Get Started with Notifications

Before You Begin

You can use the Notifications service to send notifications to users of the apps that are registered in a mobile backend. After a mobile backend is set up for notifications, the process of sending the notifications is the same for iOS and Android.

You set up notifications by obtaining the appropriate vendor certificates and registering them with the app's mobile backend. In addition, you include some code in the app itself to enable it to receive notifications. The notifications themselves can be sent via a third-party server or be triggered by logic in a custom API.

What Do You Need?

Notifications are sent through the networks provided by Apple (for iOS apps) and Google (for Android apps).

Here are some links with detailed instructions for each notification provider:

• Apple Secure Certificates
• Google API Key

Create a Notifications Profile

Next, go back to OMH to handle the following tasks:

Create a notifications profile to store the vendor credentials.

Register the app in OMH as a client and associate the notifications profile with the client.

Associate the client with your mobile backend.

To accomplish these tasks, use these steps:

1. Click and select Development > Notification Profiles.
2. In the Notification Profiles view, click Profiles then click the New Profile button.
3. In the New Profile dialog:

   Fill in the Name. This can be whatever name that will help you identify the profile most easily.

   Select the Notification Service.

   Fill in the rest of the dialog with the information required by the notification service.

   Click Create to create the profile and close the dialog.

4. Click Clients then click the New Client button.
5. In the New Client dialog:

   Fill in the Client Display Name and Client Name. (These can be whatever names that will help you identify the client most easily. The former can have spaces and the latter can’t.)

   Select the Platform.

   Fill in the Mobile App Version field. This version must match the version number of the app as registered with your platform vendor.

   Fill in the fully-qualified app ID. This app ID must match what you specified in the notifications profile.

   For Apple, it is the Bundle ID assigned to the application in the Xcode project.

   For Google, it is the Package Name for the application as declared in its manifest file.

   Click Create.

6. From the Mobile Backend dropdown, select a mobile backend to associate with the client.
7. Click the Profiles tab and select the notifications profile that you created earlier.

Set Up Your App to Receive Notifications

To allow notifications to be delivered to your mobile app through the network, every platform requires some form of "device handshake" to register and establish the protocol for communication.

These links have instructions on how to set up your app to receive notifications:

• Setting Up a Device Handshake for Android
• Setting Up a Device Handshake for iOS

Build and Deploy the Updated Application

1. In your IDE, run the application to launch it in the emulator, simulator, or device of your choosing.
2. In the running app, click Sign In, and enter the username and password.

Send the Notification

Now let’s go into the OMH user interface and send a notification from there.

1. Click and select Development > Backends.
2. Select your mobile backend and click Open.
3. Click Notifications.
4. Click the Test icon.
5. On the Send Notifications page, type a message and click Send.
6. Check the emulator to see if you have received the message.

Want to Learn More?

• Learn how to trigger notifications from a custom API.