@capacitor/push-notifications

What is @capacitor/push-notifications?

@capacitor/push-notifications is a Capacitor plugin that enables push notification functionality for iOS and Android applications. It allows developers to register for push notifications, handle incoming notifications, and manage notification permissions.

What are @capacitor/push-notifications's main functionalities?

Register for Push Notifications

This feature allows the application to register for push notifications. Once registered, the device will be able to receive push notifications.

import { PushNotifications } from '@capacitor/push-notifications';

PushNotifications.register();

Handle Incoming Notifications

This feature allows the application to handle incoming push notifications. The provided callback function will be executed whenever a push notification is received.

import { PushNotifications } from '@capacitor/push-notifications';

PushNotifications.addListener('pushNotificationReceived', (notification) => {
  console.log('Push notification received:', notification);
});

Manage Notification Permissions

This feature allows the application to request and manage push notification permissions. The result of the permission request can be used to determine if the user has granted or denied push notification permissions.

import { PushNotifications } from '@capacitor/push-notifications';

PushNotifications.requestPermissions().then(result => {
  if (result.receive === 'granted') {
    console.log('Push notification permission granted');
  } else {
    console.log('Push notification permission denied');
  }
});

Other packages similar to @capacitor/push-notifications

react-native-push-notification

react-native-push-notification is a React Native library for handling push notifications. It provides similar functionalities to @capacitor/push-notifications, such as registering for notifications, handling incoming notifications, and managing permissions. However, it is specifically designed for React Native applications.

cordova-plugin-push

cordova-plugin-push is a Cordova plugin that provides push notification functionality for Cordova-based applications. It offers similar features to @capacitor/push-notifications, including registration, handling incoming notifications, and managing permissions. It is suitable for developers using the Cordova framework.

firebase-admin

firebase-admin is the Firebase Admin SDK, which includes support for sending push notifications via Firebase Cloud Messaging (FCM). While it is more comprehensive and includes additional Firebase services, it can be used to send push notifications to both iOS and Android devices, similar to @capacitor/push-notifications.

README

@capacitor/push-notifications

The Push Notifications API provides access to native push notifications.

Install

npm install @capacitor/push-notifications
npx cap sync

iOS

On iOS you must enable the Push Notifications capability. See Setting Capabilities for instructions on how to enable the capability.

After enabling the Push Notifications capability, add the following to your app's AppDelegate.swift:

func application(_ application: UIApplication, didRegisterForRemoteNotificationsWithDeviceToken deviceToken: Data) {
  NotificationCenter.default.post(name: .capacitorDidRegisterForRemoteNotifications, object: deviceToken)
}

func application(_ application: UIApplication, didFailToRegisterForRemoteNotificationsWithError error: Error) {
  NotificationCenter.default.post(name: .capacitorDidFailToRegisterForRemoteNotifications, object: error)
}

Android

The Push Notification API uses Firebase Cloud Messaging SDK for handling notifications. See Set up a Firebase Cloud Messaging client app on Android and follow the instructions for creating a Firebase project and registering your application. There is no need to add the Firebase SDK to your app or edit your app manifest - the Push Notifications provides that for you. All that is required is your Firebase project's google-services.json file added to the module (app-level) directory of your app.

Android 13 requires a permission check in order to receive push notifications. You are required to call checkPermissions() and requestPermissions() accordingly, when targeting SDK 33.

From Android 15 onwards, users can install an app in the Private space. Users can lock their private space at any time, which means that push notifications are not shown until the user unlocks it.

It is not possible to detect if an app is installed in the private space. Therefore, if your app shows any critical notifications, inform your users to avoid installing the app in the private space.

For more information about the behavior changes of your app related to the private space, refer to Android documentation.

Variables

This plugin will use the following project variables (defined in your app's variables.gradle file):

• firebaseMessagingVersion version of com.google.firebase:firebase-messaging (default: 24.1.0)

---

Push Notifications icon

On Android, the Push Notifications icon with the appropriate name should be added to the AndroidManifest.xml file:

<meta-data android:name="com.google.firebase.messaging.default_notification_icon" android:resource="@mipmap/push_icon_name" />

If no icon is specified Android will use the application icon, but push icon should be white pixels on a transparent backdrop. As the application icon is not usually like that, it will show a white square or circle. So it's recommended to provide the separate icon for Push Notifications.

