iOS Critical Alerts

A new version of our iPhone/iPad app is available today that adds support for Apple’s Critial Alerts.

Added in iOS 12, Critical Alerts are special notifications that can bypass the device’s mute switch and Do Not Disturb settings to generate audible alerts in emergency situations. This functionality is only available to applications that have applied to and been approved by Apple. We’ve been applying since the day Critical Alerts were announced at Apple’s developer conference in 2018 and Pushover has finally been approved.

Pushover for iOS now supports generating Critical Alerts for your most important messages, such as security camera alerts. Our Android application has had similar functionality since 2013 by optionally playing notification sounds as alarms, bypassing the device’s mute switch.

Critical Alerts are not enabled by default, and can be enabled in the Pushover app’s settings menu. The first time the “Critical Alerts for high-priority” option is enabled, you’ll need to approve a dialog from iOS allowing Pushover to generate Critical Alerts:

Since Critical Alerts bypass your device’s mute switch, they do not play sounds at your device’s current volume setting. You’ll need to choose a volume at which to play Critlcal Alerts from Pushover, and these go to eleven.