Limits

Understanding the limits of Live Activities, Apple Push Notification service, and the PushWard API.

ℹ Info

Most limits on this page are enforced by iOS and APNs, not by PushWard. PushWard works within Apple's constraints and is designed to maximize what's possible within them.

iOS Live Activity Limits

These limits are enforced by iOS on the device. PushWard cannot override them.

Concurrent Activities

Limit	Value	Notes
Per app	5	iOS throws `targetMaximumExceeded` if exceeded
System-wide (all apps)	Undisclosed	iOS throws `globalMaximumExceeded` if exceeded

PushWard's server enforces the same 5-activity limit proactively. When a new activity goes ONGOING and the limit is reached, the lowest-priority activity is automatically preempted (ended via push) to make room.

Duration

Phase	Duration	Behavior
Active (ONGOING)	8 hours	iOS automatically ends the activity after 8 hours
Lock Screen after ending	Up to 4 hours	Remains visible for the user to glance at
Maximum total on screen	12 hours	8h active + 4h ended visibility

PushWard's background processor detects activities that hit the 8-hour iOS limit and updates their state accordingly on the server.

Update Throttling

⚠ Warning

iOS throttles how often a Live Activity can be updated via push notifications. This is an iOS-level restriction, not a PushWard limit. Updates that exceed the budget are silently dropped by the device.

Mode	Update Budget	How to Enable
Standard	~15 updates/hour	Default behavior
Frequent Updates	Sub-minute delivery	Requires `NSSupportsLiveActivitiesFrequentUpdates` in Info.plist + user opt-in in Settings

PushWard's iOS app has frequent updates enabled. The user can toggle this per-app in Settings > PushWard > Live Activities > More Frequent Updates.

PushWard API Limits

Rate Limiting

Rate limits are enforced per IP address.

Endpoint	Limit
Authentication (`POST /auth/apple`)	10 requests/minute
All API endpoints	200 requests/minute
Demo (`POST /demo/run`)	3 requests/minute

A 429 Too Many Requests response includes a Retry-After: 60 header.

Activity Limits

Limit	Default
Max total activities per user	25
Max live (ONGOING) activities per user	5
Max registered devices per user	2
Max integration keys per user	25

Priority-Based Eviction

When a new activity goes ONGOING and the user already has 5 live activities, the server automatically ends the lowest-priority one. Eviction order: lowest priority value first, then oldest updated_at.

Priority is an integer from 0 to 10 (0 = lowest, 10 = highest).

Field Length Limits

Field	Max Length
`slug`	128 characters
`name`	256 characters
`content.state`	256 characters
`content.subtitle`	256 characters
`content.completion_message`	512 characters
`content.icon`	128 characters
`content.url`	2,048 characters

The slug must start with an alphanumeric character and may contain letters, numbers, hyphens, and underscores.

TTL Constraints

Field	Range
`ended_ttl`	1 – 2,592,000 seconds (1s to 30 days)
`stale_ttl`	1 – 2,592,000 seconds (1s to 30 days)
Share code `expires_in`	60 – 604,800 seconds (1 min to 7 days)

Template-Specific Validation

Template	Field	Constraint
Generic, Steps	`progress`	0.0 – 1.0
Countdown	`duration` or `end_date`	Required. `duration` accepts seconds (`"30"`) or units (`"1h30m"`, `"5m"`). `end_date` must be a positive Unix timestamp.
Countdown	`warning_threshold`	≥ 0 seconds
Steps	`total_steps`	≥ 1
Steps	`current_step`	0 – `total_steps`
Steps	`step_rows` values	1 – 10 per row
Alert	`severity`	`critical`, `warning`, or `info`
Gauge	`value`, `min_value`, `max_value`	All three required. `min_value` < `max_value`. `value` must be within range. `progress` is auto-calculated.
Gauge	`unit`	Max 32 characters
Timeline	`value` or `values`	At least one required. `values` max 4 series, keys max 32 characters.
Timeline	`scale`	`linear` or `logarithmic`
Timeline	`decimals`	0 – 10
Timeline	`thresholds`	Max 5 entries. Each: `value` (required), `color`, `label` (max 12 chars)
Timeline	`history` (server-managed)	Up to 300 points/series stored. Dynamically downsampled via LTTB to fit 4KB APNs payload.