Using notification publishing

• when you want to use features that aren’t supported via a social network’s API, like posting to a Facebook Group, or adding music to Instagram Reels or TikTok posts.
• when Buffer can’t post due to technical reasons (e.g. when your image for Instagram falls outside of the accepted aspect ratio range).

In this article:

1. Overview
2. Enabling push notifications on your mobile device
3. How to identify notifications in your Buffer account
4. Finishing a post using notifications
5. Adjusting posting default to using notifications only
6. Resetting notifications
7. Who receives the notification when it’s time to post

Overview

To see the notification publishing process in action, check out the video below.

Enabling push notifications on your mobile device

In order to use notification publishing in Buffer, you'll need to enable push notifications on your phone. To do this:

1. First, make sure you'e downloaded the Buffer mobile app.
2. Next, open your device's Settings app.
3. Tap Notifications. (On Android, you'll then tap App Notifications)
4. Scroll to Buffer and tap to view its settings (If you're using an Android and don't see Buffer listed, choose All apps in the dropdown menu at the top).
5. Make sure "Allow Notifications" is enabled.

How to identify notifications in the queue or calendar

Posts scheduled as notifications will display an orange mobile phone icon the queue and calendar.

You can also find previously sent notifications in the Sent tab of Buffer on the web and in the mobile app. Use our Duplicate button on web or Copy to queue option on mobile to schedule the notification again. 

Finishing a post using notifications

1. When it's time for your post to be published, you'll receive a push notification to your phone. 
2. Tap the alert to see a preview of your post within the Buffer mobile app.
   • If you've added any notes for Stickers (e.g. a song title for the "Music" Sticker or a product URL in the "Tag Product" Sticker) or a caption, you'll come back to this screen to copy the text and then paste it into your post on the social network.

3. From there, tap Open… to open the social network.
   • If you're managing multiple Instagram accounts, or want to post to a Facebook group as your page, make sure you are logged into the correct account before tapping Open in…
   • For Facebook Groups, your media will be saved to your phone's camera roll.
   • For Instagram, we'll copy your image over for you. For carousel posts, we'll copy the first image and save the rest to your phone's camera roll.
4. Once you copy your post over to the social network, you’ll be able to utilize all of the native features. For example:
   • post anonymously in a Facebook group
   • Use filters, add stickers to a story, or music to a reel in Instagram. If you’ve text to these fields in Buffer, you can head back to the Buffer app to copy the text, then paste it into the appropriate field in Instagram before you hit publish.
   • Add trending audio to a post on TikTok
5. For posts that contain multiple images, tap into your photo library to find all of your scheduled images.
6. To insert your caption, tap in the caption area on iOS or tap the Aa option on Android to paste it in from your phone’s clipboard. 

Adjusting posting default to using notifications only

If you would prefer for all posts to be scheduled and sent as notifications, you can do that in the settings area of the mobile app.

1. Tap the menu bar in the top left of your screen.
2. Select your Instagram channel.
3. Tap Settings in the bottom right of your screen.
4. Under the "Instagram" area, toggle "Enable Notifications by default" ON.

To find this setting on web, select your Instagram channel, then click the gear icon to the right of the channel name.

This will open your Instagram's channel settings. Make sure the General tab is selected and then you can toggle Enable Notifications by default to ON.

Resetting notifications

If notifications are not coming through to your phone, please follow the steps below.

1. Open the Buffer app on your mobile device and tap the menu bar in the top left of your screen.
2. Scroll to the bottom of the list of your channels and tap Signout.
3. Log back into the Buffer app.
4. Tap the Settings icon at the bottom right of your screen.
5. Tap the Account Settings tab.
6. Tap Push Notifications.
7. Tap Reset Push Notifications or RESET.

Who receives the notification when it’s time to post?

When it's time for one of your Instagram posts to be published (assuming it wasn't published automatically), we'll send a push notification to whichever mobile devices have been connected to your Buffer account. This includes both the account owner and any users who have been invited to the Instagram account with Full Posting Access. Learn more about user permissions here.