A system and method are directed towards enabling a server to activate a plurality of peer devices. The server may send a notification to a first peer device and employ subsequent peer devices to send further notifications to other peer devices in a sequence of peer devices, thereby reducing a number of notifications sent by the server. The peer devices may be mobile devices. In one embodiment, the notification indicates that data is available for download to the peer devices. In one embodiment, the sequence is dynamically determined by the server. In one embodiment, an instruction to send a notification to another peer device is provided to a peer device in the sequence along with the downloaded data. In another embodiment, the instruction is provided with the notification. In one embodiment, a notification may be sent using a hidden message mechanism of Short Message Service (SMS), or the like.