Reminder Types: Push vs. Email Notifications
When you add a reminder to an assignment, class, or event, you choose how it’s delivered. The Helium apps support two reminder types: Push and Email. This article explains how each one behaves, where the Notification Center fits in, and when reminders actually fire.
To add or change a reminder, see Setting Up and Managing Reminders.
Push Notifications
A Push reminder is delivered as a system notification on the device or browser where you use Helium, the same way other apps notify you. Push reminders are also collected in the Notification Center (described below) so you can review them later.
Push requires Helium to be on your device, and notifications to be enabled for the app (or browser, if using web). If you’re not receiving them, see Push Notifications or Email Reminders Not Working.
Email Reminders
An Email reminder is sent to the email address on your account. The email includes the reminder message along with the relevant details and a link back into Helium. Email reminders don’t require Helium to be installed and aren’t affected by device notification permissions, which makes them a dependable fallback.
The Notification Center
The Notification Center (the bell icon at the top of every screen) collects Push reminders after they’ve been sent. From there you can:
- Click a notification to open the linked assignment, class, or event
- Dismiss individual notifications to remove them from the list
Notifications are removed automatically when you edit or delete their linked item. Only Push reminders appear in the Notification Center — Email reminders are delivered to your inbox and do not show up here.
When Reminders Fire
- A reminder fires ahead of the item by the Remind before offset you set (minutes, hours, days, or weeks)
- Class reminders fire before every session of the class’s recurring schedule, automatically advancing to the next session as the term progresses
- Reminder times use the timezone set on your account, so they stay correct as your schedule changes
- If you change an item’s date or time, its reminders are rescheduled automatically
Note also that you can add multiple reminders, at different times and of different types, for the same item on the calendar.
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Helium Classic
Helium Classic supports Popup reminders (alerts in the browser) and Email reminders sent to your registered email address. There are no Push notifications and no Notification Center in Helium Classic.
Helium Classic will remain available until July 31, 2026.