Push notifications without building an app

July 20, 2026 · 4 min read

Every guide to push notifications starts the same way: create a Firebase project, register an APNs key, store device tokens, run a server. That's the right path if you ship an app to customers. It's absurd overkill if the only phone that needs to buzz is yours.

What the DIY route actually involves

Build and ship a mobile app (App Store review included).
Set up FCM for Android, APNs keys and certificates for iOS.
Collect and store device tokens, handle token rotation.
Run a backend that talks to FCM/APNs – and keep it running.

Days of work before the first buzz – and a system to maintain forever.

The shortcut

Webhooky is that app, already built. Install it (Android / iOS), and you get a personal endpoint URL – no account, no tokens, no certificates. Anything that can send an HTTP POST can now ring your phone:

curl -X POST https://api.webhooky.app/YOUR_KEY \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"title":"🚨 Disk almost full","message":"/dev/sda1 at 92%","sound":"error_1"}'

Delivery runs through the same FCM/APNs infrastructure you would have set up yourself – you just skip the setup. Ready-made snippets: Python, Node.js, or the plain-HTTP guide.

When you do need your own app

Building on FCM/APNs yourself is right when your users should receive notifications under your branding. For notifying yourself – cron jobs, deploy failures, sales, sensors – a ready-made endpoint is the whole answer: the free plan's 100 notifications cost nothing, and there is no server to babysit.

Get Webhooky

Free for your first 100 notifications – set up your endpoint in two minutes.