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# Frequently asked questions (FAQ)
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## Isn't this like ...?
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Who knows. I didn't do a lot of research before making this. It was fun making it.
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## Can I use this in my app? Will it stay free?
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Yes. As long as you don't abuse it, it'll be available and free of charge. I do not plan on monetizing
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the service.
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## What are the uptime guarantees?
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Best effort.
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## What happens if there are multiple subscribers to the same topic?
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As per usual with pub-sub, all subscribers receive notifications if they are
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subscribed to a topic.
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## Will you know what topics exist, can you spy on me?
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If you don't trust me or your messages are sensitive, run your own server. It's <a href="https://github.com/binwiederhier/ntfy">open source</a>.
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That said, the logs do not contain any topic names or other details about you.
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2021-12-19 03:02:36 +00:00
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Messages are cached for the duration configured in `server.yml` (12h by default) to facilitate service restarts, message polling and to overcome
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client network disruptions.
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## Can I self-host it?
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Yes. The server (including this Web UI) can be self-hosted, and the Android app supports adding topics from
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2021-12-05 20:57:37 +00:00
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your own server as well. Check out the [install instructions](install.md).
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2021-12-02 04:08:12 +00:00
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## Why is Firebase used?
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In addition to caching messages locally and delivering them to long-polling subscribers, all messages are also
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published to Firebase Cloud Messaging (FCM) (if `FirebaseKeyFile` is set, which it is on ntfy.sh). This
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is to facilitate notifications on Android.
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If you do not care for Firebase, I suggest you install the [F-Droid version](https://f-droid.org/en/packages/io.heckel.ntfy/)
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of the app and [self-host your own ntfy server](install.md).
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## How much battery does the Android app use?
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2022-03-15 12:27:17 +00:00
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If you use the ntfy.sh server, and you don't use the [instant delivery](subscribe/phone.md#instant-delivery) feature,
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the Android app uses no additional battery, since Firebase Cloud Messaging (FCM) is used. If you use your own server,
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or you use *instant delivery*, the app has to maintain a constant connection to the server, which consumes about 0-1% of
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battery in 17h of use (on my phone). There has been a ton of testing and improvement around this. I think it's pretty
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decent now.
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## What is instant delivery?
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[Instant delivery](subscribe/phone.md#instant-delivery) is a feature in the Android app. If turned on, the app maintains a constant connection to the
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server and listens for incoming notifications. This consumes <a href="#battery-usage">additional battery</a>,
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but delivers notifications instantly.
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## Why is there no iOS app (yet)?
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I don't have an iPhone or a Mac, so I didn't make an iOS app yet. It'd be awesome if
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<a href="https://github.com/binwiederhier/ntfy/issues/4">someone else could help out</a>.
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