Reminders and notifications

PickleFriend sends players a game-day reminder email roughly two days before an event, and delivers browser push notifications for chat, booking jobs, partner interest, and mixer round assignments.

Game-day reminder emails

When a player's status becomes "in", a reminder email is scheduled for 56 hours before the event's start time. It fires automatically — there's nothing to configure.

The email includes the event name, date, time, and location; a list of other confirmed players; a direct link to the player's schedule page; and an unsubscribe link.

Status is re-checked at send time

The reminder queue runs every few minutes. At send time, PickleFriend checks the player's current RSVP status — if they've dropped out or been removed, the reminder is cancelled. A player who rejoins after dropping won't receive a reminder unless they're re-invited, which schedules a fresh one. Players who've opted out of event emails are also silently skipped.

When reminders are scheduled and cancelled

A reminder is scheduled when a player is invited, auto-invited, or added as a guest and their status becomes "in," including players auto-signed-in via auto-invite.

A pending reminder is cancelled when the player's status leaves "in," the event is deleted or rescheduled outside the reminder window, or a ladder cycle transition removes the player from a division event. Re-inviting a player never creates a duplicate reminder.

Opt-out

Players unsubscribe via the link in any email. Organizers can check a player's email status in the roster.

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Browser push notifications

Push notifications reach a player's phone or browser in real time — no app install needed. The subscription uses the Web Push standard and is tied to the browser, not an account.

Enabling notifications

A bell icon appears in the event detail view on the player's schedule page. Tapping it opens the browser's permission dialog. Once granted, the subscription is saved and alerts arrive even when the tab is closed. The same button turns notifications off.

On the score entry page (/score), a separate toggle covers mixer-related push alerts.

What triggers a push

Trigger	Who receives it
Player posts a chat message	Players who are "in", on the waitlist, or have previously chatted on that event (excluding the sender)
Organizer posts a message	Same audience as player chat
New booking job posted	Players who are "in", on the waitlist, or have chatted on that event
Player volunteers for a booking job	The organizer
Another player expresses partner interest	The target player
Mixer round published	Players assigned to a court ("Court N Starting")
Mixer round published (bye)	Sitting-out players ("You have a bye this round")
Mixer round republished (missing score)	Players on the affected court
Carry-over court still needs a score	Players on that court
Player drops out within 24 hours	All invited players on that event who have push enabled

Partner-interest pushes are debounced: the same selection only triggers a push once every 5 minutes, so repeated taps don't flood the recipient.

Ladder players and cross-division delivery

Push subscriptions attach to the player record used when subscribing. Because a ladder player can appear in multiple divisions, PickleFriend expands delivery to sibling-division records that share the same email — the push reaches the player regardless of which division's event triggered it.

Browsers and devices

iOS Safari requires iOS 16.4 or later and the site saved to the home screen as a web app (PWA). On browsers that don't support push, the bell icon is hidden entirely. If a subscription becomes invalid (say, the player cleared browser data), it's automatically disabled on the next send attempt.

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What's next

• Auto-invite — how automatic invitations work, which runs before reminders are ever scheduled.
• Announcements and chat — post a message to all confirmed players, or manage booking jobs.
• Waitlists — how dropped players affect reminders and who moves in next.