Push Notifications by One Signal
Overview
Push notifications are one of the biggest advantages of mobile apps over mobile websites since they can send messages to users without the app being open.
When a user first opens an app with push notifications enabled they receive an alert prompting them to enable push notifications. Once they accept they are a subscriber of your app's push notifications.
Thunkable + OneSignal
Thunkable utilizes the services of OneSignal to facilitate push notifications from your app. OneSignal is a free service that supports unlimited devices and notifications. You can learn more about their features here: OneSignal pricing page.
To send push notifications to your app's users, you must link your Thunkable app to your OneSignal apps (iOS and/or Android). Once you've added your OneSignal App IDs into Thunkable, the work in Thunkable is done, and the remainder of the management takes place in third-party platforms (OneSignal, Apple Developer, and Firebase, depending on the platform).
Push notifications are one of the biggest advantages that mobile apps have over mobile websites, since they can send messages to users without the app being open.
However, annoying notifications---those that are irrelevant and too frequent---can be dismissed or blocked easily. We highly recommend sending notifications only when the content is relevant to the user. Examples of this include an e-commerce app notifying users of a sale, or a game notifying users of new levels and features.
Push Notifications cannot be tested with the Thunkable Live app on iOS You can test Push Notifications on iOS by publishing your app to TestFlight and downloading it from there.
Add Push Notifications to your app
To add Push Notifications to your app :
Drag and drop the component onto any screen.
That's it. There are no blocks needed.
Click Push Notification at the bottom of the screen
The Push Notification settings modal opens. This is where you will enter your OneSignal Android App ID and OneSignal iOS App ID to configure the connection between OneSignal and your Thunkable project.
Properties
Android App ID
App ID for Android from OneSignal
Text
iOS App ID
App ID for iOS from OneSignal
Text
Geolocation Enable (Android Only)
Toggle whether your end user is asked for permission to share their location
True/False
Geolocation Permissions
OneSignal allows you to push messages to users in certain locations. You will need permission from your end users to register their location to use this feature. You can toggle whether you request geolocation permissions from your end users in the Push Notifications settings panel.
The remainder of this document will assist you with:
Create a OneSignal Account
Go to OneSignal.
Click Sign Up.
Create your account and complete the OneSignal onboarding.
Create a OneSignal App
If you didn't create an app as part of the OneSignal onboarding, navigate to your OneSignal dashboard and click + New App/Website.
Enter your app name. We recommend including the platform in your app name, for example, Employee Directory - Android or Employee Directory - iOS.
Select Apple iOS (APNs) or Google Android (FCM).
Click Next: Configure Your Platform.
Follow the platform-specific configuration instructions below:
Android Configuration
A Google Service Account is a special type of account from Google that applications use to make authorized calls to a variety of APIs, including Firebase Cloud Messaging APIs. For more details, see Google's own documentation on Service Accounts. In order to send push notifications to Android devices, you will need a Service Account to generate a private key for OneSignal to utilize.
If you don't already have one, create a Firebase account. Instructions for getting started with Firebase are available here: Firebase Account Setup.
Follow OneSignal's instructions to generate Firebase Cloud Messaging API Credentials for sending Android App Notifications here: Android: Firebase Credentials.
To continue sending messages in 2024, you need to provide updated authentication credentials from Firebase for all apps created in OneSignal before September 1, 2023:
In your Firebase project, go to Project settings and the Service accounts tab to download your private key JSON.
In your OneSignal App Settings, upload the private key file you just downloaded
More information on these steps is available here: Android: Firebase Credentials.
Select Native Android as your target SDK.
Click Save & Continue
Copy Your App ID.
In the Android App ID field, paste Your App ID that you copied from OneSignal in step 3.
Click the Live Test on Device icon and open the Thunkable Live app on your device.
Return to your OneSignal tab.
Click Check Subscribed Users.
If the configuration is successful, you will see a congratulations message.
Click Done.
Android Testing
To test Android push notifications, download the app to your Android device and send a test message through OneSignal to see the push notification in action.
Toggle Location Permission (Android Only)
OneSignal is a powerful choice of push provider. With their platform, you can setup for your users to be pushed notifications based on their locations. This is optional, however. This also means you need to make a conscious decision as to whether or not to track your Android users geographical locations. These tracking data can be accessed via the OneSignal dashboard. This feature can be toggled on and off in the Push Notifications settings by clicking on the icon at the bottom of your design screen.
If you enable Geolocation Permissions, when you publish your app, ensure that you indicate that you're tracking location when you publish your app.
iOS Configuration
Generate a p8 Certificate
Follow OneSignal's instructions to generate a p8 certificate: iOS: p8 Token-Based Connection to APNs.
When you get to the section titled "Provisioning Profiles," return to these instructions.
Add Push Notifications to the App Identifier
In your Apple Developer account, select Identifiers under the Certificates, IDs & Profiles heading.
Select your app from the list of Identifiers.
Scroll down the list of app capabilities, and place a checkmark next to Push Notifications.
Click Save.
Select your app from the list of Identifiers again.
Scroll down the list of app capabilities, until you get to Push Notifications again.
Click the associated Configure button.
Under Production SSL Certificate, click Create Certificate.
Under Upload a Certificate Signing Request, click Choose File.
Select the Certificate Signing Request (CSR) you downloaded from Thunkable as part of the publishing process.
Click Continue.
Click Download to download your iOS certificate.
Download your Provisioning Profile
Access your Apple Developer account’s Profiles.
Select your app from the list of Profiles.
Click Edit.
Click Save.
Click Download
OneSignal
In OneSignal, select Native iOS as your target SDK.
Click Save & Continue.
Copy Your App ID.
Return to the Blocks tab of your Thunkable project. Do not close the OneSignal tab.
Click on the icon at the bottom of your design screen to open the Push Notifications dialog and paste this ID into the iOS App ID field.
Generate a Provisioning Profile
You require a new provisioning profile with push notifications enabled to publish to the App Store. See OneSignal's instructions here: Generate a Provisioning Profile.
iOS Testing
To test iOS push notifications, you have to publish to TestFlight. This requires the provisioning profile with push notifications enabled.
Send Push Notifications
Once you have your platforms configured in OneSignal you can create and sent push notifications to your app's users. Follow OneSignal's instructions here: Sending Messages.
Blocks
Functions
User ID
The first time your app is opened on a new device, it is automatically assigned a unique push notification user ID. This block returns the user's push notification user ID that can be used to send a notification to a specific user with a web API call.
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