We are excited to announce today that Windows Push Notification Service (WNS) is integrating with Azure Portal. We are building a new registration flow that will make it easier than ever for you to start delivering new updates to your users!
The existing registration flow for push is done through the Partner Center portal and requires a Microsoft Store presence. This means only packaged apps—like Universal Windows Platform (UWP)—can use WNS. Unpackaged Win32 apps must find other solutions for notifications, and that can compromise battery and CPU. Developers, we have heard your feedback that this is not ideal! Our goal with this new onboarding experience is to provide a way for all applications to subscribe to and receive push notifications regardless of app type.
Keep reading to learn more about the benefits of this change or watch the demo below for a sneak peek at what's coming!
Some highlights of our new Azure Portal registration experience include:
- Resource overview page: This provides a single view to access all the info you need to send notifications or manage your push resource.
- Expanded support: Now packaged and unpackaged apps can seamlessly onboard to WNS—you decide how to distribute your app!
- App creation: This flow incorporates the ability to create a new Win App SDK app while setting up your WNS resource.
- Existing apps: Developers can link to existing apps, including those created in the Partner Center.
- Distribution freedom: Decoupling from the Partner Center removes the dependency on shipping through the Windows Store.
- Tier upgrades: The overview page allows you to proactively change your notification tier to match how you run your business.
- Packaged app mapping: You will be able to map your app's Package Family Name (PFN) to its Azure App ID during resource creation.
- Usage tracking: Now you can view your monthly notification usage against allowed tiering limits. (WNS supports three free tiering levels.)
Watch WNS onboarding in action
The demo below shows just how easy it is to onboard to WNS using Azure Portal.
What's next for WNS
The new WNS Azure Portal experience will be available for preview in early 2023!
Hey, did you know that WNS works great with Azure Notification Hubs? To learn more, see this tutorial Send notifications to Universal Windows Platform apps using Azure Notification Hubs.
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