Push Notification Setup

Table of Contents

• [Overview](#overview)
• [When to Use](#when-to-use)
• [Quick Start](#quick-start)
• [Reference Guides](#reference-guides)
• [Best Practices](#best-practices)

Overview

Implement comprehensive push notification systems for iOS and Android applications using Firebase Cloud Messaging and native platform services.

When to Use

• Sending real-time notifications to users
• Implementing user engagement features
• Deep linking from notifications to specific screens
• Handling silent/background notifications
• Tracking notification analytics

Quick Start

Minimal working example:

import messaging from "@react-native-firebase/messaging";
import { Platform } from "react-native";

export async function initializeFirebase() {
  try {
    if (Platform.OS === "ios") {
      const permission = await messaging().requestPermission();
      if (permission === messaging.AuthorizationStatus.AUTHORIZED) {
        console.log("iOS notification permission granted");
      }
    }

    const token = await messaging().getToken();
    console.log("FCM Token:", token);
    await saveTokenToBackend(token);

    messaging().onTokenRefresh(async (newToken) => {
      await saveTokenToBackend(newToken);
    });

    messaging().onMessage(async (remoteMessage) => {
      console.log("Notification received:", remoteMessage);
      showLocalNotification(remoteMessage);
    });

// ... (see reference guides for full implementation)

Reference Guides

Detailed implementations in the references/ directory:

Best Practices

✅ DO

• Request permission before sending notifications
• Implement token refresh handling
• Use different notification channels by priority
• Validate tokens regularly
• Track notification delivery
• Implement deep linking
• Handle notifications in all app states
• Use silent notifications for data sync
• Store tokens securely on backend
• Provide user notification preferences
• Test on real devices

❌ DON'T

• Send excessive notifications
• Send without permission
• Store tokens insecurely
• Ignore notification failures
• Send sensitive data in payload
• Use notifications for spam
• Forget to handle background notifications
• Make blocking calls in handlers
• Send duplicate notifications
• Ignore user preferences