Create native in-app messages

Native in-apps use ready-made layouts that the Pushwoosh SDK renders directly on the device, instead of the HTML page a custom in-app loads. This makes them load faster and animate more smoothly, and you don’t need design or development skills to build one.

Reach for a native in-app when you want to launch a promotion, reminder, or feature announcement quickly and a fully custom layout isn’t necessary. If you need full control over the design, build an HTML-based in-app instead.

Prerequisites

Developer assistance needed

You can build a native in-app template in the Control Panel without any code changes. But users only see it if their app runs a Pushwoosh SDK version new enough to render it. Check with your development team before you launch.

Before you create a native in-app template, make sure:

• The Pushwoosh SDK is integrated in your app so in-app messages can appear. Learn more
• Your app runs iOS SDK 7.2.0+ or Android SDK 6.10.0+. All three display types (modal, fullscreen, stories) need the same minimum version and work on both platforms.

Create a native in-app template

1. Go to Content → In-apps.
2. Click Add template.
3. Enter a template name.
4. Select Create native rich media.
5. In DISPLAY TYPE, pick modal, fullscreen, or stories.
6. Click Add template.

The editor opens with a live mobile preview on the right and the template fields on the left, grouped into Content, Config, and Actions. What you see in each group depends on the display type you picked.

Configure the display type

Attention

The Display type dropdown at the top of the editor lets you switch types at any time, but switching resets all the Content, Config, and Actions fields below to their defaults for the new type. Fill in content only after you’ve settled on a type.

Modal

A centered card, optionally shown over a dimmed background. Fill in these fields on the left panel:

• Content: a title and message, each with its own text color, plus an optional image.
• Config: card background color, a Close button toggle, and a Dim background toggle that darkens the screen behind the card.
• Actions: one or more buttons. See Configure buttons.

Fullscreen

An edge-to-edge cover image with text and buttons on top. Fill in these fields on the left panel:

• Content: a cover image, plus a title and message, each with its own text color.
• Config: a cover color (shown while the image loads, or instead of it) and a Close button toggle.
• Actions: one or more buttons. See Configure buttons.

Stories

A sequence of full-screen slides with progress bars at the top, similar to social media stories. Each slide is its own Stories entry under Content.

1. Fill in the first slide’s Image, Title, and Message (each with its own text color).
2. Set Seconds to how long the slide stays on screen before advancing. The default is 5. Enter a value from 1 to 30. Values outside this range block Save with a validation error.
3. Optionally, click Add inside the slide to give it its own CTA button. See Configure buttons.

4. Click Add below the last slide to add another slide, then repeat steps 1-3 for it.
5. Under Config, set these options that apply to the whole story, not a single slide:
   • Loop: restart from the first slide after the last one.
   • Close button: show a close (✕) control.

Example of how the finished story looks for the user

Configure buttons

Modal, fullscreen, and each stories slide use the same button fields:

• Button text and its color.
• Background, Border color, and Border radius.
• Action: choose what happens when the user taps the button:
  • close: dismisses the in-app.
  • url: opens the link you enter in the field that appears. Use a web address (for example, https://example.com) or a deep link into your app (for example, myapp://product/123).

Click Add to add another button, or the × on a button to remove it.

Attention

If you turn off Close button and don’t add any button either, the user has no on-screen control to dismiss the in-app.

Add localizations

By default, a native in-app has one language. To add more:

1. Click + next to the language selector in the top bar.
2. Select the languages to add and click Apply.

3. Use the language selector in the top bar to switch between languages and fill in the text fields for each one.

Note

When you add a language, Pushwoosh copies the default language’s content into it: text, images, and button labels. Switch to that language and edit any of these fields independently.

Save the template

Click Save in the top right to persist your changes.

The template then appears in Content → In-apps alongside your other in-app templates.

Use it in a campaign

A native in-app template appears in the template picker together with your other in-app templates.

You can use it to:

• Send an instant in-app
• Add an in-app step to a Customer Journey
• Open an in-app when the user taps a push

Note

Delivery settings, such as start and end dates and frequency capping, work the same as for any other in-app and aren’t part of this editor.