Android Studio has an icon generator you can use to create your Push Notifications icon.

Push Notification channel

From Android 8.0 (API level 26) and higher, notification channels are supported and recommended. The SDK will derive the channelId for incoming push notifications in the following order:

1. Firstly it will check if the incoming notification has a channelId set. When sending a push notification from either the FCM dashboard, or through their API, it's possible to specify a channelId.
2. Then it will check for a possible given value in the AndroidManifest.xml. If you prefer to create and use your own default channel, set default_notification_channel_id to the ID of your notification channel object as shown; FCM will use this value whenever incoming messages do not explicitly set a notification channel.

<meta-data
    android:name="com.google.firebase.messaging.default_notification_channel_id"
    android:value="@string/default_notification_channel_id" />

1. Lastly it will use the fallback channelId that the Firebase SDK provides for us. FCM provides a default notification channel with basic settings out of the box. This channel will be created by the Firebase SDK upon receiving the first push message.

Warning When using option 1 or 2, you are still required to create a notification channel in code with an ID that matches the one used the chosen option. You can use createChannel(...) for this. If you don't do this, the SDK will fallback to option 3.

Push notifications appearance in foreground

You can configure the way the push notifications are displayed when the app is in foreground.

Prop	Type	Description	Since
presentationOptions	PresentationOption[]	This is an array of strings you can combine. Possible values in the array are: - badge: badge count on the app icon is updated (default value) - sound: the device will ring/vibrate when the push notification is received - alert: the push notification is displayed in a native dialog An empty array can be provided if none of the options are desired. badge is only available for iOS.	1.0.0

Examples

In capacitor.config.json:

{
  "plugins": {
    "PushNotifications": {
      "presentationOptions": ["badge", "sound", "alert"]
    }
  }
}

In capacitor.config.ts:

/// <reference types="@capacitor/push-notifications" />

import { CapacitorConfig } from '@capacitor/cli';

const config: CapacitorConfig = {
  plugins: {
    PushNotifications: {
      presentationOptions: ["badge", "sound", "alert"],
    },
  },
};

export default config;

Silent Push Notifications / Data-only Notifications

iOS

This plugin does not support iOS Silent Push (Remote Notifications). We recommend using native code solutions for handling these types of notifications, see Pushing Background Updates to Your App.

Android

This plugin does support data-only notifications, but will NOT call pushNotificationReceived if the app has been killed. To handle this scenario, you will need to create a service that extends FirebaseMessagingService, see Handling FCM Messages.

Common Issues

On Android, there are various system and app states that can affect the delivery of push notifications:

• If the device has entered Doze mode, your application may have restricted capabilities. To increase the chance of your notification being received, consider using FCM high priority messages.
• There are differences in behavior between development and production. Try testing your app outside of being launched by Android Studio. Read more here.

---

Example

import { PushNotifications } from '@capacitor/push-notifications';

const addListeners = async () => {
  await PushNotifications.addListener('registration', token => {
    console.info('Registration token: ', token.value);
  });

  await PushNotifications.addListener('registrationError', err => {
    console.error('Registration error: ', err.error);
  });

  await PushNotifications.addListener('pushNotificationReceived', notification => {
    console.log('Push notification received: ', notification);
  });

  await PushNotifications.addListener('pushNotificationActionPerformed', notification => {
    console.log('Push notification action performed', notification.actionId, notification.inputValue);
  });
}

const registerNotifications = async () => {
  let permStatus = await PushNotifications.checkPermissions();

  if (permStatus.receive === 'prompt') {
    permStatus = await PushNotifications.requestPermissions();
  }

  if (permStatus.receive !== 'granted') {
    throw new Error('User denied permissions!');
  }

  await PushNotifications.register();
}

const getDeliveredNotifications = async () => {
  const notificationList = await PushNotifications.getDeliveredNotifications();
  console.log('delivered notifications', notificationList);
}

