Message types and sending methods in Airship
Send a single message, an automated message triggered by user behavior, or an automated series of messages.
Airship supports several message types across different channels, with multiple methods for sending.
Messages versus Experiences
In Airship, messages are content you send to users across any channel — App, Web, Email, SMS, or Open. You can send messages once, on a recurring schedule, or automatically triggered by user behavior.
Experiences are rich, interactive, content displayed within an app or website. They provide immediate, contextual responses to user behaviors.
Message types
The app channel supports these message types:
| Message type | Description |
|---|---|
| Push notification | A push notification is a message that can appear on any screen on a mobile device. Push notifications appear as banners. Learn more |
| Message Center | Message Center is both a place in your app where you can display persistent rich messages, including HTML, video, etc., and a message type. Similar to email, Message Center represents both the medium (the in-app inbox) and the message type (the messages you send to the inbox). Learn more |
| In-app message | An in-app message is a message that appears inside of your app. You can send in-app messages to your entire app audience, not just users who have opted-in to push notifications. The standard format, as opposed to In-App Automation, is a banner that slides downward or upward from the top or bottom of a device screen. Learn more |
Web supports web push notifications, and the Email, SMS, and Open channels have message types synonymous with their channel names:
| Message type | Description |
|---|---|
| Web push notification | A web push notification is a message that appears in the top or bottom right corner of a web browser or in a notification center. On mobile devices, web push notifications appear similar to push notifications. Learn more |
| Email is an HTML or plain-text message that you send to registered users. Email notifications appear in recipients' email inboxes. Learn more | |
| SMS | An SMS is a message that you can send to an MSISDN (phone number) over the SMMP protocol to devices that have opted in for a specific sender ID (long or short code). SMS messages appear in recipients’ native SMS clients. Generally speaking, SMS is inclusive of MMS and RCS. Learn more |
| Open channel | An Open channel message can be sent to any medium that can accept a JSON payload. Learn more |
See also Live ActivityDisplays current data from your app on the iPhone Lock Screen and in the Dynamic Island. and Live UpdateDisplays current data from your Android app in a push notification, home screen widget, or custom app view..
Sending methods
ComposersA tool for creating messages in the dashboard. Composers are defined by what you can include and control: message types, delivery, and automation. enable three sending methods: a single message sent once or on a recurring basis, an automated message triggered by user behavior, or an automated series of messages. Each composer supports all channels and message types listed above and can combine message types in a single send:
| Composer | Description |
|---|---|
| Message | Send a single message once or on a recurring basis. Learn more |
| Automation | Automatically send a message to users when they meet certain conditions. Learn more |
| Sequence | Automatically send one message or series of messages to users when they meet certain conditions. Sequences can also be included in a JourneyA continuous user experience of connected Sequences, Scenes, and/or In-App Automations.. Learn more |
Each composer guides you through defining your audience, content, and delivery options, with workflows tailored to the sending method.
Using the Airship API, you can use the /api/pipelines endpoints for automation. The API does not support sending a series of messages.
Reports
Message reports evaluate the performance of individual messages. For Sequences, the Performance report shows audience behavior compared to the Sequence’s goal and a message report for each message in the Sequence. See Sequence Performance.
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