Notifications & Reminders
Never forget an item, miss a budget limit, or fall behind on your meal plan. ListAIse delivers timely, smart notifications so your household stays coordinated without the constant back-and-forth.
How Notifications Work
ListAIse uses two distinct delivery mechanisms depending on the notification type:
Scheduled Reminders
You configure the timing (day, time, or threshold) and Firebase Cloud Functions deliver the notification at exactly the right moment — even when the app is closed.
Weekly reminders · Pre-trip · Budget alerts · Location · Meal plan gap
Event-Driven
Collaboration activity triggers notifications in real time via Firestore database events — no polling, no delays.
Check-off activity · Group updates · List sharing · Member changes
| Notification Type | Trigger | Free | Premium |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weekly Shopping Reminder | Scheduled — your chosen day & time | ✓ | — |
| Pre-Trip Finalization | Scheduled — X hours before your trip | ✓ | — |
| Budget Alerts | Event — cost crosses 75 / 90 / 100% | ✓ | — |
| Location Arrival Reminder | Event — you enter store geofence | — | ✓ |
| List Activity (check-offs) | Event — collaborator checks off items | ✓ | — |
| Meal Plan Gap Reminder | Scheduled — Sundays, if week has gaps | ✓ | — |
| Collaboration Updates | Event — group/list activity | ✓ | — |
| Forgotten Items | Scheduled — items unchecked 10+ days | ✓ | — |
Permission required
Enabling Notifications
Notifications are off by default until you grant permission. Follow these steps to activate them:
Open the app and tap Settings in the bottom navigation
Select Notifications from the settings list
Toggle Enable Notifications to ON
Grant notification permission when your device prompts you
Your device is now registered — all enabled notification types are active
Permission dismissed?
Master toggle: The "Enable Notifications" switch in Settings → Notifications controls everything. Turning it off deregisters your device instantly — you won't receive any push notifications until you turn it back on.
Notification Types
Each notification type serves a distinct behavioral goal. Here's a complete breakdown of every notification ListAIse can send, how to configure it, and what the delivered message looks like.
Weekly Shopping Reminder
A recurring reminder that fires at your chosen day and time each week, telling you how many items are waiting on your list.
Example notification
🛒 Grocery Shopping Time!
Time to check your "Whole Foods Run" list and head to the store.
How to set up:
- Open a grocery list
- Tap the bell icon → Reminders
- Select Weekly Reminder
- Choose your shopping day and preferred time
- Tap Save
Pre-Trip Finalization Reminder
Fires X hours before a planned shopping trip, giving you time to review and add any last-minute items before you leave.
Example notification
📝 Finalize Your Grocery List
Shopping trip coming up! Add any last-minute items to "Costco Run".
How to set up:
- Open a grocery list → Reminders
- Select Pre-Trip Reminder
- Set your shopping date and how many hours before to be reminded
- Default is 24 hours — adjust to suit your planning style
Budget Alerts
Automatically fires when your running list total crosses 75%, 90%, or 100% of your budget limit. No setup needed beyond setting a budget on the list.
75% threshold
💰 Budget Alert
"Weekend Shop" is at 75% of budget ($37.50 / $50.00)
90% threshold — high priority
🚨 Budget Alert
"Weekend Shop" is at 90% of budget ($45.00 / $50.00)
100%+ — high priority
⚠️ Budget Exceeded!
"Weekend Shop" is $8.75 over budget ($58.75 / $50.00)
Alert threshold
Location Arrival Reminder
Uses your device's GPS to detect when you arrive at a store. Fires the moment you enter the geofence radius so your list is front-of-mind before you step inside.
On arrival
📍 You're near Trader Joe's!
Double-check your list before going in — 8 items waiting
On departure (items unchecked)
🛍 You left Trader Joe's
3 items from "Weekly Shop" are still unchecked
How to set up:
- Open a grocery list → Reminders
- Select Location Reminder
- Tap your current location or search for the store
- Set the radius (default: 100 m)
- Grant location permission when prompted
Premium feature
List Activity — Collaborator Check-offs
When a collaborator checks off items in a shared list, all other members receive a notification. No more "did you get the milk?" texts — you'll know the instant something is picked up.
Single item checked off
✓ List updated
"Organic Milk" was checked off in "Costco Run"
Multiple items checked off
✓ List updated
4 items were checked off in "Costco Run"
How it works
- • Only fires on shared lists — solo lists never trigger this
- • The person who checked off items is excluded from receiving the notification
- • Multiple check-offs within 30 minutes are batched into one notification
- • Maximum 5 members notified per event
Meal Plan Gap Reminder
Every Sunday morning, ListAIse checks your meal plan for the upcoming week. If 5 or more meal slots are empty, you'll receive a gentle nudge to fill them in so your grocery list stays accurate.
