# iOS push badly needed, but Discourse.org hosting is too expensive
**URL:** https://meta.discourse.org/t/ios-push-badly-needed-but-discourse-org-hosting-is-too-expensive/221211
**Category:** Self-hosting
**Tags:** hosting
**Created:** [March 17, 2022, 10:00am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/ios-push-badly-needed-but-discourse-org-hosting-is-too-expensive/221211 "2022-03-17T10:00:33Z")
**Posts on this page:** 11
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@rsmith2019](https://meta.discourse.org/u/rsmith2019)
#### Post date: [March 17, 2022, 10:00am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/ios-push-badly-needed-but-discourse-org-hosting-is-too-expensive/221211/1 "2022-03-17T10:00:33Z")
We are a volunteer-led community organisation with a small Discourse forum, and the majority of our members use iPhones.
It pains to me to watch a once-amazing community die off as our members disappear into WhatsApp groups.
There is one sole reason for this: the lack of iOS push notifications.
People spend less and less leisure time using desktop and laptop computers. On their iPhones the Discourse app (which you have to remember to open) fails to compete with the world of other pings and distractions. It’s also totally unsuited to improptu meetings or “where are you” messages without push notifications.
As far as I can gather, all attempts to add iOS push notifications to third party hosted forums have failed.
We would be more than happy to buy direct from Discourse and support the organisation, but as a non-profit organisation we could not justify $1,200 per year for it. Will Discourse ever offer a lower priced tier? Perhaps restricted to non-profit organisations, if you are afraid of cannibalising your existing customers.
Or could Discourse offer just the push notifications as an add-on to third party hosting? Perhaps with a pay-per-ping model?
It strikes me this issue of community rot will start to affect any Discourse community where the majority of members are accessing it via iPhone, so probably a bigger problem than just for us.
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### Author:  [@RGJ](https://meta.discourse.org/u/RGJ)
#### Post date: [March 17, 2022, 10:43am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/ios-push-badly-needed-but-discourse-org-hosting-is-too-expensive/221211/2 "2022-03-17T10:43:20Z")
The [FAQ](https://www.discourse.org/pricing) says
> ### Are there educational or non-profit discounts?
>
> Yes! If you are legally recognized as an educational institution we offer an 85% discount. If you are legally recognized as a non-profit organization that is exempt from federal taxes, we offer a 50% discount. These discounts apply only to our standard and business plans, and must be paid through a debit/credit card monthly or annually. [Please contact us](https://www.discourse.org/contact) after starting your trial and we’ll add the discount to your account.
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### Author:  [@rsmith2019](https://meta.discourse.org/u/rsmith2019)
#### Post date: [March 17, 2022, 10:55am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/ios-push-badly-needed-but-discourse-org-hosting-is-too-expensive/221211/3 "2022-03-17T10:55:47Z")
That’s very handy, thank you Richard!
Although we’re actually a customer of yours at the moment so I feel a bit guilty about the source of this advice!
I do hope one day that push notifications become available for everyone, without waiting for Apple.
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### Author:  [@Moin](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Moin)
#### Post date: [March 17, 2022, 10:58am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/ios-push-badly-needed-but-discourse-org-hosting-is-too-expensive/221211/4 "2022-03-17T10:58:54Z")
Seems you do not have to wait too long for apple anymore
> [@iOS Mobile App Notifications](https://meta.discourse.org/t/ios-mobile-app-notifications/53189/51):
>
> [Push notifications coming to web apps with iOS 15.4 - 9to5Mac](https://9to5mac.com/2022/01/31/ios-15-4-hints-at-ar-vr-headset-support-and-push-notifications-coming-to-web-apps/)
>
> Good news for notifications on self-hosted 😀
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### Author:  [@rsmith2019](https://meta.discourse.org/u/rsmith2019)
#### Post date: [March 17, 2022, 12:02pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/ios-push-badly-needed-but-discourse-org-hosting-is-too-expensive/221211/5 "2022-03-17T12:02:25Z")
Now that would be amazing. Fingers crossed!
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### Author:  [@Decorbuz](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Decorbuz)
#### Post date: [March 17, 2022, 3:25pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/ios-push-badly-needed-but-discourse-org-hosting-is-too-expensive/221211/6 "2022-03-17T15:25:09Z")
Have you taken a look at OneSignal yet?
> [@Whitelisted Discourse app with Push Notifications via OneSignal](https://meta.discourse.org/t/whitelisted-discourse-app-with-push-notifications-via-onesignal/58247):
>
> Following up on the discussion [here](https://meta.discourse.org/t/what-if-i-want-to-white-label-the-discourse-mobile-apps/53063/9), I have successfully set up a fork of the official Discourse app that can send push notifications via the OneSignal API. There are two parts to this: [discourse-onesignal](https://github.com/pmusaraj/discourse-onesignal/) - a Discourse plugin that sends Push Notifications to OneSignal’s REST API and a [Discourse Mobile Single Site App](https://github.com/pmusaraj/discourse-mobile-single-site-app) built similarly to the official Discourse Mobile app (using React Native), but using OneSignal for notifications and a simplified interface to suit the needs of a single app. I…
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### Author:  [@RGJ](https://meta.discourse.org/u/RGJ)
#### Post date: [March 17, 2022, 4:06pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/ios-push-badly-needed-but-discourse-org-hosting-is-too-expensive/221211/7 "2022-03-17T16:06:54Z")
That works, but note that it requires you to develop your own custom iOS app.
