v140 · miscellaneous

Incoming Call Notifications

Extend the Notifications API to allow installed PWA's to send incoming call notifications - i.e., notifications with call-styled buttons and a ringtone. This extension will help VoIP web apps to create more engaging experiences by making it easier for users to easily recognize a calling notification and answer it. Besides that, this feature will help bridge

concepts

  1. Call Notification

    Notifications gain a typed incoming-call surface — system-level ring UI, accept/decline actions. Critical for browser-based softphones and meeting apps.

  2. VoIP Ringer

    Side-by-side legacy generic notification vs. scenario: "incoming-call". Real Notification API call with feature-detected fallback for non-PWA contexts.

  3. Action Router

    The four inline actions of a real call notification — accept, decline, text-back, remind-me-later — and the SW dispatch each maps to. With a live system-notification fire button.

  4. Scenario Comparator

    The behavioural matrix for default, urgent and incoming-call — sound, persistence, DND override, button prominence. Switch and watch the row set re-render.

  5. Missed Call Flow

    The state machine when nobody picks up: 30s timeout closes the ring, posts a missed-call default-scenario follow-up. Step through the timeline event by event.

why it shipped

Incoming calls are events that require an immediate response. However, VoIP web applications that need to notify the user about an incoming call via the Notifications API, can only issue a regular notification that will show up in the action/notification center without any clear differentiation. Other options include each application implementing its own in-app notification system, which will only issue notifications inside the app window. This extension to the Notifications API standard for incoming call scenarios will allow web applications to send notifications with colored action buttons

references