Send push notification

You can send, schedule, and manage push notifications to your apps using Appwrite Messaging. Push notifications can be used to deliver new message notifications, app updates, promotional offers, and other messages straight to your user's devices.

Add provider

Push notifications must be sent through third-party providers, like Apple Push Notification service and Firebase Cloud Messaging. The push notification APIs for Apple and Android devices can only be accessed through these services.

You must configure these services before you can send your first push notification.

Add targets

Before sending your first push notification, your application must register itself for push notification, then provide the device token to Appwrite.

First, enable push notification in your app. Add push notification capability to your app by clicking your root-level app in XCode > Signing & Capabilities > Capabilities > Search for Push Notifications.

First, register for remote notifications in your app delegate's application(_:didFinishLaunchingWithOptions:) method.

Swift

func application(
    _ application: UIApplication,
    didFinishLaunchingWithOptions launchOptions: [UIApplication.LaunchOptionsKey : Any]? = nil
) -> Bool {
    // Register for remote notifications
    UNUserNotificationCenter.current().delegate = self

    let authOptions: UNAuthorizationOptions = [.alert, .badge, .sound]
    UNUserNotificationCenter.current().requestAuthorization(
        options: authOptions,
        completionHandler: { granted, error in
            DispatchQueue.main.async {
                if granted {
                    application.registerForRemoteNotifications()
                }
            }
        }
    )

    return true
}

Next, create a handler for when the app receives the push notification device token.

Swift

func application(
    _ application: UIApplication,
    didRegisterForRemoteNotificationsWithDeviceToken deviceToken: Data
) {
    // register device
    var token = deviceToken.map { String(format: "%.2hhx", $0) }.joined()

    // Save the token to be used later
    UserDefaults.standard.set(token, forKey: "apnsToken")
}

Since the token is saved in UserDefaults, you can access it from anywhere in your app. With this saved apnsToken, you can create a push target with Appwrite when the user logs in. Each push target is associated with an account, heres an example with an email password login. The same logic applies to all types of login methods.

Swift

func login() async {
    do {
        let session = try await account.createEmailPasswordSession(
            email: username,
            password: password
        )

        guard let token = UserDefaults.standard.string(forKey: "apnsToken") else {
            return
        }

        guard let target = try? await account.createPushTarget(
            targetId: ID.unique(),
            identifier: token
        ) else {
            return
        }

        UserDefaults.standard.set(target.id, forKey: "targetId")

        DispatchQueue.main.async {
            self.response = String(describing: session.toMap())
        }
    } catch {
        DispatchQueue.main.async {
            self.response = error.localizedDescription
        }
    }
}

Before you can send push notifications using FCM, make sure you'd followed the steps to Add Firebase to your Android project.

After adding Firebase to your Android project and adding the google-services.json to your project, initialize Firebase in your main activity and fetch the FCM registration token.

Kotlin

class MainActivity : AppCompatActivity() {
    override fun onCreate() {
        // ... other logic

        // Initialize Firebase
        FirebaseApp.initializeApp(this)

        // Set the FCM token
        FirebaseMessaging.getInstance().token.addOnCompleteListener(OnCompleteListener { task ->
            if (!task.isSuccessful) {
                Log.w(TAG, "Fetching FCM registration token failed", task.exception)
                return@OnCompleteListener
            }

            // Get new FCM registration token and save it in prefs to be used later.
            val token = task.result
            val prefs = getSharedPreferences("example", MODE_PRIVATE)

            prefs.edit().putString("fcmToken", token).apply()
        })
    }
}

Appwrite's push targets are associated with accounts. Typically, you would create a push target when the user logs in.

For example, when the user logs in with email and password, your app can register itself as a target after handling the login.

Kotlin

fun onLogin(
    email: String,
    password: String,
    token: String?,
) {
    viewModelScope.launch {
        try {
            // Log in the user
            val session = account.createEmailPasswordSession(
                email,
                password
            )

            // If a token exists, register a push target with Appwrite.
            if (token != null) {
                val target = account.createPushTarget(ID.unique(), token)

                _target.postValue(Event(target))
            }

            _response.postValue(Event(session.toJson()))
        } catch (e: AppwriteException) {
            _error.postValue(Event(e))
        }
    }
}

The FCM token that we defined in sharedPreferenes will be passed into the onLogin handler to create the push target.

