---
title: How to turn on notifications
url: https://tideswell.xyz/docs/notifications/turn-them-on
description: Switch notifications on for each browser and device separately, then send a test to prove it works.
---
> Documentation index: fetch https://tideswell.xyz/llms.txt to discover every page before exploring further.
# How to turn on notifications
Notifications are switched on **per device**, in the **Notifications** section of your account
page. Turning them on for your laptop does nothing for your phone: each browser and each device
is its own decision.
## How do you switch them on? [#how-do-you-switch-them-on]
Open your account page and press **Turn on notifications** in the **Notifications** section.
Your browser asks for permission, and you allow it.
Then send a **test notification**, which confirms with a message saying it should pop up in a
moment. Do this: it takes two seconds and is the difference between having notifications and
believing you do.
Turn them off again for that device from the same place.
## How do you get them on an iPhone? [#how-do-you-get-them-on-an-iphone]
Add Tideswell to your home screen first, following the on-screen instructions, and then turn
notifications on.
That order is required rather than a suggestion. Safari only allows notifications once the app
is on the home screen, which is why the instructions appear before the button does anything
useful.
Once on, tapping a notification takes you straight to the thing it is about: the chat message,
the task, the alert.
## Why is the button not working? [#why-is-the-button-not-working]
Four causes, in the order they come up.
**Notifications are blocked for Tideswell in your browser's settings.** The message says so and
tells you to allow them there and reload the page. A block you set once, possibly months ago,
is remembered and cannot be undone from inside the page.
**The browser is too old.** You are told to try a current version of Chrome, Safari, Edge or
Firefox.
**On iPhone, the app is not on the home screen yet.** See above.
**The network is blocking the push service**, which shows up as the button giving up after about
twenty seconds. Office and guest networks are the usual culprits; try another network.
## Do you have to do this on every device? [#do-you-have-to-do-this-on-every-device]
Yes, and it is worth doing on the ones you actually work from.
Most people want their phone for anything urgent and their work laptop for everything else. A
device you never turn on simply stays quiet.
## What happens when you tap a notification? [#what-happens-when-you-tap-a-notification]
It opens the thing it is about. A chat notification opens the channel, a task notification opens
the task, and an automation alert opens the relevant screen.
One thing to expect: a notification about a message inside a thread opens the channel rather
than the exact thread.
## Is there a history of pushes? [#is-there-a-history-of-pushes]
No. A push is a moment, and there is no list of past ones.
The **Inbox** is the record instead. Anything that was ever notified is there, read or unread,
which is why a missed push is never a lost message. See