Hi - unfortunately, I’m having another issue with notifications. This seems to be within the app. I noticed that one of my participants had “failed” in-app notifications - so when the prompt released, there was a notification sent to me that it was released, but when i went on the notifications page it was listed as “failed”.
I am using study phones, so I created a new participant account and re-enrolled in the study, and that seemed to fix the issue of failed notifications, but I notice they are still “slow”. So the prompt will release but the notification in Avicenna will be logged as “sending” for like 4-5 minutes. This is a concern as they only have 10 minutes to respond to the prompt.
I have no issues when I pilot on a personal device, but this is a newer iPhone with a data plan. I am using Samsung phones on just wi-fi (study is downloaded to the phone). The participants may be moving into zones without wi-fi but ive tested the phones and they still seem to work fine offline so I don’t think thats the issue. I wonder if it’s a lag with the device?
What would cause it to still be “sending”? Is there something I can control for here?
Hi @shreya.jagtap ,
Thanks for reaching out about the issue with notifications. I understand how important it is for your study participants to receive timely prompts and notifications.
From what you’ve described, it sounds like the delay in notifications being marked as “sending” is primarily due to how our system updates the status of these notifications. We use Google/Firebase for delivering notifications, and while the notification itself is handled by the app and should go out at the scheduled time, the status update (i.e., from “sending” to “delivered” or “failed”) can take a few minutes to reflect on your dashboard. This happens because there’s a bit of a delay as our backend processes these updates and batches them before they appear on your dashboard.
The delay you’re experiencing is normal and typically depends on the traffic our servers are handling at any given time. Unfortunately, once the status updates are processed, some can occasionally be missed if there are changes or rescheduling of sessions before the updates reach our servers.
Regarding the difference you’re seeing between personal devices and the study phones: newer devices with data plans might experience fewer delays due to faster processing speeds and better connectivity compared to older, Wi-Fi-only devices. While it seems like the delay isn’t directly due to Wi-Fi issues, using a faster device or alternative connectivity might improve the notification status updates.
Let me know if there’s anything else I can assist you with!
Best,
Amin
Thanks, Amin - so just to confirm, if the study is downloaded on to the app, the notifications should still be sending normally right? When i’ve piloted this they seem to be sending within a minute of the prompted time. I just want to confirm that “delay” is more so attributable to the delay in status update rather then issues with being sent/received by participants.
Dear Shreya @shreya.jagtap
That is correct,
However please note that if you try to edit the notification templates or try to send a one off notification, the device should be connected to the internet and the notifications should be enabled.
Hope that helps.
Best,
Amin
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