# Silent push notifications

There are situations where you may need to update your app, pass data, or retrieve new content from your server without notifying the user or displaying any visible alerts. Silent push notifications are designed for exactly this purpose.

Silent push notifications are delivered to users' devices with no alert, sound, or icon badge. When a silent push arrives, the app is woken up in the background. Users don't recognize any alerts and don't see any push content.

By sending silent push notifications, you can:

- Notify your app about new content available to download
- Perform some tasks in the background
- Get new data from your server
- Pass custom data to the app

Silent push notifications also come in handy when you need to clean up the user base. Every time a push is sent, all invalid or non-existent push tokens are removed from our database. That's why silent push notifications are used in [Uninstalls tracking](https://help.pushwoosh.com/hc/en-us/articles/360033774692-Uninstalls-Tracking), which keeps your user base valid and updated.

## Implementation

### Customer Journey

You can send silent push notifications using the [**Data to app**](/product/customer-journey/journey-elements/channels/data-to-app/) element in Customer journeys. The **Data to app** element automatically sends silent push notifications with [custom data](/product/messaging-channels/push-notifications/advanced-push-features/using-custom-data/) to trigger in-app actions without alerting users.

To send silent push notifications:

1. Add the **Data to app** element to your [Journey canvas](/product/customer-journey/pushwoosh-journey-overview/).
2. Paste your JSON code into the provided field. The JSON payload contains the custom data your app will process when the silent push is received.
3. Click **Save** to apply the configuration.

The silent push notification will be delivered to users' devices in the background, waking up your app to process the custom data without displaying any alerts, sounds, or badges.

<LinkCard href="/product/customer-journey/journey-elements/channels/data-to-app/" title="Learn more about the Data to App element">
</LinkCard>

### API

You can also send silent push notifications via the Pushwoosh API with the assistance of your development team.

<LinkCard href="/developer/guides/messaging-channels/silent-push-notifications" title="Learn more about sending silent push notifications via API">
</LinkCard>

### Legacy push preset form

To send a silent push notification, go to **Content > Presets** and add a new preset.

<img src="/push-notifications-silent-push-notifications-1.webp" alt="Content Presets page showing option to add a new push preset"/>

Specify the platform—iOS or Android.

<img src="/push-notifications-silent-push-notifications-2.webp" alt="Platform selection screen showing iOS and Android options for push preset"/>

Add a title and subscription (your users won't see it, so you can use any test copy). Then check the checkbox for **Silent Push**.

<img src="/push-notifications-silent-push-notifications-3.webp" alt="Push preset form showing title, subscription fields, and Silent Push checkbox enabled"/>

Scroll to the bottom of the page and save this preset.

<img src="/push-notifications-silent-push-notifications-4.webp" alt="Save button at the bottom of the push preset configuration form"/>

Go to **Campaigns > Customer Journey Builder**, choose a journey you already have, or [create a new one](/product/customer-journey/how-to-try-it-out). Then, by clicking on the Push element, choose the preset with a silent push.

<img src="/push-notifications-silent-push-notifications-5.webp" alt="Customer journey canvas showing Push element with preset selection dropdown"/>

Once your journey is all set, click **Launch campaign** on the right.

<img src="/push-notifications-silent-push-notifications-6.webp" alt="Launch campaign button on the right side of the customer journey interface"/>