Wondering how to can implement push notifications the right way? We have help for you! In today’s post, we are going to discuss everything about push notifications and how you can use them to your benefit! We have also discussed a little brief on push notifications explanation on Android and why are they needed. Don’t forget to read that too!
What are the push notifications?
Push notifications are basically messages that show up on mobile phones. The purpose of push notifications are plenty. They give you updates of what’s happening everywhere and tend to look a lot like SMS text messages, mobile alerts and tend to reach users once you have installed the app. The mobile platform has the support for many push notifications and works on all phones.
Why are they needed?
Push notifications provide utility messages such as the weather, traffic, ski snow reports and a lot more. They also help you with flight check-ins, connection information and changes that come in between. They can be used to promote products, improve the experience of customers, and send receipts instantly and converting app users to customers who are unknown.
Set up the studio project
In order to implement push notifications on Android, it is important to create a studio project. This can be done with an empty activity. In case you have used such defaults, the project should definitely have a Java class. A Google service gradle plugin can be used to configure GCM. It may also be included inside the project with the help of a build.grade. Make sure to apply the plugin. After this, you can add the dependency on the same file. Once you have clicked on the Sync Now button, you will be seeing an error. You can install the repository and sync project to solve the error.
The manifest needs to be updated
Once you are inside the Android manifest file, you can create a C2D_Message depending on the package of the project. Make sure that the protect level which can help you create a signature. The notifications can be created for various broadcasts. In order to handle those, you can use a receiver. It is best to create this manually. There are other codes you can also try to manifest.
Use an API as well as a Sender ID
When you are communicating to a cloud connection server, you must identify yourself with the help of an API key on the side of the server along with a sender ID on the side of the client. In order to get the API key, make sure to create new projects in the console of the developer. To do this, you have to click and pick the button. Next, click on the services that are made available on the android app button. Once you have done that, provide a name as well as an Android package name for the app. Ensure that the package matches the name you have created on entering the studio project. You can choose the configure button next, choose the Google services and enable Google cloud messaging.
Sending push notifications to users is not easy. However, we hope that with our lesson, you have been able to create an app which registers itself, receives notifications that can be published to a specific topic. You have also learned how to create scripts and publish notifications. Though push notifications can be a great way to communicate, we would suggest you to use them sparingly and use them only when you have something useful to suggest. Sending them often could make them ultimately uninstall it.