API

• register()
• unregister()
• getDeliveredNotifications()
• removeDeliveredNotifications(...)
• removeAllDeliveredNotifications()
• createChannel(...)
• deleteChannel(...)
• listChannels()
• checkPermissions()
• requestPermissions()
• addListener('registration', ...)
• addListener('registrationError', ...)
• addListener('pushNotificationReceived', ...)
• addListener('pushNotificationActionPerformed', ...)
• removeAllListeners()
• Interfaces
• Type Aliases

register()

register() => Promise<void>

Register the app to receive push notifications.

This method will trigger the 'registration' event with the push token or 'registrationError' if there was a problem. It does not prompt the user for notification permissions, use requestPermissions() first.

Since: 1.0.0

---

unregister()

unregister() => Promise<void>

Unregister the app from push notifications.

This will delete a firebase token on Android, and unregister APNS on iOS.

Since: 5.0.0

---

getDeliveredNotifications()

getDeliveredNotifications() => Promise<DeliveredNotifications>

Get a list of notifications that are visible on the notifications screen.

Returns: Promise<DeliveredNotifications>

Since: 1.0.0

---

removeDeliveredNotifications(...)

removeDeliveredNotifications(delivered: DeliveredNotifications) => Promise<void>

Remove the specified notifications from the notifications screen.

Param	Type
delivered	DeliveredNotifications

Since: 1.0.0

---

removeAllDeliveredNotifications()

removeAllDeliveredNotifications() => Promise<void>

Remove all the notifications from the notifications screen.

Since: 1.0.0

---

createChannel(...)

createChannel(channel: Channel) => Promise<void>

Create a notification channel.

Only available on Android O or newer (SDK 26+).

Param	Type
channel	Channel

Since: 1.0.0

---

deleteChannel(...)

deleteChannel(args: { id: string; }) => Promise<void>

Delete a notification channel.

Only available on Android O or newer (SDK 26+).

Param	Type
args	{ id: string; }

Since: 1.0.0

---

listChannels()

listChannels() => Promise<ListChannelsResult>

List the available notification channels.

Only available on Android O or newer (SDK 26+).

Returns: Promise<ListChannelsResult>

Since: 1.0.0

---

checkPermissions()

checkPermissions() => Promise<PermissionStatus>

Check permission to receive push notifications.

On Android 12 and below the status is always granted because you can always receive push notifications. If you need to check if the user allows to display notifications, use local-notifications plugin.

Returns: Promise<PermissionStatus>

Since: 1.0.0

---

requestPermissions()

requestPermissions() => Promise<PermissionStatus>

Request permission to receive push notifications.

On Android 12 and below it doesn't prompt for permission because you can always receive push notifications.

On iOS, the first time you use the function, it will prompt the user for push notification permission and return granted or denied based on the user selection. On following calls it will get the current status of the permission without prompting again.

Returns: Promise<PermissionStatus>

Since: 1.0.0

---

addListener('registration', ...)

addListener(eventName: 'registration', listenerFunc: (token: Token) => void) => Promise<PluginListenerHandle>

Called when the push notification registration finishes without problems.

Provides the push notification token.

Param	Type
eventName	'registration'
listenerFunc	(token: Token) => void

Returns: Promise<PluginListenerHandle>

Since: 1.0.0

---

addListener('registrationError', ...)

addListener(eventName: 'registrationError', listenerFunc: (error: RegistrationError) => void) => Promise<PluginListenerHandle>

Called when the push notification registration finished with problems.

Provides an error with the registration problem.

Param	Type
eventName	'registrationError'
listenerFunc	(error: RegistrationError) => void

Returns: Promise<PluginListenerHandle>

Since: 1.0.0

---

addListener('pushNotificationReceived', ...)

addListener(eventName: 'pushNotificationReceived', listenerFunc: (notification: PushNotificationSchema) => void) => Promise<PluginListenerHandle>

Called when the device receives a push notification.

