feature: Add "Mark as Read" action button to push notifications

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@DSingh0304 is already working on this.

Since Dec 9, 2025.

  • #6867 by @DSingh0304 — closed without merging

Assessment

Difficulty
4/5
Estimated time
3-5 days
Newbie friendliness
35/100
Issue type
Feature
Clarity
Mostly clear
Activity status
Stale
Tech stack
android, ios, react-native, swift, typescript
Domain
mobile, mobile-dev

Research direction

Start with app/lib/notifications/push.ts and ios/ReplyNotification.swift, then inspect the existing REPLY_ACTION handler and app/lib/methods/readMessages.ts for the subscriptions.read API usage. Trace how notification payloads provide rid and how foreground and background actions are handled on both platforms. Done means a Mark as Read action calls subscriptions.read, clears the room notification and unread state, and works in foreground and background.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Description

🎉 feature
Feature Description

Add a "Mark as Read" quick action button to push notifications, similar to WhatsApp, Telegram, and Slack messaging apps. This would allow users to mark messages/rooms as read directly from the notification without opening the app.

Proposed Behavior:

  • When a user receives a chat notification, they would see action buttons including:

    • Reply (already exists)
    • Mark as Read (NEW)

  • Tapping "Mark as Read" would:

    • Call the subscriptions.read API endpoint
    • Clear the unread badge for that room
    • Remove the notification from the notification tray
    • Update the room's read status on the server

This feature would work in both foreground and background states.

Motivation and Use Case
User Pain Points:
  1. Notification Overload: Users often receive many notifications during busy periods and want a quick way to triage them without opening each conversation
  2. Workflow Interruption: Currently, users must open the app and navigate to each room just to mark messages as read, which disrupts their current task
  3. Mobile UX Expectations: Modern messaging apps (WhatsApp, Telegram, Slack, Microsoft Teams) all provide this functionality, making it a standard user expectation
Benefits:

Faster notification management - One tap vs opening app → navigating to room → going back
Reduced app opens - Better battery life and performance
Better focus - Users can clear notifications without context switching
Cleaner notification tray - Reduces notification fatigue
Professional UX - Matches expectations from other enterprise chat apps

Implementation Ideas

Technical Implementation Plan:

Phase 1: iOS (Easier to implement)

  1. Add Notification Action (app/lib/notifications/push.ts)
const markAsReadAction = new NotificationAction(
  'MARK_AS_READ_ACTION', 
  'background',  // Can execute in background
  I18n.t('Mark_as_read'), 
  false  // Doesn't require text input
);

const notificationCategory = new NotificationCategory('MESSAGE', [
  notificationAction,    // Existing Reply action
  markAsReadAction       // NEW action
]);

  1. Add Native Handler (ios/ReplyNotification.swift)

    • Add handler similar to existing REPLY_ACTION
    • Extract rid from notification payload
    • Call subscriptions.read API endpoint
    • Handle success/failure cases

  2. API Integration

    • Endpoint: POST subscriptions.read (already exists!)
    • Parameters: { rid: string, readThreads?: boolean }
    • Auth: Use existing RocketChat helper class

Phase 2: Android

Android requires custom notification channel configuration:

  • Create notification action in Java/Kotlin
  • Wire up to existing API methods
  • Handle background execution

API Requirements:

Good news: The required API already exists!

  • Endpoint: subscriptions.read (available since RC 0.61.0)
  • Current usage: Already used in app/lib/methods/readMessages.ts
  • No server changes needed

API Flow:
Notification Action → Extract rid → POST subscriptions.read { rid } → Update local DB → Clear notification

Edge Cases to Handle:

  1. Network Unavailable:

    • Queue action for retry when connection restored
    • Or show brief error notification

  2. Expired Auth Token:

    • Attempt token refresh
    • Gracefully fail if user needs to re-login

  3. Multiple Notifications from Same Room:

    • Mark all as read when action is triggered on any one

  4. Encrypted Rooms:

    • Works the same way (marks as read, doesn't affect encryption)
Is this feature available in the API or web version?

Available in API

Rocket.Chat Server Version

Any version >= 0.61.0 (subscriptions.read API available)

Rocket.Chat App Version

4.68.0

Device Name

All iOS and Android devices

OS Version

iOS 13+ / Android 7.0+ (notification actions support)

Additional Context
Image

This is the feature i am talking about !!

Dominant language
TypeScript
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Forks
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Avg merge
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Merged PRs (30d)
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