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Software Engineering vocabulary · APIs, Networking and Security

Device token

Meaning in software engineering, with examples

nounCommon term

In software engineering, device token means: A unique string that identifies one installation of an app on one device; the server needs it to send push notifications to that device.

In Turkish: cihaz token'ı, cihaz anahtarı

How it is used

The app registers for notifications, receives the device token (on Android, the FCM registration token) and sends it to the back end. Tokens can change, so apps send the new one when it is refreshed, and servers delete tokens that are no longer valid.

Example sentences

  1. The user isn't getting notifications because we never saved their device token.

  2. Send the device token to the server again after every login.

Common collocations

  • register a device token
  • refresh the token
  • invalid token
  • registration token
  • APNsApple Push Notification service: Apple's system that delivers push notifications from a server to iPhones, iPads and other Apple devices.
  • FCMFirebase Cloud Messaging: Google's free service for sending push notifications and data messages to Android, iOS and web apps.
  • push notificationA short message sent from a server to a user's device that appears on the screen even when the app is not open, for example about a new message or a delivery.
  • APIShort for application programming interface: a set of rules that lets one program ask another program for data or actions in a fixed, documented way.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: APIs, Networking and Security

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