In push notification marketing, most performance problems do not start with targeting or creative. They start with truncation. A message that looks fine in your campaign tool can get cut off on a lock screen, collapse into a single line on a browser, or lose the call to action entirely when an image is added. And because the average US smartphone user receives dozens of pushes per day, you rarely get a second chance to be understood at a glance.
That is why character limits are not a copywriting constraint. They are a delivery constraint. If you write past what the device can show, your “offer” becomes “off…”, your urgency disappears, and your retention KPI takes the blame.
A practical way to think about this is simple. The real limit is not how many characters you can send. It is how many characters will be visible in the first second, in the most common view, on the most common devices.
Try a 3-way title A/B in SashiDo - Push Notification Platform to find the sweet spot for opens.
Why character limits matter in a noisy notification inbox
If you manage lifecycle and retention, you have seen the pattern. Your segmentation is solid, the timing is reasonable, and yet open rate drifts down while opt-outs creep up. In many cases, the culprit is not the audience. It is that your message is not fully visible when it competes with everything else on the screen.
On mobile, the lock screen is the most brutal environment. Users skim titles first, then decide whether the body earns a tap. On web, notification surfaces are even tighter and more inconsistent. On some desktop combinations, you basically get one short line of title and one short line of body. That is where long, “explainer” copy goes to die.
There is also a second-order effect. When you are over the limit, platforms do not just truncate randomly. They often truncate your differentiator. The discount amount, the deadline, the product name, or the action verb is commonly placed late in the sentence. That makes the message feel vague, which pushes users toward ignoring, silencing, or opting out.
From a KPI standpoint, visibility affects more than opens. Truncation often lowers click-through rate because the user never sees the next step. It can hurt conversion rate because the value prop is incomplete. And it can raise opt-out rate because unclear pushes feel like spam.
For context on volume, Business of Apps reports that the average US smartphone user receives 46 app push notifications per day, which is exactly why you need immediate clarity, not extra words.
Mobile push notifications: practical character limits that reduce truncation
Mobile push notifications are where teams usually invest most heavily because the channel can directly drive reactivation, cart recovery, subscription renewals, and time-sensitive actions. The trap is assuming that “supported” equals “visible.” Both iOS and Android can technically render a lot of content in expanded views, but most users do not expand most notifications.
What consistently works in the field is treating the title as your single-line pitch and the body as your single breath of context plus a clear action.
iOS: write for the collapsed view first
On iOS, notification display depends on device, font settings, and whether the user expands the notification. In practice, teams often plan for a short title and a body that fits roughly a few lines before being cut. Many marketers aim for something like 25 to 50 characters for the title and about 150 characters for the body to keep the core meaning visible.
The more important operational point is this. Assume the user sees the title and the first line of the body. If the body starts with filler like “We thought you might like…”, you just wasted the only guaranteed space you had.
A solid iOS pattern for lifecycle pushes is to lead with the outcome, then clarify the condition.
Example you can copy and A/B quickly.
Title: “Your price dropped on saved items”
Body: “Two items in your wishlist are cheaper today. Tap to see the new prices before they bounce back.”
This works because the title carries the value. The body gives a reason to act now and tells the user exactly what happens after the tap.
When you want urgency, use the title for the hard fact and keep the body for the next step.
Title: “Ends tonight. 20% off annual”
Body: “Renew now and lock in the discount. Takes 30 seconds.”
Android: more room, but device variance is real
Android typically gives you more space and richer layouts, but variability across OEM skins and notification settings can still cut messages in ways that surprise you. A common, conservative operating range is up to about 65 characters for the title and around 240 characters for the body, which is usually safe across many devices.
The key mistake we see in Android-heavy apps is using the extra room to add “marketing padding.” That often reduces clarity, even if the message is technically visible. Longer notifications also tend to hide the real CTA below the fold in expanded layouts.
A practical Android pattern is to keep the first sentence of the body self-contained, then use the second sentence as the action.
Title: “Reminder: appointment tomorrow at 10:00”
Body: “Your visit is booked for 10:00. Tap to confirm or reschedule in two taps.”
If your app push notification is transactional or time-sensitive, avoid cleverness. Your user is not looking for brand voice at 7:45 AM. They are looking for the next step.
