Apple push notification (APNs) certificate expiry and renewal

When an APNs provider certificate expires, your provider can no longer connect to APNs, so push notifications stop being delivered. Your app may show no error. Apple documents that provider certificates are valid for a year, so this recurs on a schedule that is easy to forget.

Check the expiry date

Open Certificates, Identifiers & Profiles → Certificates in your Apple Developer account (the list may show expiry), or check the installed certificate's expiry in Keychain Access. Apple's documentation describes Keychain Access for this.

Renew it

Create a new Apple Push Notification service SSL certificate for the same App ID (it needs a new certificate signing request), install it on your push provider (many providers want a .p12 file), then retire the old one. Apple advises updating before expiry to avoid a disruption in service.

Consider token-based authentication

Token-based authentication uses a signing key from your developer account instead of a certificate. Apple documents that your server must refresh the signed token at least hourly. Apple does not document a yearly certificate-style expiry for the key, but confirm in your account and revoke the key if it is ever exposed. Many push providers support it; check yours.

Questions

Is this the same as an MDM push certificate?

No. Device-management push certificates come from the Apple Push Certificates Portal and have their own renewal rules. See the Intune and Apple MDM guide.

Track this in the free tracker

Guides last checked 2026-10-18. Check the details against your vendor's current documentation; products and policies change.