Configure push notifications in the Grafana mobile app
The Grafana mobile app sends push notifications for the things you need to act on: alerts that page you, on-call shifts that are about to start, and incidents you’re involved in. This page covers the types of notification the app sends, how to set them up, and how to prevent your phone from silencing the ones that matter.
You control push notifications in three places:
- Your personal notification rules in Grafana IRM decide whether alerts reach your phone at all.
- Settings > Push notifications in the app controls sounds, volume, and which non-alert notifications you get.
- Your device’s own notification settings decide whether a notification can break through silent mode or Do Not Disturb.
Before you begin
- Install the app and sign in to a Grafana Cloud stack. Refer to Install and sign in.
- Allow notifications when your device prompts you the first time you open the app. Without this permission, your device blocks everything the app sends.
- To be paged for alerts, you also need personal notification rules that use the mobile push method. Shift reminders and incident updates don’t depend on your notification rules, so you can set those up independently.
Notification types
The app sends four types of push notifications. Each type has its own settings, and two of them depend on your IRM notification rules.
Important and Default notifications reach you through an IRM escalation chain, so your notification rules decide when each one fires. Info and Incident notifications are personal preferences you set in the app.
Set up alert notifications
Important and Default notifications are the two urgency levels the app pages you at. Important notifications can be louder and can override Do Not Disturb, so use them for alerts that need to wake you. Default notifications cover everything else. Both follow the same setup, but you configure them separately.
Add mobile push to your notification rules
Alerts only reach your phone if your personal notification rules include a mobile push method:
- Open Settings and tap Notification rules.
- Under Important notifications, add a step that uses Mobile push important.
- Under Default notifications, add a step that uses Mobile push.
The app shows a warning icon on Notification rules when either chain is missing its mobile push step. You can also manage these rules from your Grafana Cloud user profile.
If you have the Viewer role, you can’t change your own notification rules. Ask your Grafana Cloud administrator to update them for you.
Choose sounds and volume
Open Settings > Push notifications to set how each type sounds. The available options differ by platform.
On iOS, pick a Type of either Constant or Intensifying, then pick a Sound. Tap a sound to preview it. Important notifications also have a volume slider that sets the level alerts play at. You can set Default notifications to silent.
On Android, sound and vibration come from a system notification channel rather than from the app. Tap Customize notifications to open that channel’s settings on your device. Back in the app, turn on Override system volume to play alerts at a volume you set, even when your device volume is low. Tap Sound library to hear the sounds available on your device.
Note
On Android, the app creates a separate set of notification channels for each connected stack. If you work across more than one stack, configure the channels for each one.
Send a test notification
Send yourself a test to confirm alerts arrive the way you expect:
- Open Settings > Push notifications.
- Under Important notifications or Default notifications, tap Send test notification.
- Check that the notification arrives with the sound and volume you configured.
A test notification travels the same path as a real alert notification, so it’s the fastest way to catch a delivery problem. If nothing arrives, refer to Push notifications aren’t arriving.
Info and Incident notifications don’t have a test option.
Get reminders about shifts and shift swaps
Info notifications tell you when an on-call shift is about to start and when someone requests a shift swap. They’re off by default.
- Open Settings > Push notifications.
- Under Info notifications, turn on Enable notifications.
- Tap Notify me and choose how far ahead of a shift you want to be reminded.
- On iOS, choose a Type and Sound. On Android, tap Customize notifications to set sound and vibration in your device’s system settings.
Notify me accepts more than one selection, so you can get both an early reminder and a last-minute one for the same shift, for example, one day before and again 15 minutes before. The list of available lead times comes from Grafana Cloud. If you never change it, you get a single reminder 15 minutes before.
Notify me applies only to shifts that are starting. Shift swap requests arrive on their own schedule, up to a month ahead of the shift being swapped.
Turn on incident status updates
Incident notifications tell you when someone posts a status update on an incident you’re a participant in. They’re off by default.
- Open Settings > Push notifications.
- Under Incident notifications, turn on Enable notifications.
This section only appears if your organization has set up incident response in Grafana IRM. Incident notifications are delivered the same way as Default notifications and use the same sound, so there’s nothing else to configure. Refer to Declare and respond to incidents for what you can do after you join an incident.
Keep notifications from being silenced by your device
Your phone’s silent mode, volume, and Do Not Disturb settings can suppress notifications, including pages. The app can’t change these settings for you, but it gives you shortcuts to the right screens. What you need to do depends on your platform.
On iOS
Critical Alerts is the iOS permission that lets a notification play at full volume when your phone is on silent or in Do Not Disturb:
- In the app, open Settings and turn on Override DND for important under Account.
- Open Settings on your iPhone and tap Notifications.
- Find and tap the Grafana app.
- Turn on Critical Alerts.
If you turn on Override DND for important but haven’t allowed Critical Alerts, the app shows a warning on the Settings screen. Tap Configure to jump straight to the right iOS screen.
If you wear an Apple Watch, consider turning off notification mirroring for the app in the Watch app on your iPhone. watchOS shortens the playback duration of mirrored notifications, which can make an important alert easy to miss.
On Android
Android delivery depends on several device permissions, so the app checks them for you and flags any that are missing:
- Open Settings > Push notifications.
- Under Device permissions check, tap each flagged item and follow the prompts to your device’s system settings. The check covers Battery optimization, DND permission, Unused app restriction, and Auto Start.
- Under Important notifications, tap Customize notifications and allow that channel to override Do Not Disturb.
Override system volume also depends on DND permission, because the app needs it to raise the volume on a silenced device. Menu names and available options vary by device manufacturer and Android version.
Respond from the notification
Push notifications for firing alert groups include Acknowledge and Silence for 30 minutes on both iOS and Android, so you can respond without opening the app. Info and Incident notifications don’t carry actions. Refer to Respond to alert groups for everything you can do after you open an alert group.
Next steps
- Refer to Respond to alert groups to act on the alerts you’re paged for.
- Refer to Manage settings and accounts for the Android Group push notifications option.
- Refer to Troubleshoot the Grafana mobile app if notifications don’t arrive.
