Push Notification FAQ

1. What is push notification?

Push notification is Apple's mechanism for allowing alerts to happen while an application is not opened.

2. What are the requirements for push?

Billinator version 1.2 is required, as well as the iPhone / iPod must be on OS 3.0+.  A connection to the internet (through WIFI or your phone provider) to send data and receive alerts is also required.

3. How is push notification turned on?

Under the Tools tab, hit the Push Notification button and hit the Initialize button.  This will register push notification and send data to our server.  There must be some data (ie. bills) when you initialize.

4. Does push notification come with additional costs? 

At this time, push notification is free with Billinator.  However, if our server maintenance requirements increase, we may charge for this service to offset the cost.  We will strive to keep this cost the lowest as possible. 

5. What does Billinator send to Cellinova server? 

Billinator sends out data to our server in order to calculate when to push alerts.  The data includes the device token, bill start / end dates, repeat period and alert period.  No personal information is sent.  The information is sent through a secure SSL connection.

6. When is data sent to our server?

Data is sent when you open Billinator, when a bill is created, modified or deleted.

7. What happens if my internet is down? 

If your internet connection is down, you will not receive any push notifications and no data will be sent to our server.  In this case, Billinator will keep an internal record of all your changes and send the data to our server to sync once the application is opened once again with a connection.

8. When are push notifications sent?  

Push notification in the form of an alert is sent once a day at the notification hour specified under the Tools tab, Push Notification view.  Due to the server load at the time, you may not receive the alert at exactly the alert hour, however, it should arrive within minutes thereafter.  If there are no bills due within your alert period you will not receive an alert that day.

9. What are the requirements for sending a push alert? 

A push alert will be sent if you have a bill due within the alert period.  For instance, take the following scenario with five bills and the current date being the 1st of the month:

Bill 1 - bill date of the 5th, alert 3 days before.

Bill 2 - bill date of the 5th, alert none.

Bill 3 - bill date of the 10th, alert 7 days before.

Bill 4 - bill date of 6th, alert 5 days before.

Bill 5 - bill date of 2th, alert 1 days before.

You will receive an alert on the 1st from bill 4, 5.

You will receive an alert on the 2nd from bill 1.

You will receive an alert on the 3rd from bill 3.

Alert sample: You have 2 bill(s) coming due.

10. How do I turn off push notification? 

If you don't want to use push notification, turn it off through iPhone / iPod settings tab. 

11. When should I use the Initialize button under the Push Notification view? 

The initialize button should be used under the following condtions to resync the Billinator database with our Cellinova server:

-When you first register for push notification.

-After you restore your Billinator database.

-If you ever turn push notification off and then on again through the iPhone / iPod settings tab.

12. Where can I get more information?

Further information can be obtained from our manual.