Journeys originally required you to set External IDs in order for them to receive messages from a Journey. Now, your subscriptions use a unique identifier called the OneSignal ID. Since every subscription has a OneSignal ID, you are no longer required to set an External ID for users to receive messages in a journey. Learn more about aliases and External IDs

If you haven't previously used External IDs for your subscription management, you will be able to start using Journeys right away.

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This change is currently in early access and will be generally available to Journeys at a later date.

Journeys set live prior to enrolling in this early access program will not be affected by the change, and will continue to require an External ID.

What does this mean for your existing Journeys?

When this change is enabled, users who didn't previously have an External ID can enter any new Journeys that you set live, allowing you to target a wider user base.

The expansion of your audience depends on your current coverage of External ID. For example, if a small percentage of your subscriptions have an External ID set, you will see much higher traffic enter a Journey; if you have an External ID set on most of your subscriptions, you will not see a large difference in additional audience size.

To check the level of coverage you have, you can go to Audience > Subscriptions and Export your subscriptions list. Then you can check the external_id column to review coverage.

Can I reference OneSignal ID in my existing active Journeys?

If you want existing Journeys to start referencing the OneSignal ID to process additional users, you can stop, archive, and duplicate the previously created Journey. When you set it live, it will reference the OneSignal ID instead of the External ID.