No plan created for next week
🍽 Plan your week
Your meal plan for next week is empty — add meals to auto-generate your grocery list
Plan exists but has gaps
🍽 Gaps in your meal plan
8 meals aren't planned yet — fill them in to keep your grocery list complete
Details
- • Fires Sundays at 8AM UTC — adjust for your timezone
- • Rate limited to once per 6 days — never more than weekly
- • Only sent to users who have previously created a meal plan
- • Tapping the notification opens the Meal Planning calendar for next week
Collaboration Notifications
Group and shared list activity generates real-time notifications so your household stays in sync without manual check-ins.
| Event | What you receive |
|---|---|
| List shared with you | New List Invitation — "Alex has invited you to 'Weekly Shop'" |
| Group invitation received | New Group Invitation — "Alex has invited you to group 'Family Groceries'" |
| Member joins your group | New Member — "Alex joined 'Family Groceries'" |
| Member leaves your group | Member Left — "Alex left 'Family Groceries'" |
| New list created in group | New List — "Alex created 'Party Supplies' in Family Groceries" |
| Items added to group list | Items Added — "Alex added 3 items to 'Weekend Shop'" (30s batched) |
| Shopping started from a list | Shopping Started — "Alex started shopping from 'Costco Run'" |
| Your group role changed | Role Changed — "Your role in 'Family Groceries' was changed to Editor" |
Batched item-added notifications
Forgotten Items Reminder
If a list has 5 or more items that haven't been updated in 10+ days, ListAIse sends a reminder so stale items don't accumulate unnoticed.
Example notification
🤔 Old Items Found
Found 7 items in "Pantry Staples" that haven't been updated recently
Details
- • Runs automatically every 3 days across all your lists
- • 72-hour cooldown per list — never spammy
- • No configuration needed — always-on for free users
Managing Notification Settings
ListAIse gives you fine-grained control over every notification type. Here's what you can configure and where to find it.
Master Toggle
Settings → Notifications → Enable Notifications controls all push notifications in one switch.
When ON
Your device is registered, all enabled notification types are active
When OFF
Device is deregistered instantly — no notifications sent until you turn it back on
Per-Type Toggles
Under Settings → Notifications → Notification Types you can enable or disable individual categories. All are free.
| Toggle | Controls | Default |
|---|---|---|
| List Sharing | Invitations when someone shares a list with you | On |
| App Updates | New features and product improvements | On |
| List Activity | Collaborator check-off notifications on shared lists | On |
| Meal Plan Reminders | Weekly Sunday gap nudge for your meal plan | On |
Per-List Reminder Settings
Weekly, pre-trip, budget, and location reminders are configured individually on each list. Open a list and tap the bell icon to access its reminder settings.
Weekly Reminder
Day of week + time
Pre-Trip
Shopping date + hours before
Budget Alert
Set a budget limit on the list
Location (Premium)
Store coordinates + radius (m)
Per-Group Notification Settings
Inside any shopping group you belong to, you can control which collaboration events trigger notifications. Go to the group → Settings → Notifications.
| Setting | Default |
|---|---|
| Member joins / leaves | On |
| New list created in group | On |
| Items added to group list | Off |
| Shopping started from a list | On |
| Permission changes | On |
Items Added is off by default
Troubleshooting
Most notification issues stem from device permissions or a misconfigured reminder. Work through these common scenarios before reaching out to support.
Not receiving any notifications
- • Check Settings → Notifications → Enable Notifications is ON
- • Check device permission: Device Settings → Apps → ListAIse → Notifications
- • Make sure Do Not Disturb / Focus mode isn't blocking the app
- • Try toggling the master switch off and on to re-register your device
Weekly reminder not arriving
- • Confirm the reminder is enabled on the list (List → bell icon → Weekly Reminder toggle on)
- • Reminders are matched in UTC — check your timezone offset against the configured time
- • The delivery window is 4× per day (6AM, 12PM, 6PM, 10PM UTC) — your local time should align with one
Budget alerts not firing
- • A budget limit must be set on the list (List → Settings → Budget)
- • Alerts only fire when the total crosses a threshold — not on every item update
- • Minimum cost change of $0.50 is required to trigger a check
- • Rate limited to once per hour per list — if an alert fired recently, the next one waits
Location reminder not triggering
- • Requires ListAIse Premium subscription
- • Location is checked while the app is active; for background triggering enable "Always Allow" in device settings
- • Ensure the store radius is realistic — default 100 m works for most stores
- • Verify your GPS accuracy is good (open maps app to confirm location)
Not receiving check-off notifications from collaborators
- • Check Settings → Notifications → List Activity is enabled
- • Only shared lists trigger this — solo lists never send check-off notifications
- • Rate limited to once per list per 30 minutes — multiple rapid check-offs produce one batched notification
- • The person who checked off items will not receive the notification (only other members do)
Meal plan gap notification not received
- • Fires Sundays at 8AM UTC — calculate your local equivalent (e.g., 3AM EST, 1PM PKT)
- • Check Settings → Notifications → Meal Plan Reminders is enabled
- • Only fires if 5 or more meal slots are empty for next week
- • Only sent to users who have previously created at least one meal plan
- • Rate limited — if you received one in the last 6 days, the next fires next Sunday
Still having issues?
Visit the Troubleshooting Guide for a full diagnostic checklist, or reach out through the app's feedback form in Settings → Help & Feedback.