Push Plugin for NativeScript
This plugin is deprecated. Feel free to use the Firebase Plugin for implementing push notifications in your NativeScript app. If you already have an app that use the Push Plugin, read the migrate-to-firebase doc for initial guidance.
The code for the Push Plugin for NativeScript.
- Installation
- Configuration
- Usage
- API Reference
- Troubleshooting
- Android Configuration for using Firebase Cloud Messaging
- Contribute
- Get Help
Installation
In the Command prompt / Terminal navigate to your application root folder and run:
tns plugin add nativescript-push-notifications
Configuration
Android
See the Android Configuration for using Firebase Cloud Messaging for information about how to add Firebase to your project.
-
Edit the
package.json
file in the root of application, by changing the bundle identifier to match the Firebase's project package name. For example:"id": "org.nativescript.PushNotificationApp" -
Edit the
app/App_Resources/Android/app.gradle
file of your application, by changing the application ID to match the bundle identifier from the package.json. For example:android {// ...defaultConfig {applicationId = "org.nativescript.PushNotificationApp"}// ...} -
Go to the application folder and add the Android platform to the application
tns platform add android -
Add the
google-settings.json
file with the FCM configuration to theapp/App_Resources/Android folder
in your app. If this file is not added, building the app for android will fail.
The plugin will default to version 12.0.1 of the firebase-messaging
SDK. If you need to change the version, you can add a project ext property firebaseMessagingVersion
:
// in the root level of /app/App_Resources/Android/app.gradle: project.ext { firebaseMessagingVersion = "+" // OR the version you wish }
iOS
-
Ensure you have set up an App in your Apple Developer account, with Push Notifications enabled and configured. More on this in the Apple's AddingCapabilities documentation >
Configuring Push Notifications
section. -
Edit the package.json file in the root of application, by changing the bundle identifier to match the App ID. For example:
"id": "org.nativescript.PushNotificationApp" -
Go to the application folder and add the iOS platform to the application
tns build ios -
Go to (application folder)/platforms/ios and open the XCode project. Enable Push Notifications in the project Capabilities options. In case you don't have XCode, go to (application folder)/platforms/ios/(application folder name) , find *.entitlements file and add to it
aps-environment
key and its value as shown below:aps-environmentdevelopment
Usage
Using the plugin in Android
Add code in your view model or component to subscribe and receive messages (don't forget to enter your Firebase Cloud Messaging Sender ID in the options of the register method):
TypeScript
import * as pushPlugin from "nativescript-push-notifications";private pushSettings = { senderID: "<ENTER_YOUR_PROJECT_NUMBER>", // Required: setting with the sender/project number notificationCallbackAndroid: (stringifiedData: String, fcmNotification: any) => { const notificationBody = fcmNotification && fcmNotification.getBody(); this.updateMessage("Message received!\n" + notificationBody + "\n" + stringifiedData); }};pushPlugin.register(pushSettings, (token: String) => { alert("Device registered. Access token: " + token);;}, function() { });
Javascript
var pushPlugin = require("nativescript-push-notifications");var pushSettings = { senderID: "<ENTER_YOUR_PROJECT_NUMBER>", // Required: setting with the sender/project number notificationCallbackAndroid: function (stringifiedData, fcmNotification) { var notificationBody = fcmNotification && fcmNotification.getBody(); _this.updateMessage("Message received!\n" + notificationBody + "\n" + stringifiedData); } };pushPlugin.register(pushSettings, function (token) { alert("Device registered. Access token: " + token);}, function() { });
-
Run the app on the phone or emulator:
tns run android -
The access token is written in the console and displayed on the device after the plugin sucessfully subscribes to receive notifications. When a notification comes, the message will be displayed in the notification area if the app is closed or handled directly in the notificationCallbackAndroid callback if the app is open.
