Sound & Notifications

Overview

BidWatch can play sounds and show browser notifications to alert you about important auction events, even when the tab is in the background.

Sound Alerts

BidWatch has 6 individual sound toggles that you can enable or disable independently in Settings:

5 Minute Warning
1 Minute Warning
30 Second Sniper Alert
10 Second Sniper Alert
Auction Ended
Celebration

Volume Control

Adjust the sound volume using the slider in Settings. This controls all sound effects.

Browser Notifications

Enable push notifications to receive alerts even when BidWatch is not the active tab. You will be asked to grant notification permission in your browser the first time.

Notification Categories

Fine-tune which notifications you receive with 4 category toggles:

Time warnings — 5min and 1min alerts
Sniper alerts — 30s and 10s alerts
Price changes — when a listing's price changes
Auction ended — when an auction finishes

Tip: Sniper alerts at 30 and 10 seconds are great for last-second bidding strategies. Enable them alongside Auto-Refresh for the best experience.

Push Notifications (Even When Closed)

Push notifications let you receive alerts even when BidWatch is not open in your browser. The server checks your listings every 5 minutes and sends notifications for:

Price changes — when a listing's price updates
5-minute warning — auction ending soon
Auction ended — when an auction finishes

To enable push notifications, go to Settings → Browser Notifications → Push Notifications (even when closed) and toggle it on.

Note: Because the server checks every 5 minutes, only the 5-minute warning, price changes, and auction ended alerts work via push. The 1-minute, 30-second, and 10-second sniper alerts require the tab to be open.

Push Notification Troubleshooting

If push notifications aren't working, follow the steps for your browser below.

All Browsers

Make sure notifications are allowed for bidwatch.net in your browser's site settings.

Make sure you're using HTTPS (https://bidwatch.net). Push notifications do not work on HTTP or file:// URLs.

Check your operating system notification settings. On Windows, go to Settings → System → Notifications and make sure your browser is allowed to send notifications.

Brave Browser

Brave blocks Google's push messaging service by default. You need to enable it manually:

Open brave://settings/privacy in your address bar.

Scroll down and enable "Use Google Services for Push Messaging".

Restart Brave, then go back to BidWatch and toggle push notifications on again.

Chrome

Push notifications should work out of the box on Chrome. If they don't:

Go to chrome://settings/content/notifications and check that bidwatch.net is in the "Allowed" list.

Make sure "Sites can ask to send notifications" is enabled (not blocked globally).

Firefox

Click the lock icon next to the URL, then Permissions → Receive Notifications → Allow.

In about:preferences#privacy, scroll to Permissions → Notifications and make sure bidwatch.net is allowed.

Safari (macOS & iOS)

Push notifications require Safari 16.4+ on macOS and iOS 16.4+ (added to Home Screen as a web app).

On iOS, open BidWatch in Safari, tap the Share button, then "Add to Home Screen". Push only works from the Home Screen app.

On macOS, go to Safari → Settings → Websites → Notifications and allow bidwatch.net.

Edge

Go to edge://settings/content/notifications and check that bidwatch.net is allowed.