Push notifications are an essential feature of mobile applications that allow app developers to engage with their users and keep them informed about important updates and events. With push notifications, you can send targeted messages to specific users or groups of users, even when they are not actively using your app. This can help increase user engagement, retention, and conversion rates.

React Native, a popular framework for building cross-platform mobile applications provides built-in support for integrating push notifications into your app. With React Native, you can implement push notifications for both iOS and Android devices using a single codebase.

 In this blog, we will explore the different types of push notifications, the prerequisites for setting up push notifications in React Native, the step-by-step process of implementing push notifications in your React Native app, and how to handle push notifications once they are received.

By the end of this blog, you will have a comprehensive understanding of push notifications in React Native and the skills to implement them in your own mobile application. Whether you are building a new app or adding push notifications to an existing one, this guide will provide you with the knowledge and tools necessary to engage with your users and keep them informed in real-time. So let’s get started!

Types of Push Notifications

Before we dive into the details of integrating push notifications in React Native, let’s take a moment to review the different types of push notifications. There are three main types of push notifications: local, remote, and background.

• Local notifications are scheduled and delivered by the app itself, without the need for a server. They are used to alert users about events or reminders that are relevant to them, such as an upcoming appointment or a new message. 
• Remote notifications, on the other hand, are sent from a server to the app. They are used to notify users about important updates, promotions, or news related to the app. Remote notifications can be further divided into two types: silent and interactive. Silent notifications are received by the app in the background, without the user being alerted. Interactive notifications, on the other hand, allow the user to take action directly from the notification, such as replying to a message or completing a task. 
• Background notifications are used to update the app’s content or data in the background, even when the app is not currently running. They are often used to synchronize data or fetch new content, without the user having to manually refresh the app.

It’s important to note that there are some differences between how iOS and Android handle push notifications. For example, iOS requires developers to use Apple’s Push Notification service (APNs), while Android uses Firebase Cloud Messaging (FCM) for push notifications. However, React Native provides a unified interface for implementing push notifications on both platforms.

Prerequisites for Setting Up Push Notifications in React Native

Before you can start integrating push notifications in your React Native app, there are a few prerequisites that you need to take care of. The requirements for setting up push notifications differ between iOS and Android, so we’ll cover them separately.

iOS

To set up push notifications for iOS, you will need:

• An Apple Developer account
• An App ID for your app
• A valid APNs certificate

You can create an Apple Developer account and an App ID on the Apple Developer website. Once you have an App ID, you will need to create an APNs certificate to enable push notifications for your app. The certificate will be used to authenticate your app with APNs and to encrypt the push notifications that are sent to your app.

Android

To set up push notifications for Android, you will need:

• A Firebase project
• A valid FCM key

You can create a Firebase project on the Firebase website. Once you have a project, you will need to generate an FCM key to enable push notifications for your app. The FCM key will be used to authenticate your app with FCM and to send push notifications to your app.

Implementing Push Notifications in React Native

Now that you have the prerequisites out of the way, let’s dive into the process of implementing push notifications in your React Native app. In this section, we’ll cover the step-by-step process of integrating push notifications into your app.

Step 1: Install Required Dependencies and Libraries

The first step in integrating push notifications in your React Native app is to install the required dependencies and libraries. To do this, you will need to use the following command:

npm install react-native-push-notification @react-native-community/push-notification-ios react-native-firebase

This will install the necessary libraries for implementing push notifications in your app.

Step 2: Configure the AndroidManifest.xml and Info.plist Files

Next, you will need to configure the AndroidManifest.xml and Info.plist files in your React Native app. These files are used to configure the settings for push notifications on iOS and Android, respectively.

For Android, open the AndroidManifest.xml file and add the following code inside the <application> tag:

This will create a notification channel for your app, which is required for Android 8.0 and higher.

For iOS, open the Info.plist file and add the following code:

This will enable background fetch and remote notifications for your app.

Step 3: Initialize Firebase in Your React Native App

If you’re implementing push notifications for Android, you will need to initialize Firebase in your React Native app. To do this, you will need to add the following code to the index.js file in your app:

This will initialize Firebase in your app and allow you to send push notifications using FCM.