Using the plugin in iOS
Add code in your view model or component to subscribe and receive messages:
TypeScript
import * as pushPlugin from "nativescript-push-notifications";const iosSettings = { badge: true, sound: true, alert: true, interactiveSettings: { actions: [{ identifier: 'READ_IDENTIFIER', title: 'Read', activationMode: "foreground", destructive: false, authenticationRequired: true }, { identifier: 'CANCEL_IDENTIFIER', title: 'Cancel', activationMode: "foreground", destructive: true, authenticationRequired: true }], categories: [{ identifier: 'READ_CATEGORY', actionsForDefaultContext: ['READ_IDENTIFIER', 'CANCEL_IDENTIFIER'], actionsForMinimalContext: ['READ_IDENTIFIER', 'CANCEL_IDENTIFIER'] }] }, notificationCallbackIOS: (message: any) => { alert("Message received!\n" + JSON.stringify(message)); }}; pushPlugin.register(iosSettings, (token: String) => { alert("Device registered. Access token: " + token); // Register the interactive settings if(iosSettings.interactiveSettings) { pushPlugin.registerUserNotificationSettings(() => { alert('Successfully registered for interactive push.'); }, (err) => { alert('Error registering for interactive push: ' + JSON.stringify(err)); }); }}, (errorMessage: any) => { alert("Device NOT registered! " + JSON.stringify(errorMessage));});
Javascript
var pushPlugin = require("nativescript-push-notifications");var iosSettings = { badge: true, sound: true, alert: true, interactiveSettings: { actions: [{ identifier: 'READ_IDENTIFIER', title: 'Read', activationMode: "foreground", destructive: false, authenticationRequired: true }, { identifier: 'CANCEL_IDENTIFIER', title: 'Cancel', activationMode: "foreground", destructive: true, authenticationRequired: true }], categories: [{ identifier: 'READ_CATEGORY', actionsForDefaultContext: ['READ_IDENTIFIER', 'CANCEL_IDENTIFIER'], actionsForMinimalContext: ['READ_IDENTIFIER', 'CANCEL_IDENTIFIER'] }] }, notificationCallbackIOS: function (data) { alert("message", "" + JSON.stringify(data)); }}; pushPlugin.register(iosSettings, function (data) { alert("Device registered. Access token" + data); // Register the interactive settings if(iosSettings.interactiveSettings) { pushPlugin.registerUserNotificationSettings(function() { alert('Successfully registered for interactive push.'); }, function(err) { alert('Error registering for interactive push: ' + JSON.stringify(err)); }); }}, function() { });
-
Run the app on the phone or simulator:
tns run ios -
[HINT] Install the pusher app to send notifications to the device being debugged on. In the 'device push token' field paste the device access token generated in the {N} CLI / XCode debug console after launching the app.
API Reference
Methods
register(options, successCallback, errorCallback) - subscribe the device with Apple/Google push notifications services so the app can receive notifications
Option | Platform | Type | Description |
---|---|---|---|
senderID | Android | String | The Sender ID for the FCM project. This option is required for Android. |
notificationCallbackAndroid | Android | Function | Callback to invoke, when a push is received on Android. |
badge | iOS | Boolean | Enable setting the badge through Push Notification. |
sound | iOS | Boolean | Enable playing a sound. |
alert | iOS | Boolean | Enable creating a alert. |
clearBadge | iOS | Boolean | Enable clearing the badge on push registration. |
notificationCallbackIOS | iOS | Function | Callback to invoke, when a push is received on iOS. |
interactiveSettings | iOS | Object | Interactive settings for use when registerUserNotificationSettings is used on iOS. |
The interactiveSettings object for iOS can contain the following:
Option | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
actions | Array | A list of iOS interactive notification actions. |
categories | Array | A list of iOS interactive notification categories. |
The actions
array from the iOS interactive settings contains:
Option | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
identifier | String | Required. String identifier of the action. |
title | String | Required. Title of the button action. |
activationMode | String | Set to either "foreground" or "background" to launch the app in foreground/background and respond to the action. |
destructive | Boolean | Enable if the action is destructive. Will change the action color to red instead of the default. |
authenticationRequired | Boolean | Enable if the device must be unlocked to perform the action. |
behavior | String | Set if the action has a different behavior - e.g. text input. |
The categories
array from the iOS interactive settings contains:
Option | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
identifier | String | Required. String identifier of the category. |
actionsForDefaultContext | Array | Required. Array of string identifiers of actions. |
actionsForMinimalContext | Array | Required. Array of string identifiers of actions. |
For more information about iOS interactive notifications, please visit the Apple Developer site
var settings = { badge: true, sound: true, alert: true, interactiveSettings: { actions: [{ identifier: 'READ_IDENTIFIER', title: 'Read', activationMode: "foreground", destructive: false, authenticationRequired: true }, { identifier: 'CANCEL_IDENTIFIER', title: 'Cancel', activationMode: "foreground", destructive: true, authenticationRequired: true }], categories: [{ identifier: 'READ_CATEGORY', actionsForDefaultContext: ['READ_IDENTIFIER', 'CANCEL_IDENTIFIER'], actionsForMinimalContext: ['READ_IDENTIFIER', 'CANCEL_IDENTIFIER'] }] }, notificationCallbackIOS: function(message) { alert(JSON.stringify(message)); }}; pushPlugin.register(settings, // Success callback function(token){ // Register the interactive settings if(settings.interactiveSettings) { pushPlugin.registerUserNotificationSettings(function() { alert('Successfully registered for interactive push.'); }, function(err) { alert('Error registering for interactive push: ' + JSON.stringify(err)); }); } }, // Error Callback function(error){ alert(error.message); });
