Send a message only to Inbox

App Inbox sends a message only to the in-app inbox. It does not send a push.

The message appears when the user opens the app, so they can read it later even if they never saw a notification. Use App Inbox when you want inbox content on its own, or when users might miss or ignore push.

Tip

If you send a push and also want a copy in the inbox, use Save a push to Inbox instead.

The app needs the Message Inbox SDK module before users can receive Inbox messages. Devices on a platform without an inbox don’t receive Inbox messages.

SDK requirements

Card layouts need these SDK versions in the app:

• Web: Web SDK 3.75.0.
• Android: Android SDK 6.12.0 with the pushwoosh-inbox-ui module.
• iOS: iOS SDK 7.0.40 or later with the PushwooshInboxKit module.

The Carousel layout needs iOS SDK 7.1.2 or later. With an older SDK, the message still arrives but shows without the layout.

To send a one-time Inbox message:

1. Go to Campaigns > One-time messages.
2. Click Send message.
3. Choose Inbox message.

Content

Select or create App Inbox content

Add the content in one of two ways:

• To use a saved preset, search for an App Inbox preset and select it.
• To build content inline, click Create new.

In the editor, pick a layout type, then fill in the fields for that layout. The layouts are described in App Inbox presets.

Note

Content you build inline with Create new isn’t added to the App Inbox presets list. To reuse content across several messages, create the preset from Content > Inbox content first, then search for it here.

To change the order of presets in the dropdown, click the sort button above it. The dropdown is sorted by Name A→Z until you pick another order, and Pushwoosh remembers the order you pick and uses it in every App Inbox preset dropdown, in one-time messages and journeys alike.

Preview the message

To see the message as an inbox cell, use the Preview panel next to the form. Above the cell, choose the platform:

• iOS or Android: the cell as it looks on that platform.
• Web: the cell as the Web SDK inbox widget draws it on your site.

To preview Huawei devices, choose Android: they use the Pushwoosh Android SDK, so there’s no separate Huawei option.

The preview platform doesn’t affect who gets the message. The platforms that receive it are set in Target platforms on the Audience step.

To check the message on a real device first, click Test app inbox message under the preview. It sends the current content to the app’s test devices. See Send a test message.

If the content has several languages, use the chips under the cell on the Review step to switch between them.

Choose a tab

If the app’s inbox is split into tabs, choose where the message shows:

• To show it in a tab and in All, select the tab in Tab.
• To show it only in All, leave No tab.

If the app has no tabs yet, the field shows Set up tabs: click it to open the tab settings.

Note

Tabs show in the inbox of iOS SDK 7.3.0 and Android SDK 6.17.0 or later. The Web SDK inbox has no tabs.

Select message type

Choose Marketing message or Transactional message:

• Marketing message: respects frequency capping. Excludes the global control group.
• Transactional message: bypasses frequency capping. Sent to the global control group too.

Audience

Select audience for the Inbox message

Choose who receives the message:

• Send to segment: users in a saved segment.
• Send to specific users: named User IDs or HWIDs.
• Send to all subscribers: everyone with a registered device for the selected platforms.

In Target platforms, leave iOS, Android, Huawei, and Web selected, or narrow the list to the platforms you need.

Sending time

Choose when to send

• Immediately: the message is placed in the inbox as soon as you send.
• On chosen date: schedule the message for a specific date and time.

In Timezone for campaign schedule, choose the timezone used to interpret On chosen date.

Set expiration

In Expires, choose how long the message stays in the inbox:

• After 7 / 14 / 30 / 90 days, or a specific date.
• Leave After 30 days unless you need a shorter or longer window.

The default is longer than the retention on the Save to Inbox toggle (max 30 days), because an Inbox message needs to survive until the user’s next app open, not just until the next day.

Set frequency capping

In Frequency capping, choose how often this user can get App Inbox messages. Limits apply to the App Inbox frequency capping channel, separate from push, email, and other channels.

• Use global frequency capping settings: apply the project-wide App Inbox limit.
• Send messages without global frequency capping: send even if the user already hit that limit. Use with caution.
• Use custom frequency capping: set a limit only for this message.

Note

Users open the app on their own schedule, so Send rate and Time to live aren’t used for App Inbox.

Actions

On the Actions step, set On click actions for each platform.

Mobile:

• No action on click: nothing opens when the user taps.
• Open Deep link: open a deep link in the app.
• Open URL in browser: open a URL in the device browser.
• Show in-app content: show an in-app message you select. The in-app list is sorted by Oldest first until you pick another order with its sort button.

Web:

• No action on click: nothing opens when the user taps.
• Open URL in browser: open a URL in the browser.
• Show web pop-up: show a web popup you select. The list starts with Recently updated until you pick another order with its sort button. Pick web content here, not a web form. The Web SDK shows a web form only inside a web campaign, so a web form picked here doesn’t open.

Review

Review and send

1. Review the summary. If you chose a tab, it shows next to Tab:.

2. Click Send now. If you set a specific date in Sending time, this button reads Schedule send instead.

3. In the dialog that opens (Confirm sending, or Confirm scheduling if you scheduled), set Campaign name: a free-text label for this one message.

   
   • The name you set becomes this message’s bold title in Message History and its CSV export. If you keep the prefilled value or clear the field, the title is the preset’s own (or its name, if it has no title).
   • Keep it to 255 characters or fewer: longer text is cut without a warning.

4. Click Send to confirm, or Schedule send if you’re scheduling.

Caution

A scheduled message keeps the tab you chose when you scheduled it. Pushwoosh doesn’t check the tab again on the send date, so if you delete the tab before then, the message still goes out and shows only in All. To keep the message in a tab, edit it and choose another tab before you delete the old one.

To change or clear the campaign name, or to cancel a message that’s still scheduled, open Campaigns → One-time messages or Message History. The actions menu (⋮) there covers Inbox sends the same way as other channels.

Send from a journey

Use a journey when the Inbox message should follow a trigger, wait, or another channel. Skip the journey if you only need a one-time send.

1. Open a journey in Customer Journey Builder.
2. From Channels, drag App Inbox onto the canvas where you want the message.
3. Open the element and set content, tab, message type, on-click actions, expiration, and frequency capping the same way as in the one-time flow above.

Full setup: App Inbox journey element.