Rich media: it boosts engagement, but it steals text space
Images and buttons can dramatically improve mobile app engagement because they reduce the cognitive load. The trade-off is that rich layouts often reduce available space for text, which makes character discipline even more important.
Airship has published data showing that push notifications with images (big picture style) saw a 56% higher direct open rate than those without images. The lesson is not “always use images.” The lesson is that if you choose rich media, you must tighten the words so the notification still reads cleanly at a glance.
In practice, we recommend treating rich media as a replacement for adjectives. Let the image prove the product or the offer, then keep the copy direct.
Website push notifications: the limit is the browser surface, not your copy
Website push notifications are powerful when you do not have an app install, or when you want to re-engage users who are already active on desktop. They are also unforgiving because the surface area is small and inconsistent.
Unlike mobile OS guidelines, the web ecosystem is a matrix of operating systems, browsers, and notification centers. That is why you should treat web copy as “short by default” and rely on clear titles rather than long bodies.
A safe operating mindset is.
Write a title that works on one line.
Write a body that still makes sense if only the first clause is visible.
Windows web push: often generous, still easy to truncate
On Windows, some browser combinations allow relatively longer titles and bodies, especially in Chromium-based browsers. Still, even when the platform can show multiple lines, your user might have stacked notifications, reduced banners, or focus mode enabled.
If you need a reliable structure for website push notifications, anchor the title on the outcome and let the body answer “why now.”
Title: “Back in stock. Your size is available”
Body: “We just restocked the item you viewed. Open to check out while it lasts.”
macOS web push: expect tight constraints
On macOS, some browsers display very limited text. That is why long titles that include both the offer and the explanation often fail. On Mac, you usually win by making the title do most of the work.
Title: “Your cart is waiting”
Body: “Checkout in one tap.”
That is not “less persuasive.” It is simply compatible with the surface.
For the underlying reason web behavior varies, MDN’s documentation on the Notifications API is a good reference. It highlights that presentation is user-agent controlled, which is why strict, universal character limits do not exist on the web.
Social and “cross-channel” notification surfaces: treat them like tiny headlines
You will often see push-like surfaces inside social apps, inbox tabs, and activity feeds. They are not always “push notifications” in the OS sense, but they behave the same way. They show a compact headline, sometimes a snippet, and they compete with everything.
The winning pattern across these surfaces is to front-load the meaning. Put the value, the trigger, or the deadline in the first few words. If you bury the lede, truncation will do it for you.
There is also a tone constraint. Social app notifications are scanned fast. Straightforward, conversational copy tends to outperform wordy, formal lines. If you write like an email subject line, you are usually in the right direction.
Title: “Last chance. Sale ends in 2 hours”
Body: “Tap to grab your top picks before it’s over.”
Push notification marketing copy that survives limits (and still sounds human)
Once you accept that the visible space is the real constraint, writing becomes a sequencing exercise. You are deciding what must be understood if the user reads only the first line.
Titles: lead with the trigger, not the brand
Most titles fail because they start with context instead of action. “New update available” is context. “Faster checkout is live” is a benefit.
As a rule, good titles do one of three jobs.
They announce a change the user cares about.
They surface a time-bound opportunity.
They reflect a user action, like browsing, saving, or abandoning.
If your title cannot stand alone, shorten it until it can.
Bodies: one idea, one action, no throat-clearing
Bodies fail when they try to do email’s job. On mobile push notifications, you are not educating. You are nudging.
A strong body usually contains a single detail that removes doubt, then a clear next step.
Bad: “We have added new items that we think you will love based on your preferences.”
Better: “New arrivals match your saved filters. Tap to see them.”
This is where many Growth and Retention CRM managers unlock quick wins. It is not a new segmentation model. It is removing five unnecessary words from the first line.
Numbers, symbols, and emojis: use them like compression tools
Numbers are space-efficient and concrete. “20% off” is better than “twenty percent off” and usually more credible at a glance.
Symbols can help, but be careful with readability and rendering differences. Emojis can boost scannability, but they can also look off-brand or inflate character counts depending on how your tooling measures them. Treat them as a substitute for a word, not decoration.
