Mastering Firebase Cloud Messaging

Firebase Notifications can be confusing, there are different ways to implement them and not all behave the same. If you want to bring a great user experience to Android, iOS and browsers the one-size-fits-all solution from the tutorials won’t be enough for you, instead, you will need to dig deeper into the API to get the best of it. We went through that learning process and in this talk you will learn our tips and tricks.

Transcript

1. MASTERING FIREBASE CLOUD MESSAGING @Miqubel by Miquel Beltran Android Developer @ Nebenan.de
2. “cross-platform messaging solution that lets you reliably deliver messages at no cost.” What is Firebase Cloud Messaging? @Miqubel
3. Key capabilities: • Notifications or Data messages (4KB) • Versatile targeting • Upstream messages @Miqubel
4. @Miqubel Notification vs. Message • Push Notification? • Notification? • Cloud Message?
5. The idea @Miqubel
6. The reality @Miqubel
7. Notifications console @Miqubel
8. A/B Testing with the console • Presented at Firebase Dev Submit 2017 • Multiple audience target • Different content / parameters • Check results per audience @Miqubel
9. @Miqubel
10. Pushing manually curl https://fcm.googleapis.com/fcm/send -X POST \ --header "Authorization: key=long auth key" \ --Header "Content-Type: application/json" \ -d ' { "to": "the device token" "notification":{ "title":"New Notification!", "body":"Test" }, "priority":10 }' val token = FirebaseInstanceId.getInstance().token Log.d("Firebase", "My token: $token") @Miqubel
11. Token problem • Where to store the token? • More than one token per user? • What happens when the user logs out? • Keep sending emails? @Miqubel
12. Notification vs. Data @Miqubel
13. Notifications in foreground class NotificationService : FirebaseMessagingService() { override fun onMessageReceived(remoteMessage: RemoteMessage) { val notification = NotificationCompat.Builder(this,”cid") .setContentTitle(remoteMessage.notification.title) .setContentText(remoteMessage.notification.body) .setSmallIcon(R.mipmap.ic_launcher) .build() val manager = NotificationManager… manager.notify(123, notification) } } @Miqubel
14. Notification Payload • “icon”: Android & iOS • “sound”: only Android • “badge”: only iOS • “click_action”: Android & iOS "notification":{ "title": "New Notification!", "body": "Test" }, @Miqubel
15. Notifications & Click Actions "notification":{ "title": "New Notification!", "body": "Test", "click_action": "OPEN_FRIEND_LIST" }, @Miqubel <intent-filter> <action android:name=“OPEN_FRIEND_LIST” /> <category android:name="android.intent.category.DEFAULT" /> </intent-filter>
16. Data Payload “notification":{ "title": "New Notification!", "body": “Test" }, @Miqubel
17. Data Payload "data":{ "title": "New Notification!", "body": “Test" }, @Miqubel
18. Data Payload "data":{ "title": "New Notification!", "body": "Test", "user_id": "1234", "user_avatar": "http://example.com/users/1234/avatar.jpg", "notification_type": "private_message" }, @Miqubel
19. Notifications with data class NotificationService : FirebaseMessagingService() { override fun onMessageReceived(remoteMessage: RemoteMessage) { val notification = NotificationCompat.Builder(this,”cid") .setContentTitle(remoteMessage.data["title"]) .setContentText(remoteMessage.data["body"]) .setSmallIcon(R.mipmap.ic_launcher) .build() val manager = NotificationManager… manager.notify(123, notification) } } @Miqubel
20. Missing Notifications? “The reason is that phone manufacturers like Oppo, Xiaomi, and One Plus use a stock ROM that disables the re-starting of background services for most apps.” Neil Mathew: Why your Push Notifications never see the light of day @Miqubel
21. Web: Asking permission messaging.requestPermission() @Miqubel
22. @Miqubel
23. Web: Notification vs Data @Miqubel
24. Web: Service Worker? @Miqubel
25. Web Alternative • Fallback that supports all browsers • Not free • No background work • Focused on data transport, not notifications • No need to request permissions @Miqubel
26. iOS: all Apple • Setup APNs (Apple Push Notification service) • No difference between pure data vs. notifications • Specific parameters just for iOS too • “Just works”™ @Miqubel
27. Upstream messages • Android & iOS: send “upstream” messages to your server • API missing on web? • Asynchronous and battery efficient @Miqubel
28. “One size fits no one” - probably me @Miqubel
29. Thank you! - also me @Miqubel