contentavailable

Contentavailable refers to a flag used in some push notification payloads to indicate that new content is available on the server and that the receiving client should fetch it, rather than displaying an immediate user notification. The exact syntax and behavior depend on the platform and messaging service.

In Apple's ecosystem, content-available is part of the APNs payload. When sent as a silent notification, the payload typically includes the aps dictionary with content-available set to 1, and does not include a visible alert, sound, or badge. This signals iOS to wake the app in the background so it can perform a fetch or update operation. The app must have the appropriate background modes enabled and must handle background fetch events to update data without interrupting the user.

In Firebase Cloud Messaging and other modern push systems, content_available (or content_available: true in JSON) serves a similar purpose for iOS devices. It is used with a data payload (and often without a visible notification) to wake the app and allow it to synchronize content. The exact field name may vary by platform and version, so developers should follow the respective platform's documentation. For silent updates, it is common to omit the notification portion of the payload and rely on the data payload to perform work in the background.

Limitations include platform-imposed restrictions on background execution, battery considerations, and privacy concerns. Delivery is not guaranteed, and excessive use can lead to throttling. Proper testing across OS versions is essential to ensure background updates occur as intended.