Add test push devices

You can use Test Devices to preview how push notifications look on a device before sending them to the app users. In order to do that, you need to register your device (with your app installed) as a Test Device.

Note

This guide covers push test devices. Email and SMS test devices don’t need any app-side integration — see Test email device and Test SMS device in the product docs.

To add a test device:

1. Navigate to the Test devices section in your Pushwoosh account.

2. Click the Create test device dropdown button in the top-right corner and select Push.

You can add a push test device using one of three methods: Auto-configuration with QR code, registering from the app, or manual configuration.

Adding test devices automatically

This method is suitable only for iOS and Android devices.

Before your first registration, add deep link handling for test devices to the app — a one-time setup, usually done together with the Pushwoosh SDK integration:

• For Android: Add DeepLinkActivity to the AndroidManifest.xml file.
• For iOS: Add the pushwoosh-YOUR_PUSHWOOSH_APP_ID URL scheme to the Info.plist file.

Follow the instructions for Android and iOS in the Implementation section.

Once that’s done, to register a device:

1. In the Test Devices section, click Create test device and select Push.
2. Scan the QR code that appears in the popup with any QR scanner app. This opens the deep link that the Pushwoosh SDK parses to register your device as a test device.

Tip for QR Readers

Ensure the scanned link opens in the native browser, not the QR reader’s webview. Many QR readers have an “Open in Browser” button for this purpose.

Registering a test device from the app

Independently of the QR code method above, the Pushwoosh SDK can register the current device as a test device on its own: sending the app to the background and bringing it back to the foreground 6 times within 30 seconds. No scanning or manual entry is needed.

To prevent unintentional registrations, this only works while a 1-hour registration window is open.

1. In the Test Devices section, turn on the Add test devices from the app toggle. This opens the window for 1 hour.

Caution

Turning the toggle on requires permission to modify the application; without it, the request fails with a “user cannot modify application” error. The window stays open for 1 hour and then closes automatically; while it’s closed, the app’s registration call still returns success, but no device is registered.

2. While the window is open, background and foreground the app 6 times within 30 seconds. The device is added to the Test Devices list.

Adding test devices manually

If you prefer to register a test device manually, follow these steps:

1. Obtain the Hardware ID (HWID) of the device from a successful /registerDevice API call.
2. Fill in the required fields:
   • Device Name: A descriptive name for the test device (e.g., “John’s Android”).
   • Device HWID: The unique hardware ID of the device.
   • Device Type: Select the platform (e.g., iOS, Android, Web).
   • Description (Optional): Add any notes or details about the device for reference.
3. Click Save to register the test device.

Once registered, the test device will be available in the Test Devices section.

Registering test devices via API

To provision test devices from a script or CI pipeline instead of the manual form, call createTestDevice with the device’s push token — not the HWID used in the manual form, a different identifier obtained the same way, e.g. from a successful /registerDevice call. listTestDevices returns what’s already registered for an application.

Implementation

Android

1. Integrate Pushwoosh SDK with your application.

2. Add DeepLinkActivity to your AndroidManifest.xml:

<activity
          android:name="com.pushwoosh.DeepLinkActivity"
          android:theme="@android:style/Theme.Translucent.NoTitleBar" >
  <intent-filter>
    <action android:name="android.intent.action.VIEW" />
    <category android:name="android.intent.category.DEFAULT" />
    <category android:name="android.intent.category.BROWSABLE" />

    <data android:scheme="pushwoosh-YOUR_PUSHWOOSH_APP_ID" />
  </intent-filter>
</activity>

Don’t forget to replace YOUR_PUSHWOOSH_APP_ID in the xml above with your Pushwoosh App ID.
Example: <data android:scheme=“pushwoosh-ABCDE-EDCBA” />

3. Launch the application to subscribe for push notifications.

4. Scan the QR Code in Test Devices form using any appropriate QR Code scanner app*. A toast message will appear indicating the status of the test device registration.

* most of the QR code scanning apps handle such deep links properly, here are just a few of them:

• QR & Barcode Scanner, Gamma Play
• QR & Barcode Scanner, Maker, AppSourceHub

iOS

1. Integrate Pushwoosh SDK with your application.

2. Add pushwoosh-YOUR_PUSHWOOSH_APP_ID URL scheme to the Info.plist file:

<key>CFBundleURLTypes</key>
<array>
  <dict>
    <key>CFBundleTypeRole</key>
    <string>Editor</string>
    <key>CFBundleURLName</key>
    <string>com.pushwoosh.scheme</string>
    <key>CFBundleURLSchemes</key>
    <array>
      <string>pushwoosh-YOUR_PUSHWOOSH_APP_ID</string>
    </array>
  </dict>
</array>

Don’t forget to replace YOUR_PUSHWOOSH_APP_ID in the XML above with your Pushwoosh App ID.
Example: pushwoosh-ABCDE-EDCBA

Caution

If your project is built with SwiftUI (only), you need to add a SceneDelegate

SwiftUI manages the app lifecycle differently from UIKit. To ensure that certain system events work correctly — like registering a test device for push notifications or handling deep links — you need to explicitly add and register a SceneDelegate.

Without it, these events might not be triggered properly, and push registration can fail.

If you’re not using SwiftUI, you can skip this step and go directly to step 3.

Info.plist

Add UIApplicationSceneManifest to your Info.plist.

  <key>UIApplicationSceneManifest</key>
  <dict>
    <key>UIApplicationSupportsMultipleScenes</key>
    <true/>
    <key>UISceneConfigurations</key>
    <dict>
      <key>UIWindowSceneSessionRoleApplication</key>
      <array>
        <dict>
          <key>UISceneConfigurationName</key>
          <string></string>
          <key>UISceneDelegateClassName</key>
          <string>$(PRODUCT_MODULE_NAME).SceneDelegate</string>
        </dict>
      </array>
    </dict>
  </dict>

SceneDelegate

Add the SceneDelegate code as shown in the example below.

import SwiftUI

@main
struct DemoApp: App {
  @UIApplicationDelegateAdaptor(AppDelegate.self) var appDelegate

  var body: some Scene {
      WindowGroup {
          ContentView()
      }
  }
}

class SceneDelegate: NSObject, UIWindowSceneDelegate {

  var window: UIWindow?

  func scene(_ scene: UIScene, willConnectTo session: UISceneSession, options connectionOptions: UIScene.ConnectionOptions) {
      guard let _ = (scene as? UIWindowScene) else { return }
  }
}

class AppDelegate: NSObject, UIApplicationDelegate, PWMessagingDelegate {

  func application(_ application: UIApplication, configurationForConnecting connectingSceneSession: UISceneSession, options: UIScene.ConnectionOptions) -> UISceneConfiguration {
      let sceneConfig: UISceneConfiguration = UISceneConfiguration(name: nil, sessionRole: connectingSceneSession.role)
      sceneConfig.delegateClass = SceneDelegate.self
      return sceneConfig
  }

}

3. Launch the application to subscribe for push notifications.

4. Scan the QR Code in the Test Devices form using any appropriate QR Code scanner.