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Notification Troubleshooting

Troubleshoot issues with notifications

How to troubleshoot issues with receiving push and SMS notifications.

Push Notifications

According to Apple and Google's documentation, push notifications are delivered on a "best effort" basis. It is recommended that you configure backup contact methods (e.g., SMS, email, phone) in case providers have an issue delivering push notifications. The following sections provide general and OS-specific troubleshooting tips for issues with push notification delivery.

General Troubleshooting

The following tips are helpful for push notification troubleshooting regardless of your device's operating system:

Download the Most Recent Version of the Mobile App

In some cases, there may be issues receiving push notifications if the mobile app version is very old or out-of-date. You can download the most recent version of the PagerDuty mobile app from Google Play or the App Store. Please see our System Requirements for supported app versions and platforms.

Perform In-App Troubleshooting

You can test notifications in the mobile app:

  1. Navigate to More (top-right).
  2. Tap Troubleshoot Notifications.

Tests will automatically begin, with a green check mark indicating success. If an issue is identified, an error message with suggested troubleshooting steps will appear.

Notifications troubleshooting tests

Notifications troubleshooting tests

You can manually run tests again by tapping Run Tests in the top-right corner.

Enable Push Notifications in the Mobile App

In the mobile app, navigate to More (top-right) and make sure you have the following settings configured:

  1. In the section Notifications, enable the toggle for Push Notifications (iOS).
  2. Under High-Urgency, select a sound that will play when you receive push notifications for high-urgency incidents.
  3. Under Low-Urgency, optionally deactivate the Mute Sound toggle and select a sound that will play when you receive push notifications for low-urgency incidents.

Check if a Service is Disabled or in Maintenance Mode

If a service is disabled or in maintenance mode, incidents will not trigger. As a result, incident notifications, including push notifications, will not go out.

Reset Devices and Push Notification Settings

In the PagerDuty Mobile App

You may wish to reset your push notification settings and preferences in PagerDuty.

  1. In the mobile app, tap More Profile Edit Contact Methods (iOS) or Edit Contact Methods (Android).
  2. In the section Push, tap next to any devices.
  3. Log out of the PagerDuty app (if you're logged in)*:
    • On Android: Navigate to More , tap the menu to the right of the account, and tap Remove this account.
    • On iOS: Navigate to More User Icon (top-left) Edit, and tap next to the desired account. Tap Delete to confirm your selection.
  4. Force close the app.
  5. Open the app and log in to your PagerDuty account.

In Your Device’s Settings App

You can also reset the app in your device’s settings app:

  • On Android: Open the Settings app and go to Apps All Apps PagerDuty Storage & Cache, then select Clear Cache.
  • On iOS: Open the Settings app, select PagerDuty, then turn the Reset toggle to the on position.

Send a Test Notification in the Web App

These steps outline how to send a test notification to the mobile app from the web app:

  1. Add your device as a contact method and add a notification rule for the device.
  2. Enable notifications for the PagerDuty app in your phone's Settings.
  3. Confirm you have the most recent version of the mobile app.
  4. In the web app, navigate to User Icon My Profile. With the Contact Information tab selected, click Test to the right of your device’s name.
Test push notification

Test push notification

Check Push Notifications for Other Apps

In rare circumstances, Apple may block specific devices from its Apple Push Notification Service. If you have any other apps that use push notifications, verify whether those apps are able to receive push notifications. Another place to check is your Notification Center to see when you were last able to receive a notification.

For Android, updating your phone may change the device ID. This can affect push notification delivery.

Check Firewall and Network Connection

You'll need an internet connection to register the PagerDuty app. If the device is connected to Wi-Fi (and no cellular connection is available), inbound and outbound TCP packets need to be sent over port 5223. Check to see whether a firewall is blocking these requests.

To circumvent a firewall that's blocking push notification registration, turn Wi-Fi off on your phone, log out of the PagerDuty app, and log in again while using a cellular data connection. You can confirm that registration was successful in the web app on your user profile page; you device should appear in the Mobile App section.

Check Blocked Devices on the User Profile Page

If you uninstall and reinstall the PagerDuty mobile app, you may find multiple instances of the same device listed in the Mobile App section. Only one device can be registered at a time, and some entries may show Blocked next to them.

You can remove a Blocked device by clicking to the right of the device. This will also remove any notification rules associated with the device.

Android Device Troubleshooting

This guide covers common troubleshooting steps for notification issues specific to Android devices. Please see the section General Troubleshooting before using this guide.

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Register Mobile Device

If you do not see your device registered under your contact methods, please log in to the mobile app.

Enable Push Notifications

In order to receive push notifications on your Android device, Google Play Services must be enabled. If Google Play Services are enabled and the General Troubleshooting steps have not resolved the issue, you can try resetting the app.

To reset the app, navigate to Settings Apps All apps PagerDuty tap Clear Storage.

Doze Mode

In some cases, users have reported delayed notifications while using Doze mode. You can turn off Doze for PagerDuty by going to Settings Battery Battery usage PagerDuty and selecting Unrestricted.

Other phones may have this setting labeled as Don't wake for notifications, which you can disable to prevent delays receiving notifications.

Doze mode

Doze mode

Override System Volume

Recent versions* of our Android app offer a feature called Override System Volume. The availability of this feature may differ based on your specific device** and/or what other apps you have installed. It is an experimental feature, and we recommend testing it before using it for production notifications.

*Override System Volume has been introduced, removed, and re-introduced due to its experimental nature and breaking changes from new releases of the Android platform. If you don't see the option in the app, make sure you have the latest version from Google Play.