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### Author:  [@Decorbuz](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Decorbuz)
#### Post date: [March 17, 2022, 4:19pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/ios-push-badly-needed-but-discourse-org-hosting-is-too-expensive/221211/8 "2022-03-17T16:19:53Z")
Ah, good point.
I was going to recommend [Lexicon](https://lexicon.is/) too, but that also isn’t entirely straightforward.
> [@Lexicon: a customizable native mobile app for your Discourse site](https://meta.discourse.org/t/lexicon-a-customizable-native-mobile-app-for-your-discourse-site/201085):
>
> Hey everyone, I wanted to quickly drop in here and mention that I’ve just open-sourced a project called [Lexicon](https://lexicon.is) with some colleagues of mine. It’s a pre-built, customizable native mobile app built on top of the Discourse API. We built it to help quickly integrate discussion and messaging features into other native mobile projects. This project was really enjoyable to build, primarily due to all of the hard work done in advance by the Discourse core team and community over the years. Screensh…
The only other solution I can think of is [Fig](https://www.fighq.io/).
> [@Fig - Native Discourse client for iOS](https://meta.discourse.org/t/fig-native-discourse-client-for-ios/148352):
>
> Just wanted to introduce a project I have been working on. It is called Fig, and it is native Discourse client for iOS/iPadOS. Fig is available for [free](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/fig-for-discourse/id1485491193?ls=1) on the App Store. [[Screen Shot 2020-04-14 at 8.02.48 AM]](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/fig-for-discourse/id1485491193?ls=1) Most of the functions and features in Fig are free and will be plentiful for most users. Fig+ subscription allows access to private communities, unlimited number of posts and communities, free app icons, and future premium features. It will also help sustain the continuous development o…
Then again, haven’t iOS 15.4 and iPadOS 15.4 been released to the public for a couple of days now?
> **[iOS 15.4 Beta Suggests Apple to Support Push Notifications From Web-Based Apps](https://www.macrumors.com/2022/02/01/ios-15-4-apple-support-web-based-notifications/)**
>
> Apple is working on bringing web-based notifications to iOS, addressing a long-time concern of developers of web-based apps who have been unable to send notifications to users on Apple mobile devices, severely limiting the user experience and...
> **[Apple Releases iOS 15.4 and iPadOS 15.4 With Face ID Mask Unlock, New Emoji,...](https://www.macrumors.com/2022/03/14/apple-releases-ios-15-4/)**
>
> Apple today released iOS 15.4 and iPadOS 15.4, the fourth major updates to the iOS and iPadOS 15 operating systems that were released in September 2021. iOS and iPadOS 15.4 come a month after the launch of iOS 15.3.1 and iPadOS 15.3.1. The iOS 15.4...
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### Author:  [@RGJ](https://meta.discourse.org/u/RGJ)
#### Post date: [March 17, 2022, 6:33pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/ios-push-badly-needed-but-discourse-org-hosting-is-too-expensive/221211/9 "2022-03-17T18:33:55Z")
> [@Decorbuz](#):
>
> Then again, haven’t iOS 15.4 and iPadOS 15.4 been released to the public for a couple of days now?
Yes, but this functionality is far from finished, it’s only a hint at what _might_ be coming.
> while the toggle is visible, the API itself is not yet enabled, and Apple has yet to implement
> …
> Apple is seemingly laying the groundwork for bringing web-based notifications to its mobile devices
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### Author:  [@Decorbuz](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Decorbuz)
#### Post date: [March 17, 2022, 6:35pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/ios-push-badly-needed-but-discourse-org-hosting-is-too-expensive/221211/10 "2022-03-17T18:35:37Z")
> [@RGJ](#):
>
> it’s only a hint at what _might_ be coming.
That’s true. Maybe we’ll see it featured in iOS 16 and iPadOS 16? One can only hope… 🤞
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### Author:  [@Moin](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Moin)
#### Post date: [June 6, 2022, 10:43pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/ios-push-badly-needed-but-discourse-org-hosting-is-too-expensive/221211/11 "2022-06-06T22:43:47Z")
> [@iOS 16 web push notifications in 2023](https://meta.discourse.org/t/ios-16-web-push-notifications-in-2023/229240):
>
> For those of us who have been waiting, primarily so our Discourse instances work better on iOS, it seems the day is near, as Apple officially announced today support for web push notifications in iOS 16, coming in 2023.