notifications great for situations where you want something to happen often but not always.
Primary vs. Secondary Actions
The primary action is performed when you directly tap a notification. You see your secondary actions when you touch and hold the notification. On Mac, you can find them when you click on 'options' in the notification. If you don't specify a primary action and directly tap on a notification, Controller for HomeKit will open and present you with all secondary actions.
Types of Actions
- Execute Scene, will execute a scene in your home.
- Execute Workflow, will run a workflow.
- Open View, will open a specific view in Controller for HomeKit. For example, open the live feed of a camera.
- Snooze, by default, every notification has a snooze action. It will remove the notification and deliver it again later. You can choose how long the notification will be snoozed.
Notification Types
Server Notifications
Server notifications use the Controller for HomeKit Notification Service to deliver messages to your devices. After you define a notification in the app, you'll get a URL (a web link). If you make a request to that URL (open that link), the notification is sent. This allows you to send notifications from different sources and makes server notifications very powerful.
There are four different types of server notifications that allow you to implement solutions for various problems.
Instant
Instant notifications are the simplest but also most flexible type. You have a single URL, and if that is called, our Notification Service will instantly deliver the message to all specified devices.
Parameters:
- Send To: Allows you to select which of your devices should receive this notification
URLs:
- notify: Will trigger the notification instantly
Delayed
Delayed notifications work similarly to instant notifications, but instead of being sent instantly after the URL call, they are sent with a defined delay. So, for example, you can send a notification one hour after something happens.
Parameters:
- Delay: The time in minutes how long the delivery will be delayed.
- Allow Rescheduling:
- yes: if the notification is already scheduled it will be canceled, and the delay will start anew.
- no: if the notification is already scheduled it will be delivered as planned. The new call will do nothing.
- Send To: Allows you to select which of your devices should receive this notification
URLs:
- schedule: Will trigger the notification. It will be delivered after the delay.
- cancel: Cancel the notification if it is already scheduled.
Scheduled
Scheduled notifications are similar to delayed notifications, but they will be delivered at a defined time instead of having a fixed delay. For example, they can be sent at 7 p.m. this evening or 7 p.m. the following Saturday.
Parameters:
- Time: The time when the notification will be delivered
- Day: The day of the week that the notification will be delivered
- Timezone: Your timezone.
- Send To: Allows you to select which of your devices should receive this notification.
URLs:
- schedule: Will trigger the notification. It will be delivered the next time the day and time happen.
- cancel: Cancel the notification if it is already scheduled.
Counter
Counter notifications count how often you call the trigger URL. The notification will only be sent when the count reaches a specified value. For example, you could call the URL every time you're coffee maker is turned on. After you turn it on 30 times, you receive a notification that it's time to clean it.
Parameters:
- Count: After how many calls should the notification be delivered?
- Automatic Reset:
- yes: reset the current count to zero after the notification is sent. The count will start anew.
- no: keep counting even if the count is reached. When the count is reached, each new call will send a notification until reset is called.
- Send To: Allows you to select which of your devices should receive this notification.
URLs:
- count: Will increase the current count by one. If the current count is equal to the target count, the notification will be delivered, and the current count will reset if automatic reset is activated.
- reset: Reset the current count to zero.
Local Notifications
Local Notifications run on a single device and will only be sent to that device.
Recurring
Recurring notifications are the best way to get reminders for periodically tasks. For example, you could set up a monthly reminder to create a new backup.
You can add multiple recurrence intervals. Each interval can either be daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly.
Location
With a location notification, you can be notified if you're device leaves or enters a specific location. For example, you could create a simple reminder to turn off the lights if you leave you're home. However, with server notifications, you can make this reminder much smarter.
Local notifications belong to a single device that is running and displaying them. Server notifications can address multiple devices. You trigger them by calling a URL of our Notification Service, which will then send the message to your devices.