Emergency Popup Notifications
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I'm looking at possibly developing an application that pushes emergency alerts to specific users. I've seen a number of solutions available for purchase, but nothing quite fits the entire list of what we want, plus it will have to be cross-platform. So while SMS would be the easiest delivery method, I am unaware of any way to make an SMS message which appears in the method we desire. Most of the requirements they have are easy enough and are things I have done in the past. The problem I am having is creating alerts that are pushed to the device that override anything else the user is doing, outside of using it to make a phone call. This will be used for true emergencies, not kittens up trees. So not a normal push notification. Anyone in the US who has a smart phone that lives in an area with inclement weather has likely gotten the alerts from the National Weather Service, advising of tornadoes, floods, etc. Which pop up and take up the entire screen with the alert, information about what is going on, plus make noise until you acknowledge the alert, or a predetermined amount of time has passed. At which point the noise stops but the alert retains focus. Even if the screen goes into hibernation, the alert remains when you turn it back on. I haven't found any documentation on how to do this. Does anyone have any experience with this level of push alert or any idea where to start looking for how to do so? My luck with Google has provided some examples, but nothing quite right. I want this to be mildly obnoxious, impossible to miss, and require user feedback to go away. We want to make certain the user sees the alert. Thanks in advance.