Push Plugin for NativeScript

The code for the Push Plugin for NativeScript.

• Installation
• Configuration
• Usage
• API Reference
• Troubleshooting
• Android Configuration for using Firebase Cloud Messaging

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.

• 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 the app/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 11.4.2 of the firebase-messaging SDK. If you need to change the version, you can add a project ext property firebaseMessagingVersion like so:

	// 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 here

• 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 platform add ios
  

• Go to (application folder)/platforms/ios and open the XCode project. Enable Push Notifications in the project Capabilities options.

Usage

Android

Add code in your view model or compoent 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";
    pushPlugin.register({ senderID: '<ENTER_YOUR_PROJECT_NUMBER>' }, (token: String) => {
		alert("Device registered. Access token: " + token);;
	}, function() { });

	pushPlugin.onMessageReceived((stringifiedData: String, fcmNotification: any) => {
        const notificationBody = fcmNotification && fcmNotification.getBody();
        alert("Message received!\n" + notificationBody + "\n" + stringifiedData);
    });

Javascript

	var pushPlugin = require("nativescript-push-notifications");
	pushPlugin.register({ senderID: '<ENTER_YOUR_PROJECT_NUMBER>' }, function (data){
		alert("message", "" + data);
	}, function() { });

	pushPlugin.onMessageReceived(function callback(stringifiedData, fcmNotification) {
		var notificationBody = fcmNotification && fcmNotification.getBody();
        alert("Message received!\n" + notificationBody + "\n" + stringifiedData);
	});

• 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 onMessageReceived callback if the app is open.

iOS

Add code in your view model or compoent 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

register(options, successCallback, errorCallback) - subscribe the device with Apple/Google push notifications services so the app can receive notifications. Options can contain:

Option	Platform	Type	Description
senderID	Android	String	The Sender ID for the FCM project. This option is required for 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

Javascript

	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){
			// if we're on android device we have the onMessageReceived function to subscribe
			// for push notifications
			if(pushPlugin.onMessageReceived) {
				pushPlugin.onMessageReceived(settings.notificationCallbackAndroid);
			}

		        // 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);
		}
	);

unregister(successCallback, errorCallback, options) - unsubscribe the device so the app stops receiving push notifications. The options object is the same as on the register method.

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.

Javascript

	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.

Javascript

	pushPlugin.areNotificationsEnabled(function(areEnabled) {
		alert('Are Notifications enabled: ' + areEnabled);
    });

Android only:

onMessageReceived(callback) - register a callback function to execute when receiving a notification. Callback function has the followint parameters:

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

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 register again or add some native code to obtain the token from FCM.

Parameter	Type	Description
callback	Function	Called with no arguments.

Javascript

	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

Android

• 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"/>
	<receiver
		android: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>
	<service
		android: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:

	<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.WAKE_LOCK" />
	<uses-permission android:name="com.google.android.c2dm.permission.RECEIVE" />

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.

1. Add the FCM SDK

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-level build.gradle file
• Add the google-services plugin to the list of other dependencies in your app's build.gradle file

   dependencies {
   	// ...
   	classpath "com.google.gms:google-services:3.0.0"
   	// ...
   }

• Add the following line be at the bottom of your build.gradle file to enable the Gradle plugin

   apply plugin: 'com.google.gms.google-services'

2. Add the google-services.json file

   To 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

3. Obtain the FCM Server Key

   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 onMessageReceived(stringifiedData, fcmNotification) method of the NativeScript module.

The behavior of the onMessageReceived callback in the module follows the behavior of the FCM service.

Handling Data Messages

The onMessageReceived method of the plugin is called each time a data notification is received.

When in background mode, a notification is constructed according to the values of the key specified above and placed in the tray. Tapping the notification launches the app and invokes the onMessageReceived callback.

Handling Notification Messages

If the app is in foreground, it invokes the onMessageReceived 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 onMessageReceived 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 onMessageReceived callback is invoked with parameters (stringifiedData, fcmNotification)
• The app is in background, the onMessageReceived callback is not invoked. A notification is placed in the system tray. If the notification in the tray is tapped, the data 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):

Javascript

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 onMessageReceived Callback

Depending on the notification event and payload, the onMessageReceived callback is invoked with two arguments.

• stringifiedData - String. A stringified JSON representation of the data value in the notification payload.
• fcmNotification - RemoteMessage.Notification. A representation of the RemoteMessage.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 a notification 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.