**OnePlus devices on Android 10 and higher do not support Override System Volume for the PagerDuty app.

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Work Profile Limitation

Due to a Work Profile limitation from Android, overriding Do Not Disturb and system volume will not work when the PagerDuty app is under a Work Profile.

Other Sound Issues

If you are receiving push notifications but are unable to hear a sound, please confirm the following:

  • Android requires a sound to be selected for push notifications. Select a sound under Settings Sound & vibration Default notification sound.
  • Check to see if any other volume-manipulating apps are running.

Apple Device Troubleshooting

This guide covers common troubleshooting steps for notification issues specific to Apple devices. Please see the section General Troubleshooting for initial troubleshooting steps.

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Register Mobile Device

If you do not see your device registered under your contact methods, please log in to the mobile app.

Enable Notifications

In iOS, it is possible to turn off notifications for individual apps. In the Settings app, tap Notifications and make sure the PagerDuty app is listed and enabled to play sounds and show Alerts or Banners. These are the app's default settings. If you don't see the PagerDuty app in Notifications, it is possible you didn’t allow PagerDuty to send push notifications when installing the app.

Apple suggests following these steps to enable notifications:

  1. Delete the PagerDuty app from your device.
  2. Turn off your device completely and turn it back on.
  3. Go to Settings General Date & Time and set the date ahead a day or more.
  4. Turn the device off completely again and turn it back on.
  5. Reinstall PagerDuty and tap Allow when prompted to allow push notifications.

Verify Your Device is Registered with PagerDuty

After logging in, PagerDuty registers your device's push notification token to our system. This allows us to send push notifications. In the PagerDuty web app, confirm that your device is listed on your user profile under Contact Information. If it is not in this section, or you see multiple devices, you'll need to allow notifications when opening the app for the first time. You may also delete and reinstall the app to re-register your device.

For more information, please read Log in to the Mobile App.

Send a Test Notification

First confirm that your device is listed on your user profile as a contact method with an associated notification rule. Then make sure that push notifications are enabled in the mobile app:

  1. Download the latest version of the mobile app.
  2. In the PagerDuty mobile app, navigate to More (top-right).
  3. Make sure the Push Notifications are enabled.
  4. In the web app, on your user profile under Contact Methods, click Test next to your device’s name.
Test notification

Test notification

Push Notification Doesn't Produce Sound

If push notifications come through, but are not making a sound, in addition to checking sound settings, make sure that your device's Ring/Silent switch is set to Ring. If your device is on silent or vibrate, then PagerDuty notifications will also be on silent or vibrate.

Lastly, check that you are signed in to your Apple ID on your iOS device. Go to Settings iTunes & App Store and enter your Apple ID and password.

Apple Watch Notification Troubleshooting

If there is an issue receiving notifications on your Apple Watch, make sure that you've logged in to the PagerDuty app on your iPhone. Then please check the following:

  1. Your Apple Watch must be on your wrist to receive notifications.
  2. Your iPhone must be locked to receive watch notifications.
  3. On your iPhone, notifications must be turned on for both the PagerDuty app AND the Apple Watch app.
    • You can find this under Settings Notifications PagerDuty Allow Notifications.

SMS Notifications

The following sections provide troubleshooting tips for SMS notification delivery issues.

Short Code Messaging Restrictions

Depending on the country where you are located and which cellular provider you're using, there may be a variety of issues that can affect your ability to receive PagerDuty SMS notifications.

Some mobile carriers restrict messages from or to short codes. Typically, all PagerDuty SMS notifications are sent from the short code "PDUTY" (73889). If you aren't receiving PagerDuty notifications via SMS and your phone number meets any of the conditions below, you may need to contact your provider to verify that your account is allowed to receive SMS notifications from short codes:

  1. Pay-as-you-go numbers.
  2. Any number that was a pay-as-you-go and is now on a standard plan.
  3. Any number that is or was used by a business in the past.

Provider-Specific Issues with Short Codes

  1. T-Mobile USA has a default content filter set. In order to remove the content filter set, you must specifically call T-Mobile and authorize PagerDuty's short code numbers (73889, 42752, and 43105).
  2. If you recently upgraded your device with T-Mobile, they may have put a block on the account that could prevent it from receiving short code messages.

SMS Notification Responses

Due to a variety of factors, some countries may not support responding to SMS messages to acknowledge or resolve an incident, even if you can receive SMS notifications. Please see the full list in our Supported Countries article.

India's Do Not Disturb (DND) Registry

In India, please make sure that your number is not in the national DND registry. India's government provides a lookup utility to determine if a number is listed there.

Other Notification Issues

Incident Escalation

If an incident escalates to a level of an escalation policy level where you do not appear, it is expected you will not receive notifications.

For example:

  1. Your notification rules are set to push notify you immediately, email you after one minute, and call you after five minutes.
Notification rules

Notification rules

  1. You are on the first level of an escalation policy where incidents escalate after five minutes.
Escalation policy

Escalation policy

  1. When an incident is triggered, you receive the push notification immediately, and one minute later an email notification. You do not receive a phone call.
  2. This is because the incident would have escalated to the level 2 on-call user (i.e., Homer) at the five-minute mark. Since the incident escalated to another user, it was no longer assigned to you after five minutes, and PagerDuty would not have sent you a phone call notification.

In this case, you will want to change your notification rules to call you in less than five minutes OR adjust the escalation policy to escalate incidents after six or more minutes.

Updated 6 days ago

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