Is it possible to display the notifications from a website even when Chrome, Firefox or other browsers are closed?
The Web Notifications API allows websites to display native notifications and the Push API allows to deliver the notifications even when the website is closed.
For example, if you visit a website and you subscribe to notifications, then you are surfing different websites, you can definitely receive the notifications with the Push API because the browser is open.
Now there is a more difficult step: is it possible to display the notifications even when the browser is completely closed (not only the website is closed, but also the browser)?
The answer is that it depends on the browser / OS.
Some browsers need to be open, while others have a better integration with the OS and can receive the notifications even when the browser is closed.
These desktop browsers require the browser to be running to receive the notifications (if they are not open, the notifications will be displayed later):
- Chrome
- Firefox
- Opera
- Edge
These mobile browsers can display the notifications sent with the Push API even when the browser is closed:
- Chrome for Android
- Firefox for Android
- Samsung Internet
This is the current status, but it's possible that in the future other browsers will make it possible to deliver the notifications even when the browser is closed (thanks to the implementation of background daemons on the OS or by tunneling the website notifications through the native notifications of the OS).
Finally, if you need to implement the notifications on your website / web app you can read the documentation of the Push API or use a service like Pushpad.