I ran into this issue that notifications could not easily be sent to my phone. I wanted something like ntfy, but self-hosted to keep my infrastructure mine. The issue with self-hosting ntfy is that push-notifications do not work (as of 24/07/2026) on iOS, because Apple™ loves doing things differently.

iOS 16.4+ supports Web Notifications as long as the site is a PWA. This is something I can use.

What is a “PWA”?

A “PWA” is similar to an App, it can be used like an app, added to the home screen, and offer other platform specific benefits, without getting into the nitty-gritty: You can use it as if it is an app, built for the platform you are on. What makes it different though is that traditionally websites are experienced more as a place you can visit, other than a place you have. A website doesn’t (typically) have a presence on the user’s device, instead it is requested / accessed by a browser.

The PWA however, is directly available as an application (though under the hood, still uses the browser and is still a “site”).

The Fix

Now the solution is simple, set up a webserver, make the user(s) add it to their homescreen as a PWA. With this, I can send web notifications using the standard workflow, call it via an API, put it as a custom webhook on applications and I can get (near) instant notifications delivered to my Apple Watch, iPhone and other personal devices. Plus, because it is a notification it works on any platform where notifications work now. Isn’t that neat, huh?