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OTT Capabilities

Send messages to Over-the-Top (OTT) devices.

You can use Airship to send messages to your app on OTT devices. Create OTT messages the same way as messages for Android or Fire OS and then target the corresponding platform to reach the OTT devices. For example, to target Android TV, you just need to send the message to Android. The messages can be sent via Push Notification, In-App Messages and In-App Automation, and Message Center by specifying users (segment, named user, or channel ID).

The following message types are supported for Android TV, and Fire OS Fire TV, and Apple tvOS, without the need for development work.

Message typeAndroid TVFire OS Fire TVApple tvOS
Push NotificationA message that can appear on any screen on a mobile device. Push notifications appear as banners.❌✅ 1✅ 2
In-App AutomationMessages cached on users’ devices and displayed when users meet certain conditions within your app, such as viewing a particular screen or opening the app a certain number of times.✅ 3❌❌
Message CenterA place in your app where you can display persistent rich messages, including HTML, video, etc. Similar to email, Message Center represents both the medium (the in-app inbox) and the message type (the messages you send to the inbox).✅ 4✅ 5❌
In-App MessageA 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. (standard)❌✅❌

1. The notification will appear in the notification tray. Not supported for Fire TV Stick: buttons, Summary field, Share action, and high priority push (heads-up notifications ).
2. On tvOS, user-visible notifications are restricted to badges. Content-available pushes are also available for performing content fetching and other silent operations in the background.
3. Modal, Fullscreen, and Banner message styles are supported.
4. The OpenExternalUrlAction to open URLs in messages will not work, as Android TV does not have a web browser.
5. The MessageCenterAction opens the Message Center but does not directly open the message. If a web browser is installed, URLs function as button actions.