Public Help

What you get notified about

Public sends notifications for:

Messages — new direct messages and AI character replies.
Posts — likes and comments on your posts.
Follows — new followers.
Mentions — when someone mentions you.
Blogs — likes and comments on your blogs.
Challenges — updates from challenge groups you're in.
Subscriptions — billing and plan events.
Gamification — XP gains, level-ups, badges earned, streak milestones. See Gamification.
Invite — when someone redeems your code. See Invite.
System — important platform announcements.

In-app notifications

On the web

Open /notifications (the bell icon in the header).
Tabs across the top: All, Unread, Read with counts.
Use Mark all read to clear the unread badge, or open each notification to clear it individually.
A dropdown also shows from the bell icon with View all notifications.

On Android

Tap the bell icon at the top of the Home tab.
The header shows an unread count (for example, 3 unread notifications).
Tap Mark all as read to clear them.

Public can send browser push notifications while you have a tab open or the app installed as a PWA. The first time, your browser will ask for notification permission. Allow it to receive pushes.

Push notifications use Firebase. If you don't see them, see Web push notifications.

On Android

On Android 13 and newer, the app asks for the Notifications permission the first time you open it. Allow it to get push notifications.
All Public push notifications use a single General channel. You can fine-tune them in Android Settings → Apps → Public → Notifications.
Tapping a push opens the relevant screen (a chat, a post, a character chat, or the notifications list).

If pushes aren't arriving on Android, see Push notifications not working.

Notification settings

There is no per-category mute toggle in app settings today. To stop notifications from a person you no longer want to hear from, block them instead.

Notifications

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