Kotlin

 binding.login.setOnClickListener{
    viewModel.onLogin(
        binding.email.text.toString(),
        binding.password.text.toString(),
        context
            ?.getSharedPreferences("example", Context.MODE_PRIVATE)
            ?.getString("fcmToken", null) ?: null
    )
}

Lastly, because FCM push tokens can change, we need to add a service to handle FCM token refreshes and update the target with Appwrite Messaging.

Create a new service that extends FirebaseMessagingService which handles the event where the FCM token is updated.

Kotlin

class MessagingService : FirebaseMessagingService() {

    companion object {
        var account: Account? = null
    }

    // This is called when FCM token is updated.
    override fun onNewToken(token: String) {
        super.onNewToken(token)

        val prefs = getSharedPreferences("example", MODE_PRIVATE)

        prefs.edit().putString("fcmToken", token).apply()

        if (account == null) {
            return
        }

        val targetId = prefs.getString("targetId", null)

        runBlocking {
            if (targetId == null) {
                val target = account!!.createPushTarget(ID.unique(), token)

                prefs.edit().putString("targetId", target.id).apply()
            } else {
                account!!.updatePushTarget(targetId, token)
            }
        }
    }
}

In your AndroidManifest.xml, register this new service.

XML

<service android:name="io.appwrite.NotificationHandler" android:exported="false">
    <intent-filter>
        <action android:name="com.google.firebase.MESSAGING_EVENT" />
    </intent-filter>
</service>

Before you can send push notifications using FCM, make sure you'd followed the steps to Add Firebase to your iOS project.

After adding Firebase to your iOS project and adding the GoogleService-Info.plist to the root of your project.

Next, add your APNs key to Firebase.

Head to Apple Developer Member Center > Program resources > Certificates, Identifiers & Profiles > Keys. The key needs Apple Push Notification Service enabled.
Create a new key, note down the key ID and download your key.
In Firebase console, go to Settings* > Cloud Messaging > APNs authentication key > click Upload. Upload your key here.
Add push notification capability to your app by clicking your root-level app in XCode > Signing & Capabilities > Capabilities > Search for Push Notifications.
If using SwiftUI, disable swizzling by setting FirebaseAppDelegateProxyEnabled to NO in your Info.plist.

Initialize Firebase in your app delegate's application(_:didFinishLaunchingWithOptions:) method, implement the messaging delegate protocol, and register for remote notifications.

Swift

func application(
    _ application: UIApplication,
    didFinishLaunchingWithOptions launchOptions: [UIApplication.LaunchOptionsKey : Any]? = nil
) -> Bool {
    // initialize Firebase
    FirebaseApp.configure()

    // Set the messaging delegate
    Messaging.messaging().delegate = self

    // Register for remote notifications
    UNUserNotificationCenter.current().delegate = self

    let authOptions: UNAuthorizationOptions = [.alert, .badge, .sound]
    UNUserNotificationCenter.current().requestAuthorization(
        options: authOptions,
        completionHandler: { granted, error in
            DispatchQueue.main.async {
                if granted {
                    application.registerForRemoteNotifications()
                }
            }
        }
    )

    return true
}

Your APNS token can change, so you need to handle the token refresh event and update the target with Appwrite Messaging. Implement didReceiveRegistrationToken, which is called when the FCM token is updated.

Swift

func messaging(
    _ messaging: FirebaseMessaging.Messaging,
    didReceiveRegistrationToken fcmToken: String?
) {
    guard let fcmToken = fcmToken else {
        return
    }

    // Save the token to be used later
    UserDefaults.standard.set(fcmToken , forKey: "fcmToken")

    // Get the current Appwrite targetId from UserDefaults
    let targetId = UserDefaults.standard.string(forKey: "targetId")

    Task {
        do {
            _ = try await account.get()
        } catch {
            return // if not logged in, don't update the target
        }

        // if targetId is nil, create a new target
        if targetId == nil {
            let target = try? await account.createPushTarget(
                targetId: ID.unique(),
                identifier: fcmToken
            )