register
method
unregister(successCallback, errorCallback, options) - unsubscribe the device so the app stops receiving push notifications. The options object is the same as on the Parameter | Platform | Type | Description |
---|---|---|---|
successCallback | iOS | Function | Called when app is successfully unsubscribed. Has one object parameter with the result. |
successCallback | Android | Function | Called when app is successfully unsubscribed. Has one string parameter with the result. |
errorCallback | Android | Function | Called when app is NOT successfully unsubscribed. Has one parameter containing the error. |
options | Android | Function | Called when app is NOT successfully unsubscribed. Has one parameter containing the error. |
pushPlugin.unregister( // Success callback function(result) { alert('Device unregistered successfully'); }, // Error Callback function(errorMessage) { alert(errorMessage); }, // The settings from the registration phase settings);
areNotificationsEnabled(successCallback) - check if push notifications are enabled (iOS only, always returns true on Android)
Parameter | Platform | Type | Description |
---|---|---|---|
successCallback | iOS/Android | Function | Called with one boolean parameter containing the result from the notifications enabled check. |
pushPlugin.areNotificationsEnabled(function(areEnabled) { alert('Are Notifications enabled: ' + areEnabled); });
Android only
notificationCallbackAndroid
registration option instead
onMessageReceived(callback) DEPRECATED - register a callback function to execute when receiving a notification. You should set this from the Parameter | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
stringifiedData | String | A string containing JSON data from the notification |
fcmNotification | Object | iOS/Android |
The fcmNotification object contains the following methods:
Method | Returns |
---|---|
getBody() | String |
getBodyLocalizationArgs() | String[] |
getBodyLocalizationKey() | String |
getClickAction() | String |
getColor() | String |
getIcon() | String |
getSound() | String |
getTag() | String |
getTitle() | String |
getTitleLocalizationArgs() | String[] |
getTitleLocalizationKey() | String |
register
again or add some native code to obtain the token from FCM
onTokenRefresh(callback) - register a callback function to execute when the old token is revoked and a new token is obtained. Note that the token is not passed to the callback as an argument. If you need the new token value, you'll need to call Parameter | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
callback | Function | Called with no arguments. |
pushPlugin.onTokenRefresh(function() { alert("new token obtained");});
iOS only
registerUserNotificationSettings(successCallback, errorCallback) - used to register for interactive push on iOS
Parameter | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
successCallback | Function | Called when app is successfully unsubscribed. Has one object parameter with the result. |
errorCallback | Function | Called when app is NOT successfully unsubscribed. Has one parameter containing the error. |
Troubleshooting
In case the application doesn't work as expected. Here are some things you can verify
Troubleshooting issues in Android
-
When the application is started using
tns run android
(i.e. in debug mode with livesync) some background notifications might not be received correctly. This happens because the app is not started in a normal way for debugging and the resume from background happens differently. To receive all notifications correctly, stop the app (swipe it away it from the recent apps list) and start it again by tapping the app icon on the device. -
Thе
google-services
plugin is added automatically. If this fails, you can try adding it manually: -
- Navigate to the project
platforms/android/
folder and locate the application-levelbuild.gradle
file
- Navigate to the project
-
- Add the
google-services
plugin to the list of other dependencies in your app'sbuild.gradle
filedependencies {// ...classpath "com.google.gms:google-services:3.0.0"// ...}
- Add the
-
- Add the following line be at the bottom of your
build.gradle
file to enable the Gradle pluginapply plugin: 'com.google.gms.google-services'
- Add the following line be at the bottom of your
-
Ensure that the AndroidManifest.xml located at platforms/android/build/... (do not add it in your "App_Resources/Android/AndroidManifest.xml" file) contains the following snippets for registering the GCM listener:
<activity android:name="com.telerik.pushplugin.PushHandlerActivity"/><receiverandroid:name="com.google.android.gms.gcm.GcmReceiver"android:exported="true"android:permission="com.google.android.c2dm.permission.SEND" ><intent-filter><action android:name="com.google.android.c2dm.intent.RECEIVE" /><category android:name="com.pushApp.gcm" /></intent-filter></receiver><serviceandroid:name="com.telerik.pushplugin.PushPlugin"android:exported="false" ><intent-filter><action android:name="com.google.android.c2dm.intent.RECEIVE" /></intent-filter></service> -
Ensure that the AndroidManifest.xml located at platforms/android/build/... contains the following permissions for push notifications:
Troubleshooting issues in iOS
- Error "Error registering: no valid 'aps-environment' entitlement string found for application" - this means that the certificates are not correctly set in the xcodeproject. Open the xcodeproject, fix them and you can even run the application from xcode to verify it's setup correctly. The bundle identifier in xcode should be the same as the "id" in the package.json file in the root of the project. Also make sure that "Push Notifications" is switched ON in the "Capabilities" page of the project settings.