Buttons: keep labels short so you do not lose the verb
If you use action buttons, write them as verbs that match the landing state.
“View cart” is clearer than “Proceed.”
“Confirm time” is clearer than “Yes.”
You are reducing friction by telling the user what happens next.
A simple length-testing plan tied to retention KPIs
Character limits are not just about compliance. They are a lever you can test. The highest-impact experiments are often small changes in title length, body length, and where the CTA appears.
Here is a test plan we have seen work when teams want results without a huge engineering queue.
Start by picking one high-volume lifecycle message, like browse abandonment, cart abandonment, trial activation, or win-back. Keep the segmentation and send-time constant. Then test only length and structure.
In Variant A, write the shortest possible title that carries the value, and a body under roughly one sentence.
In Variant B, keep the title the same but add one clarifying detail in the body, still keeping the first clause value-forward.
In Variant C, keep the message short but move the CTA earlier, so it appears in the first line.
Measure open rate and click-through rate first because length changes affect visibility. Then look at downstream conversion rate and reactivation lift. Finally, watch opt-out rate for the cohort you sent to, because aggressive copy can create fatigue even when opens go up.
This is also the moment to enforce frequency caps. If you test copy while over-messaging, you will misread the results. Copy cannot fix a channel that feels noisy.
When we built our Unified Push Engine in SashiDo - Push Notification Platform, the goal was to make these experiments operationally easy. You should be able to ship tests, adjust targeting, and validate impact on opens, CTRs, and opt-outs without waiting on developers for every iteration.
Common truncation traps (and how to spot them before they ship)
The most damaging truncation is silent truncation. The message technically sends, analytics still show “delivered,” and then performance drops with no obvious error.
One trap is putting the differentiator at the end. “Your order is ready for pickup at the store you selected” often becomes “Your order is ready for pickup at the…”. Put the location or time first.
Another trap is stacking qualifiers. “Limited time only” plus “today” plus “expires soon” wastes characters while still leaving the user unclear about the actual deadline.
A third trap is failing to account for localization. English might fit. German or Portuguese might not. If you operate in multiple locales, treat length constraints as a localization requirement, not a copy preference.
The fastest way to catch these issues is to create a preview habit. Before you hit send, preview on at least one iOS device, one Android device, and one desktop browser surface where you have meaningful volume. If you cannot preview a device, default to shorter copy.
Choosing a push notification provider: prioritize control, testing speed, and data boundaries
Most teams start with “can we send pushes?” and quickly move to “can we control pushes?” That is where provider choice shows up in your day-to-day work.
If you are a hands-on CRM manager trying to reduce churn, the provider should make it easy to run A/B tests on titles and body length, segment by behavior without complicated engineering work, and enforce frequency caps so you do not burn your list.
If you are currently comparing options like OneSignal, the key questions are practical.
Can you see how message length affects opt-outs, not just opens.
Can you personalize safely, with control over data and delivery.
Can you coordinate mobile push notifications and website push notifications without splitting analytics across tools.
Those are the differences that matter when you are accountable for retention outcomes.
A quick pre-send checklist for character limits and fatigue
Use this when you are about to launch a campaign and you want to avoid “we sent it and regret it.”
- Title stands alone. If the body is hidden, the user still understands the value.
- First clause is the offer or trigger. No greetings, no filler.
- CTA appears early. The user sees what to do in the first line or two.
- Rich media does not steal meaning. If you add an image, re-read the collapsed view.
- Frequency cap is enforced. Your best copy still fails when users feel flooded.
- Opt-out risk is considered. If the message is not truly relevant, do not send it.
Conclusion: make push notification marketing visible again
Great push notification marketing is less about clever wording and more about predictable visibility. If your title and first line carry the value, truncation stops being a risk. It becomes just another constraint you design around.
For a Growth and Retention CRM Manager, this is one of the fastest ways to move core KPIs. Cleaner visible copy lifts open rate and click-through rate, stronger relevance protects opt-out rate, and better experimentation discipline improves reactivation lift and reduces churn.
Ready to stop guessing and scale retention? Start a free trial or request a demo on SashiDo - Push Notification Platform to run length tests, enforce frequency caps, and measure lift in opens, CTRs, and churn.
