Release Incident Playbook

Push notification token reset: symptoms, cause, and the test that catches it

A change invalidates device tokens and notifications stop.

Push notification token reset is documented by 2 accepted public reports from 2 organisations, 2 of them published in the last 5 years.

  • Likelihood: low (2 public reports in 5 years)
  • Impact: medium (2 of 2 reports: availability)

2 public reports · verified 2026-10-21

Symptoms

User-visible

  • Affected apps could not send a major part of their iOS campaign and recurring automation push notifications.[1]
  • Android users could not log on with push-to-accept or symbol-to-accept login.[2]
  • Pressing accept or the symbol on the device did not log the user in, with or without an error shown.[2]
  • Android users kept receiving login notifications for a short time without being able to reply, then stopped receiving them.[2]

Monitoring-visible

  • Campaign bounces reached a significant number from about four hours after the push backend deployment started.[1]
  • Push sends to valid device tokens returned device-token-not-for-topic errors.[1]

Root causes

  1. stage: code A new iOS push backend version, rolled out to 2 percent of daily iOS campaign and automation volume, had a bug. Apps that shared one p8 push configuration across several apps received incorrect device-token-not-for-topic errors.[1]
  2. stage: release-process Updating the Android app on some devices changed the push token that identified the device. The service could not update that token dynamically and treated each update as a new installation.[2]

Public examples

  1. [1]Batch, 2024-09-27. A phased rollout of a new iOS push backend version made valid device tokens fail with apns2_device_token_not_for_topic errors for apps sharing one APNs p8 configuration, so many campaign notifications bounced until the rollout was reverted. primary iOS push significant bounce rate
  2. [2]SecureAuth, 2021-11-16. On some Android devices, updating the SecureAuth Authenticate app changed the Firebase Cloud Messaging token used to identify the device, which the service could not update dynamically, so push notifications for Push2Accept and Symbol2Accept login failed or stopped until users re-enrolled their devices. primary Android Mobile App (Authenticate) Update Issue

Test classes that catch it

Test classStageLimitationBasis
Integration testspre-deployAn integration test with one app per push configuration passes, because the backend bug hit only apps that shared one p8 configuration across several apps.by design analysis
End-to-end testspre-deployAn end-to-end test on a fresh install enrols a device and approves a login, but it misses the token change that happened only when the app was updated on some Android devices.by design analysis
Canary and progressive delivery checkspost-deployA canary at 2 percent of daily campaign volume produced bounces that went unnoticed until the next morning, because alerting did not catch this error at low volume.by design analysis

Risk

  • Likelihood: low (2 public reports in 5 years)
  • Impact: medium (2 of 2 reports: availability)
Counts behind the grades
Accepted public reports2
Published in the last 5 years2
Impact stated: availability2

How the grades are computed

Pre-release checklist

  • PR-01
  • PR-02
  • PR-03
  • PR-04
  • PR-05
  • PR-06
  • PR-07
  • PR-08

First 30 minutes

  • FM-01
  • FM-02
  • FM-03
  • FM-04
  • FM-05
  • FM-06
  • FM-07
  • FM-08

Download the checklist

What catches this: catalogue entries

Listed because their own documentation or site names integration tests, end-to-end tests, canary and progressive delivery checks on the verification date. Alphabetical. Not a recommendation.

Tools whose documentation names these test classes

Providers whose site names these test classes

Only on this page

Push notification token reset in report [1] took 1152 minutes to detect, about 19 hours. The new push backend handled only 2 percent of daily iOS campaign and automation volume [1]. Bounces reached a significant number about four hours after the deployment started, but the team noticed them the next morning [1]. The rollout was stopped and reverted, and failed notifications were not resent [1].

In report [2], an Android app update changed the device token behind push login, and the report gives no detection time. Users kept receiving login notifications for a short time without being able to reply, then stopped receiving them [2]. Recovery required each user to re-enrol the affected device [2].

Questions

What causes push notification token reset?

In report [1], a new iOS push backend version had a bug for apps sharing one p8 push configuration. In report [2], updating the Android app on some devices changed the push token that identified the device.

What are the symptoms of push notification token reset?

Affected apps could not send a major part of their iOS campaign push notifications [1]. Android users could not log on with push-to-accept login [2].

How long did it take to detect push notification token reset in the public reports?

Report [1] took 1152 minutes, about 19 hours, to detect the bounces. Report [2] does not state a detection time.

Which test class catches push notification token reset, and what does it miss?

Integration tests, end-to-end tests and canary checks are listed, all with the by-design label. A canary at 2 percent of daily volume produced bounces that went unnoticed until the next morning [1].

Which public reports document push notification token reset?

Two primary reports from two organisations document it. They were published on 2021-11-16 [2] and 2024-09-27 [1].

Should a team roll back or fix forward when push notification token reset happens?

Report [1] stopped the rollout and reverted to the previous push architecture without resending failed notifications. Report [2] had users re-enrol their affected devices.

Release Incident Playbook (2026). Push notification token reset: symptoms, cause, and the test that catches it, content version 1.0.0. https://releasefailures.com/incidents/push-notification-token-reset/. Accessed 2026-10-21.