FCM Support for Android in MobileFirst Platform v7.1

Anantha Krishnan, Kapil Powar January 23, 2019

MobileFirst_Foundation Announcement Android

Follow the steps in this post to use Firebase Cloud Messaging (FCM) in your android app with MobileFirst Platform v7.1 Android Push SDK

Google Cloud Messaging (GCM) has been deprecated and is integrated with Firebase Cloud Messaging (FCM). Google will turn off most GCM services by April 2019.

For now, the existing applications using GCM services will continue to work as-is.

Note: Custom notifications support is available with only FCM. GCM custom notifications are not supported for devices using API 26 or above.

Get google-services.json for your application from here. Add the json file to your app folder.

Steps for Native application


Step 1: Open the AndroidManifest.xml file and follow the steps below:


a. Inside the <application> -> <activity> tag add the following intent-filter:

   <intent-filter>
		<action android:name="<applicationId>.IBMPushNotification" />
		<category android:name="android.intent.category.DEFAULT" />
    </intent-filter>

b. Add the following <activity> after the above step:

	<activity android:name="com.worklight.wlclient.fcmpush.MFPFCMPushNotificationHandler"
			   android:theme="@android:style/Theme.NoDisplay"/>

c. Now, add the following services:

      <service android:exported="true" android:name="com.worklight.wlclient.fcmpush.MFPFCMPushIntentService">
            <intent-filter>
                <action android:name="com.google.firebase.MESSAGING_EVENT"/>
            </intent-filter>
        </service>
        <service android:exported="true" android:name="com.worklight.wlclient.fcmpush.WLFCMPush">
            <intent-filter>
                <action android:name="com.google.firebase.INSTANCE_ID_EVENT"/>
            </intent-filter>
        </service>

d. Update the application attributes as below:

     <application android:allowBackup="true"
		android:icon="@drawable/ic_launcher"
		android:label="@string/app_name"
		android:theme="@style/AppTheme"
		android:launchMode="singleTask" >

e. Remove the <permission>,<services> and <intent-filter> shown below:

    <permission android:name="<ApplicationId>.permission.C2D_MESSAGE" android:protectionLevel="signature" />
 	<uses-permission android:name="<ApplicationId>.permission.C2D_MESSAGE" />
 	<uses-permission android:name="com.google.android.c2dm.permission.RECEIVE" />


    <service android:name="com.worklight.wlclient.push.GCMIntentService" />		
    <receiver android:name="com.worklight.wlclient.push.WLBroadcastReceiver"
    android:permission="com.google.android.c2dm.permission.SEND">

	<intent-filter>
	<action android:name="com.google.android.c2dm.intent.RECEIVE"/>
	<category android:name="<ApplicationId>" />
	</intent-filter>

	<intent-filter>
	<action android:name="com.google.android.c2dm.intent.REGISTRATION" />
       		<category android:name="<ApplicationId>" />
    </intent-filter>
    </receiver>

    <meta-data
    		android:name="com.google.android.gms.version"
    		android:value="15.0.0" />


Step 2: Open the project gradle file build.gradle and add the following dependencies:


    buildscript {

	    repositories {
	        google()
	        jcenter()
	    }

	    dependencies {
	        classpath 'com.android.tools.build:gradle:3.1.3'
	        classpath 'com.google.gms:google-services:3.0.0'
	    }
	}

	allprojects {
	    repositories {
	        google()
	        jcenter()
	    }
	}


Step 3: Open the App gradle file build.gradle and follow the steps below:


a. Add the dependencies below:

	dependencies {
	implementation 'com.google.firebase:firebase-messaging:10.2.6'
	implementation 'com.android.support:multidex:1.0.3'
	compile 'com.android.support:support-v4:28.0.0'
	}
	apply plugin: 'com.google.gms.google-services'


b. Enable multidex in app gradle file build.gradle under android tag.

    multiDexEnabled true

    dexOptions {
	javaMaxHeapSize "4g"
    }

For more info on multidex follow see here.