            UserDefaults.standard.set(target?.id , forKey: "targetId")
        } else {
            // if targetId exists for the Appwrite Account, update the target
            _ = try? await account.updatePushTarget(
                targetId: targetId!,
                identifier: fcmToken
            )
        }
    }
}

Since the token is saved in `UserDefaults`, you can access it from anywhere in your app.
With this saved `fcmToken`, you can create a push target with Appwrite when the user logs in.
Each push target is associated with an account, heres an example with an email password login.
The same logic applies to all types of login methods.
```swift
func login() async {
    do {
        let session = try await account.createEmailPasswordSession(
            email: username,
            password: password
        )

        guard let token = UserDefaults.standard.string(forKey: "fcmToken") else {
            return
        }

        guard let target = try? await account.createPushTarget(
            targetId: ID.unique(),
            identifier: token
        ) else {
            return
        }

        UserDefaults.standard.set(target.id, forKey: "targetId")

        DispatchQueue.main.async {
            self.response = String(describing: session.toMap())
        }
    } catch {
        DispatchQueue.main.async {
            self.response = error.localizedDescription
        }
    }
}

If you have disabled method swizzling, or you are building a SwiftUI app, you'll need to explicitly map your APNs token to the FCM registration token. Implement the didRegisterForRemoteNotificationsWithDeviceToken method to get the device token and save it to FCM.

Swift

func application(
    _ application: UIApplication,
    didRegisterForRemoteNotificationsWithDeviceToken deviceToken: Data
) {
    Messaging.messaging().apnsToken = deviceToken
}

Request permissions

Your app must ask for permission to receive push notification from the user. Appwrite provides an OS class to help simplify the process to handle permissions.

First, add POST_NOTIFICATIONS to your AndroidManifest.xml.

XML

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<manifest xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    package="YOUR_PACKAGE">
    <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.POST_NOTIFICATIONS"/>
    <!-- ... rest of your manifest -->

Then, you'll also need to request runtime permissions from your users using the android.permission.POST_NOTIFICATIONS permission.

Before your app can receive push notifications, you need to request the user for permissions. Appwrite provides a utility to help request permissions to display notificaitons.

You can learn more about requesting permissions from the Apple Developer Documentation.

When an FCM registration token is generated, the library uploads the identifier and configuration data to Firebase. If you wish to give your users the ability to explicitly opt out of sending data to Firebase, you can disable automatic initialization and manually initialize the library when the user grants permission.

Disable auto-initialization by setting FirebaseMessagingAutoInitEnabled to NO in your Info.plist.

Text

FirebaseMessagingAutoInitEnabled = NO

Then, manually initialize the library when the user grants permission.

Messaging.messaging().autoInitEnabled = true

Send message

You can send messages in both the Appwrite Console and programmatically using the Appwrite Server SDK.

Sandbox

If you enabled Sandbox on your APNs provider, Appwrite will send push notifications to the development APNs environment. This requires you to use a Development profile in XCode.

If XCode is not default to a development profile, click your root-level app in XCode > Signing & Capabilities > Capabilities > uncheck Automatically manage signing. Then manually select a Provisioning profile that is a Distribution profile.

To send a message programmatically, use an Appwrite Server SDK.

const sdk = require('node-appwrite');

// Init SDK
const client = new sdk.Client();

const messaging = new sdk.Messaging(client);

client
    .setEndpoint('https://cloud.appwrite.io/v1')    // Your API Endpoint
    .setProject('5df5acd0d48c2')                    // Your project ID
    .setKey('919c2d18fb5d4...a2ae413da83346ad2')    // Your secret API key
;

const messaging = await messaging.createPush(
        '[MESSAGE_ID]', // messageId
        '[TITLE]',      // title
        '[BODY]',       // body
        [],             // topics (optional)
        [],             // users (optional)
        [],             // targets (optional)
        {},             // data (optional)
        '[ACTION]',     // action (optional)
        '[ICON]',       // icon (optional)
        '[SOUND]',      // sound (optional)
        '[COLOR]',      // color (optional)
        '[TAG]',        // tag (optional)
        '[BADGE]',      // badge (optional)
        false,          // draft (optional)
        ''              // scheduledAt (optional)
    );

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