Using ntfy with Android Matrix clients

Some Android Matrix clients -- in particular Element and SchildiChat -- support push notifications being delivered through ntfy instead of Google's Firebase Cloud Messaging, which is the default way to send push notifications to Android devices. If you can't or don't want to use FCM, or if you're having trouble receiving timely notifications, you may want to consider trying ntfy instead.

The flagship instance of ntfy is operated by the project's maintainer at ntfy.sh. There is rate limiting in place on ntfy.sh; it can normally be avoided by paying for a higher tier, but since Matrix doesn't currently provide a way to pass your account token along with push notifications, you'll still be subject to rate limiting. We suggest using our server at ntfy.4d2.org instead: the overall messaging rate limits are higher, our own applications are exempt from the limits, and it allows us to be better internet citizens by not placing our applications' notification load on ntfy.sh.

Trying out ntfy with Element or SchildiChat takes only a few minutes:

1. Visit https://ntfy.4d2.org in a web browser, click the link to sign up, and register a username and password.
2. Download and install the ntfy app for Android. Open the ntfy app and accept the recommended settings to allow background battery usage.
3. In the ntfy app, navigate to Settings and set your default server to https://ntfy.4d2.org, unless you're already using ntfy.sh for another purpose. Then choose "Manage users", choose "Add new user", enter https://ntfy.4d2.org for your service URL, enter the username and password you chose in step 1, and tap "Add user".
4. If prompted, choose to use WebSockets to connect to the server for better performance.
5. In your Matrix client's notification settings, set your notification method to ntfy.
6. Open the ntfy app and confirm that you can see a new topic in the list of subscribed topics.
7. Confirm that you're receiving timely new message notifications from your Matrix client.

If you're also using 4d2.social (Mastodon), ntfy works seamlessly with Tusky. You can configure ntfy to work with other Matrix clients and many other mobile applications, but these scenarios aren't covered here. Please see the ntfy documentation for more details.