Step 4: In the main acitivity file MainActivity.java perform the following changes:


a. Add the following code in oncreate method (you can add it anywhere , but make sure this is getting called when app opens):


  final WLClient client = WLClient.createInstance(this);
  push = client.getPush();
  push.setWLNotificationListener(wlNotificationListener);


b. Add the following code for handling the resume and pause scenarios:

  	@Override
      protected void onPause() {
  	super.onPause();
         if (push != null) {
  	   push.setForeground(false);
         }
      }
      @Override
      protected void onResume() {
  	super.onResume();
  	if (push != null)
  	    push.setForeground(true);
  	    push.setWLNotificationListener(wlNotificationListener);
      }


Steps for Hybrid application


Step 1: Open the AndroidManifest.xml file and follow the steps below:


a. Inside the <application> -> <activity> tag add the following intent-filter:

     <intent-filter>
        <action android:name="<applicationId>.IBMPushNotification" />
        <category android:name="android.intent.category.DEFAULT" />
     </intent-filter>

b. Update the <application> tag as below:

    <application android:label="@string/app_name" android:icon="@drawable/icon">

c. Add below acivity in <application>:

      <activity android:name="com.worklight.wlclient.fcmpush.MFPFCMPushNotificationHandler"
          android:theme="@android:style/Theme.NoDisplay"/>

d. Add the following services:


      <service android:exported="true" android:name="com.worklight.wlclient.fcmpush.MFPFCMPushIntentService">
      	<intent-filter>
         	<action android:name="com.google.firebase.MESSAGING_EVENT"/>
    	  </intent-filter>
     </service>

     <service android:exported="true" android:name="com.worklight.wlclient.fcmpush.WLFCMPush">
      	<intent-filter>
          	 <action android:name="com.google.firebase.INSTANCE_ID_EVENT"/>
      	</intent-filter>
     </service>

e. Remove the <permission>,<services> and <intent-filter> shown below:

    <permission android:name="com.HybridTagNotifications.permission.C2D_MESSAGE" android:protectionLevel="signature"/>  
    <uses-permission android:name="com.HybridTagNotifications.permission.C2D_MESSAGE"/>  
    <uses-permission android:name="com.google.android.c2dm.permission.RECEIVE"/>  

    <service android:name=".GCMIntentService"/>
    <service android:name="com.worklight.wlclient.push.MFPPushService" android:permission="android.permission.BIND_JOB_SERVICE" android:exported="true"/>

    <receiver android:name="com.worklight.wlclient.push.WLBroadcastReceiver"
    android:permission="com.google.android.c2dm.permission.SEND">

	<intent-filter>
		<action android:name="com.google.android.c2dm.intent.RECEIVE"/>
		<category android:name="com.sample.tagnotificationsandroid" />
	</intent-filter>

	<intent-filter>
		<action android:name="com.google.android.c2dm.intent.REGISTRATION" />
       	<category android:name="com.sample.tagnotificationsandroid" />
    </intent-filter>
    </receiver>


Step 2: Open the project gradle file and add the following dependencies:


      buildscript {

		    repositories {
		        google()
		        jcenter()
		    }

		    dependencies {
		        classpath 'com.android.tools.build:gradle:3.1.3'
		        classpath 'com.google.gms:google-services:3.0.0'
		    }
		}

		allprojects {
		    repositories {
		        google()
		        jcenter()
		    }
		}


Step 3: Open the App gradle file build.gradleand add the following:


	dependencies {

	//compile files('libs/appcompat-v4.jar')   
	    implementation 'com.google.firebase:firebase-messaging:10.2.6'
	    implementation 'com.android.support:multidex:1.0.3'
	    compile 'com.android.support:support-v4:28.0.0'
	}

	apply plugin: 'com.google.gms.google-services'


Step 4: Enable multidex in app gradle file build.gradle under android tag:


    multiDexEnabled true

    dexOptions {
	javaMaxHeapSize "4g"
    }

For more info on multidex see here.
Inclusive terminology note: The Mobile First Platform team is making changes to support the IBM® initiative to replace racially biased and other discriminatory language in our code and content with more inclusive language. While IBM values the use of inclusive language, terms that are outside of IBM's direct influence are sometimes required for the sake of maintaining user understanding. As other industry leaders join IBM in embracing the use of inclusive language, IBM will continue to update the documentation to reflect those changes.
Last modified on January 23, 2019