See also:
Channel Registration Requirements
This table represents the minimum requirements for communicating with the various channels supported by Airship. A channel must either have installed the SDK or be registered via the API.
| Channel Type | API Registration | SDK Registration |
|---|---|---|
| App | ✓ | |
| Web | ✓ | |
| ✓ | ||
| SMS | ✓ | |
| Open Channel | ✓ | ✓ |
API Equivalents
Additional API equivalents are noted in the various tables in this document.
Messages
| Message Type | API Object |
|---|---|
| Push Notification | "notification": {} |
| Web Push Notification | "notification": { "web": {}} |
| In-App Message | "in_app": {} 1 |
| Message Center | "message": {} |
| Apple News Notification | Not supported |
| Email Notification | "notification": { "email": {}} |
| SMS Notification | "notification": { "sms": {}} |
1. There is currently no API for in-app automation.
Composers
A composer is a tool for creating messages via the dashboard. See Message and Composer Types for definitions of each and to learn which message types can be used with each composer and API endpoint.
| Composer Type | API Endpoint |
|---|---|
| Message | /push |
| A/B Test | /experiments |
| Automation | /pipelines |
| In-App Automation | Not supported |
| Journey | Not supported |
| Apple News | Not supported |
Optional Features
These apply to the composer Optional Features only. Also refer to their entries in the API Platform Overrides documentation. For Start and End Dates, see the API Automation documentation. For Campaign CategoriesAn optional delivery feature used to group messages of similar types or messaging strategies for aggregate reporting. Campaigns help you track the efficacy of both your individual messages and a messaging campaign as a whole. , see the API Campaign Object documentation.
| Composer Option | API |
|---|---|
| Background Processing1,2 | content_available |
| Badge2 | badge |
| Buttons | interactive |
| Campaign Categories | |
| Collapse Key (Amazon) | consolidation_key |
| Collapse Key (Android) | collapse_key |
| Critical2 | critical |
| Custom Keys | extra |
| Delay While Idle3 | delay_while_idle |
| Delivery Priority3 | delivery_priority |
| Expiration | expiry |
| Group2 | thread_id |
| Icon4 | icon |
| Media (iOS) | media_attachment |
| Media (Android and Amazon) | style |
| Mutable Content1,2 | mutable_content |
| Notification Category3 | notification_channel |
| Require Interaction4 | require_interaction |
| Sound2 | sound |
| Start and End Dates1 | activation_time, deactivation_time |
| Summary | summary |
| Title | title |
1. Used with automation and journeys only.
2. iOS only.
3. Android only.
4. Web only.
Availability: Channels Per Composer Type
| Composer Type | Channels |
|---|---|
| Message, Automation, Journey, and A/B Test |
|
| In-App Automation |
|
| Apple News |
|
Display Format and Timing
Delivery applies to message types and their equivalent API objects.
| Message Type | Display Format | Display Timing |
|---|---|---|
| Push Notification | Banner | Upon receipt. |
| Silent Push Notification | None | Not displayed. |
| Web Push Notification | Banner | Upon receipt, as long as the browser is open. |
| In-App Message | Banner, modal, or fullscreen | Upon opening the app. |
| Message Center | Fullscreen | Available in the app’s Message Center. |
| Apple News Notification | Banner | Upon receipt. If the selected story is still processing, it will send when the story is live. |
| Email Notification | Template layout, HTML, or plain-text | Upon opening the message. |
| SMS Notification | Text | Upon receipt. |
Messages Per Composer Type
Available message types per composer type and their equivalent API endpoints.
- Silent Push Notifications and Apple News Notifications cannot be combined with any other message types.
- Upload Users (Create and Send in the API) can only be used with a single channel at a time.
| Composer Type | Message Type | |
|---|---|---|
| Message, Automation, and Journey |
| |
| A/B Test |
| |
| In-App Automation |
| |
| Apple News |
|
Composers Per Message Type
Available composers per message type.
| Message Type | Composer Types |
|---|---|
| Push Notification |
|
| Silent Push Notification |
|
| Web Push Notification |
|
| In-App Message |
|
| Message Center |
|
| Apple News Notification |
|
| Email Notification |
|
| SMS Notification |
|
Actions
Message actions apply to the Message, A/B Test, Automation, and Journey composers and their equivalent API endpoints. They are related to these message types only:
- Push Notification
- Web Push Notification
- In-App Message
- Message Center
The In-App Automation composer has the same button actions available in every message.
Composers
Available message actions depending on selected message types. Combining all three message types gives you the same available actions as Push Notification + In-App Message.
| Message Action | API Object | Push Notification (with or without Message Center) | In-App Message (with or without Message Center) | Push Notification + In-App Message | Message Center |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home | ✓ | ✓ | |||
| Message Center | ✓1 | ✓1 | ✓ | ✓2 | |
| Landing Page1 | open3 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Deep Link | open4 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Adaptive Link | open5 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Web Page | open5 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Share | share | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
1. When Message Center is combined with another message type, the Actions dropdown menu defaults to Message Center, but you may choose another action.
2. When Message Center is the only selected message type, the Actions dropdown menu is replaced by a Rich Page create button.
3. With type property landing_page.
4. With type property deep_link.
5. With type property url.
Web
Web actions are Home, Adaptive Link, and Web Page.
Rich Pages
Rich Pages can be configured with buttons that perform these actions:
- Deep Link
- URL
- Share
Configuration and Requirements
Actions that do not require configuration cannot be disabled from appearing in the dashboard, and do not have a minimum SDK:
- Home
Actions that require configuration, can be disabled from appearing in the dashboard, and have a minimum SDK:
- Message Center
- Landing Page
- Deep Link
- Adaptive Link
- Web Page (URL)
The minimum SDK version is listed in Settings » Configuration » Feature Settings, along with an enable/disable toggle. The Adaptive Link action is enabled via the UA Actions Framework.
The Share action is an exception. It requires configuration, cannot be disabled from appearing in the dashboard, and its minimum SDK is 4.0.
Delivery
Delivery applies to composers and their equivalent API endpoints.
- The In-App Automation composer does not have delivery settings. The messages are instead stored on the user’s device then displayed according to the triggers you define.
Equivalent API endpoints are noted.
| Composer Type | Immediate | Scheduled1 | Optimal Send Time2 | During Available Window |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Message | /push | /schedules | ||
| A/B Test | /experiments | /experiments | ||
| Automation | /pipelines | /pipelines4 | ||
| Journey5 | ||||
| In-App Automation | ||||
| Apple News |
1. Scheduled messages must contain a schedule object.
2. Optimal Send Time is one of our predictive features. Please contact Airship Sales to purchase.
3. In the API, Optimal Send Time uses the schedule specification best_time.
4. See: Automation Timing.
5. Delivery type applies to the first message in a journey only. Subsequent messages in the journey are sent as additional conditions are met and according to their specified delay periods.
6. If the selected story is still processing, it will send when the story is live.
Automation Timing
| Composer Option | API Object |
|---|---|
| Delay | delay object with seconds property |
| Schedule | date object with start and end properties |
| Send during available window | date object with recent property |