Android Configuration for using Firebase Cloud Messaging
The nativescript-push-notifications
module for Android relies on the Firebase Cloud Messaging (FCM) SDK. In the steps below you will be guided to complete a few additional steps to prepare your Android app to receive push notifications from FCM.
-
Add the
google-services.json
fileTo use FCM, you need this file. It contains configurations and credentials for your Firebase project. To obtain this follow the instructions for adding Firebase to your project from the official documentation. Scroll down to the Manually add Firebase section.
Place the file in your app's
App_Resources/Android
folder -
Obtain the FCM Server Key (optional)
This key is required to be able to send programmatically push notifications to your app. You can obtain this key from your Firebase project.
Receive and Handle Messages from FCM on Android
The plugin allows for handling data, notification, and messages that contain both payload keys which for the purposes of this article are reffered to as mixed. More specifics on these messages are explained here.
The plugin extends the FirebaseMessagingService
and overrides its onMessageReceived
callback. In your app you need to use the notificationCallbackAndroid
setting when calling the register
method of the plugin.
The behavior of the callback in the module follows the behavior of the FCM service.
Handling Data Messages
The notificationCallbackAndroid
method of the plugin is called each time a data
notification is received.
If the app is stopped or suspended, NO notification is constructed and placed in the tray. Tapping the app icon launches the app and invokes the notificationCallbackAndroid
callback where you will receive the notification data.
If the app is active and in foreground, the notificationCallbackAndroid
callback is invoked immediately with the notification data (fcmNotification).
Handling Notification Messages
If the app is active and in foreground, it invokes the notificationCallbackAndroid
callback with two arguments (stringifiedData, fcmNotification).
If the app is in background, a notification is put in the tray. When tapped, it launches the app, but does not invoke the notificationCallbackAndroid
callback.
Handling Mixed Messages
Mixed messages are messages that contain in their load both data and notification keys. When such message is received:
- The app is in foreground, the
notificationCallbackAndroid
callback is invoked with parameters (stringifiedData, fcmNotification) - The app is in background, the
notificationCallbackAndroid
callback is not invoked. A notification is placed in the system tray. If the notification in the tray is tapped, thedata
part of the mixed message is available in the extras of the intent of the activity and are available in the respective application event of NativeScript.
Example of handling the data
part in the application resume event (e.g. the app was brought to the foreground from the notification):
application.on(application.resumeEvent, function(args) { if (args.android) { var act = args.android; var intent = act.getIntent(); var extras = intent.getExtras(); if (extras) { // for (var key in extras) { // console.log(key + ' -> ' + extras[key]); // } var msg = extras.get('someKey'); } }});
Parameters of the notificationCallbackAndroid Callback
Depending on the notification event and payload, the notificationCallbackAndroid
callback is invoked with two arguments.
stringifiedData
- String. A stringified JSON representation of thedata
value in the notification payload.fcmNotification
-RemoteMessage.Notification
. A representation of theRemoteMessage.Notification
class which can be accessed according to its public methods. This parameter is available in case the callback was called from a message with anotification
key in the payload.
Setting Notification Icon and Color
The plugin automatically handles some keys in the data
object like message
, title
, color
, smallIcon
, largeIcon
and uses them to construct a notification entry in the tray.
Custom default color and icon for notification messages can be set in the AndroidManifest.xml
inside the application
directive:
<meta-data android:name="com.google.firebase.messaging.default_notification_icon" android:resource="@drawable/ic_stat_ic_notification" /><meta-data android:name="com.google.firebase.messaging.default_notification_color" android:resource="@color/colorAccent" />
For more info visit the Edit the app manifest article.
Contribute
We love PRs! Check out the contributing guidelines. If you want to contribute, but you are not sure where to start - look for issues labeled help wanted
.
Get Help
Please, use github issues strictly for reporting bugs or requesting features. For general questions and support, check out Stack Overflow or ask our experts in NativeScript community Slack channel.