Sending Push Notifications To Broadcast Radio Mobile Apps

Did you know that if you have a Broadcast Radio Mobile App (iOS & Android) you can send 'Push Notifications' to users of your app using two methods:

• Manually send Push Notification from the Broadcast.Radio portal.
• Automatically send Push Notification from the Log (scheduled or manually inserted).

In this article, we will show you how!

What you need

In order to take advantage of the features in this article you will need:

• A mobile app provided by Broadcast Radio. This feature will not work with apps provided by 3rd party developers.
• Myriad 5 Playout (v5.29.1 or higher)
• OCP v5 Standard (v5.29.1 or higher) with the Broadcast.Radio Output enabled.
• Access to your https://broadcast.radio/ web portal.

Manually sending Push Notification from the Broadcast.Radio web portal

You can use your mobile app to send notifications to anyone who has your app installed and has allowed notifications from the app.

To access the Notifications section follow these steps:

1. Login to Broadcast.Radio.
2. Click on Settings > App > Notifications.
   
   
   
   This will display a list of recent notifications sent to your apps.
   
   
3. To send a new Notification to your app users, click on the Send  button in the top right hand corner of the Notifications page.
   
   
   

This will open a Send Notification window which allows you to add the content for your Notification:

• Notification Name – Add a title for your Notification.
• Text – Add the text you want to include in your Notification.
• Set Image – Add a image from your Media Library or upload a new image.
• Expiry Date – You can add a date after which your Notification will not be displayed in your app.
• Send – Sends your Notification to mobile devices with your app installed (and Notifications allowed).

Your Notification will be sent to your app users.

And that is it! You have now sent your first push notification to the users of your apps.

Remember that only users who have allowed Notifications from your app will receive the message.

Adding a Push Notification to your Log in Myriad 5 Playout

You can also add Push Notifications to your Log in Myriad 5 Playout (v5.29.1 or higher). You will also have to have OCP Standard (v5.29.1 or higher) installed and connected to both Myriad 5 Playout as well as configured with the Broadcast.Radio Output.

When you add the Broadcast.Radio Output to OCP for the first time, you will be asked to provide your API key. You will find that by logging into Broadcast.Radio then clicking Settings > Playout Integration > API Key.

For details on setting up OCP see Myriad OCP 5 Standard & OCP 5 Pro User Guide

Assuming you are already setup to send information to Broadcast.Radio via OCP then your Myriad Playout system can send Push Notifications in the same way it can send updates to social media platforms (Facebook and Twitter).

Manually add a Push Notification to the Log

To manually add a Push Notification in the Log follow these steps:

1. Right click on the Log Item you would like to follow the Notification.
2. Select Insert before this item > Social.
   
   
   
   
3. Type in the message you would like to send to your app users. Please note you can only send text, not images using this method.
   
   
   
   
4. Toggle the Send an in-app notification option and click on OK.
   
   
   
   
5. The Push Notification will now be visible in the Log and be sent (via OCP).

Scheduling Push Notifications using Myriad Schedule

You can also add Notifications to your Log automatically by including them in the Clocks used to generate the Log.

1. In Myriad Playout, click on Station Menu > Edit Myriad Schedule Clocks.
   
   
   
   
2. Double click on the Clock you want to edit to open the Edit Clock window. N.B. It will need to be an Advanced Clock!
   
   
   
3. Drag a Social Clock Item from the left hand list, to the position in the Clock you want to use.
   
   
   
   
4. Double click on the Social Clock Item in the Clock List to open the details window.
   
   
   
   
5. Type in the message you want to send. You can only send text, not images from within Myriad Playout.
   
   
   
   
   
6. Toggle on the Send an in-app notification option. You can also send to Twitter and Facebook if you have OCP Outputs configured.
   
   
7. Click on OK.
   
   
   
   
8. Your Notification has now been added to the Clock and will appear in the Log in any hour where this Clock is used.

For more information on setting up Broadcast Radio Mobile apps see - Setting Up & Editing Mobile Apps (for iOS & Android)