Param	Type
eventName	'pushNotificationReceived'
listenerFunc	(notification: PushNotificationSchema) => void

Returns: Promise<PluginListenerHandle>

Since: 1.0.0

---

addListener('pushNotificationActionPerformed', ...)

addListener(eventName: 'pushNotificationActionPerformed', listenerFunc: (notification: ActionPerformed) => void) => Promise<PluginListenerHandle>

Called when an action is performed on a push notification.

Param	Type
eventName	'pushNotificationActionPerformed'
listenerFunc	(notification: ActionPerformed) => void

Returns: Promise<PluginListenerHandle>

Since: 1.0.0

---

removeAllListeners()

removeAllListeners() => Promise<void>

Remove all native listeners for this plugin.

Since: 1.0.0

---

Interfaces

DeliveredNotifications

Prop	Type	Description	Since
notifications	PushNotificationSchema[]	List of notifications that are visible on the notifications screen.	1.0.0

PushNotificationSchema

Prop	Type	Description	Since
title	string	The notification title.	1.0.0
subtitle	string	The notification subtitle.	1.0.0
body	string	The main text payload for the notification.	1.0.0
id	string	The notification identifier.	1.0.0
tag	string	The notification tag. Only available on Android (from push notifications).	4.0.0
badge	number	The number to display for the app icon badge.	1.0.0
notification	any	It's not being returned.	1.0.0
data	any	Any additional data that was included in the push notification payload.	1.0.0
click_action	string	The action to be performed on the user opening the notification. Only available on Android.	1.0.0
link	string	Deep link from the notification. Only available on Android.	1.0.0
group	string	Set the group identifier for notification grouping. Only available on Android. Works like threadIdentifier on iOS.	1.0.0
groupSummary	boolean	Designate this notification as the summary for an associated group. Only available on Android.	1.0.0

Channel

Prop	Type	Description	Default	Since
id	string	The channel identifier.		1.0.0
name	string	The human-friendly name of this channel (presented to the user).		1.0.0
description	string	The description of this channel (presented to the user).		1.0.0
sound	string	The sound that should be played for notifications posted to this channel. Notification channels with an importance of at least 3 should have a sound. The file name of a sound file should be specified relative to the android app res/raw directory.		1.0.0
importance	Importance	The level of interruption for notifications posted to this channel.	3	1.0.0
visibility	Visibility	The visibility of notifications posted to this channel. This setting is for whether notifications posted to this channel appear on the lockscreen or not, and if so, whether they appear in a redacted form.		1.0.0
lights	boolean	Whether notifications posted to this channel should display notification lights, on devices that support it.		1.0.0
lightColor	string	The light color for notifications posted to this channel. Only supported if lights are enabled on this channel and the device supports it. Supported color formats are #RRGGBB and #RRGGBBAA.		1.0.0
vibration	boolean	Whether notifications posted to this channel should vibrate.		1.0.0

ListChannelsResult

Prop	Type	Description	Since
channels	Channel[]	List of all the Channels created by your app.	1.0.0

PermissionStatus

Prop	Type	Description	Since
receive	PermissionState	Permission state of receiving notifications.	1.0.0

PluginListenerHandle

Prop	Type
remove	() => Promise<void>

Token

Prop	Type	Description	Since
value	string	On iOS it contains the APNS token. On Android it contains the FCM token.	1.0.0

RegistrationError

Prop	Type	Description	Since
error	string	Error message describing the registration failure.	4.0.0

ActionPerformed

Prop	Type	Description	Since
actionId	string	The action performed on the notification.	1.0.0
inputValue	string	Text entered on the notification action. Only available on iOS.	1.0.0
notification	PushNotificationSchema	The notification in which the action was performed.	1.0.0

Type Aliases

Importance

The importance level. For more details, see the Android Developer Docs

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5

Visibility

The notification visibility. For more details, see the Android Developer Docs

-1 | 0 | 1

PermissionState

'prompt' | 'prompt-with-rationale' | 'granted' | 'denied'