Sound & Notification Alerts

Opterius Mail can alert you when new mail arrives, even when you are focused on another tab or application. Alerts include browser (OS-level) notifications and an optional sound chime. This page explains how to configure them.

How New Mail Is Detected#

Before alerts can fire, Opterius Mail needs to detect that new mail has arrived. It does this by polling the IMAP server every 30 seconds via a background AJAX request to GET /api/check-new. This endpoint runs an IMAP STATUS command and checks whether the UIDNEXT value for your Inbox has changed.

When a change is detected, the unread badge updates and — if you have notifications enabled — the alert fires.

See Unread Badges & New Mail Detection for a full technical explanation.

Opening Notification Settings#

1. Click Settings (gear icon) in the top-right.
2. Select Notifications from the settings menu.

Browser Notifications#

Browser notifications appear as native operating system notifications — the same style as system notifications from other apps. On macOS they appear in Notification Center; on Windows they appear in the Action Center; on Linux they use the desktop notification daemon.

Enabling Browser Notifications#

1. In Settings → Notifications, check the box Enable browser notifications.
2. Your browser will show a permission prompt: "[Site] wants to send you notifications".
3. Click Allow.

Once allowed, you will receive a notification each time new mail is detected. The notification shows:

• Title: "New mail in Opterius Mail"
• Body: Sender name/address and message subject (if available)
• Icon: The Opterius Mail logo

Clicking the notification brings the Opterius Mail tab to focus.

If You Accidentally Clicked Block#

If you clicked Block on the browser permission prompt, the browser will not ask again. You need to re-enable notifications manually in your browser settings:

Chrome / Edge:

1. Click the lock icon in the address bar next to the Opterius Mail URL.
2. Find Notifications in the site settings dropdown.
3. Change it to Allow.

Firefox:

1. Click the lock/shield icon in the address bar.
2. Click the > arrow to expand Connection Settings.
3. Find Notifications and set it to Allow.

Safari (macOS):

1. Go to Safari → Settings → Websites → Notifications.
2. Find the Opterius Mail site and set it to Allow.

When Notifications Are Not Shown#

Browser notifications only work while the Opterius Mail tab is open in your browser. When the tab is closed:

• The polling stops (there is no service worker that polls in the background).
• No notifications are delivered.

Notifications also do not work if:

• Your browser or operating system has notifications globally disabled.
• Focus Mode / Do Not Disturb is active on your device.
• You are using a browser that does not support the Web Notifications API (very old browsers).

Sound Alerts#

An optional sound chime plays when new mail arrives.

1. In Settings → Notifications, check Play sound alert for new mail.
2. Use the Sound dropdown to select from available chimes:
   • Default chime
   • Subtle ding
   • Classic bell
   • None (disable sound independently of notifications)
3. Click the Preview button to audition the selected sound before saving.

Sound alerts play through your computer's speakers using the browser's Web Audio API. They obey your operating system's volume settings. If your computer is muted, no sound will play.

Note: Many browsers require a user interaction on the page before allowing audio playback. If you have not clicked anything on the page after loading, the first sound alert may be silently blocked. This is a browser security restriction, not a bug in Opterius Mail.

Polling Interval#

The default polling interval is every 30 seconds. This means there may be up to a 30-second delay between when a message is delivered to your mail server and when Opterius Mail detects it.

The polling interval is a server-side setting configured in config/mail.php by your admin:

'polling_interval' => env('MAIL_POLL_INTERVAL', 30), // seconds

End users cannot change the polling interval from the settings UI — it applies to all users on the installation.

Saving Notification Settings#

Click Save at the bottom of the Notifications settings page. Changes take effect immediately — the next polling cycle will use the new settings.