Step 4: Request Permission to Receive Push Notifications

Before your app can receive push notifications, you will need to request permission from the user. To do this, you can use the following code:

This will prompt the user to grant permission for your app to receive push notifications.

Step 5: Handle Push Notification Registration and Token Retrieval

Once the user has granted permission for your app to receive push notifications, you will need to handle the registration and retrieval of the push notification token. To do this, you can use the following code:

This code will handle the registration of the push notification token and the retrieval of the FCM token. You can then send the FCM token to your server for further processing.

Step 6: Sending Push Notifications

Once your app has been properly configured to receive push notifications, you can start sending push notifications from your server. There are many services available for sending push notifications, including Firebase Cloud Messaging (FCM), Amazon SNS, and OneSignal.

To send push notifications using FCM, you can use the Firebase Admin SDK. First, you will need to create a new Firebase project and obtain the credentials for the Admin SDK. Then, you can use the following code to send a push notification to a specific device:

 

This code will send a push notification to the specified device, with a title and body text. 

Now that we have implemented the push notification in our React Native application. Let’s also understand how to handle incoming push notifications in the apps. 

Handling Push Notifications in React Native

Defining and handling different push notification events

Push notifications can be received in different states of your app: foreground, background, or terminated. Depending on the state of your app, you may want to handle the push notification differently.

When your app is in the foreground, the push notification will not be shown by default. Instead, you can customize the appearance of the notification and show it as a banner or alert, or you can handle the notification silently without showing any visual feedback.

When your app is in the background or terminated, the push notification will be shown in the notification tray. You can customize the appearance of the notification and handle the user’s tap on the notification to open your app or navigate to a specific screen.

To handle push notifications in your React Native app, you can use a library like react-native-push-notification. Here is an example of how to handle push notifications in your app:

 

In this example, we define an onNotification function to handle push notifications received by the app. The notification parameter contains information about the notification, such as the title and message.

We check the foreground property of the notification object to determine if the notification receives in the foreground or not. If it was received in the foreground, we can handle the notification accordingly.

Customizing the appearance of push notifications

Customizing the appearance of push notifications is an important aspect of providing a good user experience. By default, push notifications will be shown with a system-generated appearance.

To customize the appearance of push notifications, you can use a library like react-native-push-notification. Here is an example of how to customize the appearance of a push notification:

In this example, we use the localNotification function of react-native-push-notification to show a custom notification. We can set the title, message, bigText, color, vibration, and actions properties to customize the appearance of the notification.

Handling user interactions with push notifications

Handling user interactions with push notifications is another important aspect of providing a good user experience. However, when the user taps on a push notification, you may want to navigate them to a specific screen or perform some other action.

To handle user interactions with push notifications, you can use a library like react-native-push-notification. Here is an example of how to handle user interactions with a push notification:

In this example, we define a onNotification function to handle push notifications received by the app. We check the userInteraction property of the notification object to determine if the user tapped on the notification or not. If the user did tap on the notification, we can handle the interaction accordingly.

You can use the userData property of the notification object to pass additional data along with the notification. For example, you can pass an ID that identifies the notification and use it to navigate the user to a specific screen in your app.

 

 

In this example, we use the userData property of the localNotification function to pass additional data along with the notification. We can then use this data to navigate the user to a specific screen in our app when they tap on the notification.

Conclusion 

All-in-all, Push notifications can be a crucial aspect of mobile apps as they enable apps to send updates and messages to users, even when the app is not in use. By implementing push notifications into your React Native app, you can offer a better user experience and increase user engagement and retention. 

In case you want to hire a React Native app development company to integrate Push notifications into your app then DianApps can easily assist you as we hold a tremendously long year of experience in offering the best app development services to our clients all over the world. 

With these steps and tips, you can easily integrate push notifications into your React Native app and improve the user experience for your users.

Additional Resources

• React Native Firebase Docs on Push Notifications
• Firebase Cloud Messaging Docs
• React Native Push Notifications Library Docs

We hope this article has provided a helpful guide to integrating push notifications in your React Native app. Happy coding!