How to set up push notifications in Swift

Question

I am trying to set up a push notification system for my application. I have a server and a developer license to set up the push notification service.

I am currently running my app in Swift. I would like to be able to send the notifications remotely from my server. How can I do this?

Answer 1

While the answer is given well to handle push notification, still I believe to share integrated complete case at once to ease:

To Register Application for APNS, (Include the following code in didFinishLaunchingWithOptions method inside AppDelegate.swift)

IOS 9

var settings : UIUserNotificationSettings = UIUserNotificationSettings(forTypes:UIUserNotificationType.Alert|UIUserNotificationType.Sound, categories: nil)
UIApplication.sharedApplication().registerUserNotificationSettings(settings)
UIApplication.sharedApplication().registerForRemoteNotifications()

After IOS 10

Introduced UserNotifications framework:

Import the UserNotifications framework and add the UNUserNotificationCenterDelegate in AppDelegate.swift

To Register Application for APNS

let center = UNUserNotificationCenter.current()
center.requestAuthorization(options:[.badge, .alert, .sound]) { (granted, error) in
        // Enable or disable features based on authorization.
}
application.registerForRemoteNotifications()

This will call following delegate method

func application(application: UIApplication,didRegisterForRemoteNotificationsWithDeviceToken deviceToken: NSData) {
//send this device token to server
}

//Called if unable to register for APNS.
func application(application: UIApplication, didFailToRegisterForRemoteNotificationsWithError error: NSError) {

println(error)

}

On Receiving notification following delegate will call:

func application(application: UIApplication, didReceiveRemoteNotification userInfo: [NSObject : AnyObject]) {

    println("Recived: \(userInfo)")
   //Parsing userinfo:
   var temp : NSDictionary = userInfo
   if let info = userInfo["aps"] as? Dictionary<String, AnyObject> 
            {
                var alertMsg = info["alert"] as! String
                var alert: UIAlertView!
                alert = UIAlertView(title: "", message: alertMsg, delegate: nil, cancelButtonTitle: "OK")
                alert.show()
            }
}

To be identify the permission given we can use:

UNUserNotificationCenter.current().getNotificationSettings(){ (setttings) in

        switch setttings.soundSetting{
        case .enabled:
            print("enabled sound")

        case .disabled:
            print("not allowed notifications")

        case .notSupported:
            print("something went wrong here")
        }
    }

So the checklist of APNS:

1. Create AppId allowed with Push Notification
2. Create SSL certificate with valid certificate and app id
3. Create Provisioning profile with same certificate and make sure to add device in case of sandboxing(development provisioning) Note: That will be good if Create Provisioning profile after SSL Certificate.

With Code:

1. Register app for push notification
2. Handle didRegisterForRemoteNotificationsWithDeviceToken method
3. Set targets> Capability> background modes> Remote Notification
4. Handle didReceiveRemoteNotification

Answer 2

Swift 2:

let settings = UIUserNotificationSettings(forTypes: [.Alert, .Badge, .Sound], categories: nil)
UIApplication.sharedApplication().registerUserNotificationSettings(settings)
UIApplication.sharedApplication().registerForRemoteNotifications()

Answer 3

To register to receive push notifications via Apple Push Service you have to call a registerForRemoteNotifications() method of UIApplication.

If registration succeeds, the app calls your app delegate object’s application:didRegisterForRemoteNotificationsWithDeviceToken: method and passes it a device token.

You should pass this token along to the server you use to generate push notifications for the device. If registration fails, the app calls its app delegate’s application:didFailToRegisterForRemoteNotificationsWithError: method instead.

Have a look into Local and Push Notification Programming Guide.

Answer 4

registerForRemoteNotification() has been removed from ios8.

So you should use UIUserNotification

CODE EXAMPLE:

var type = UIUserNotificationType.Badge | UIUserNotificationType.Alert | UIUserNotificationType.Sound;
var setting = UIUserNotificationSettings(forTypes: type, categories: nil);
UIApplication.sharedApplication().registerUserNotificationSettings(setting);
UIApplication.sharedApplication().registerForRemoteNotifications();

Hope this will help you.

Answer 5

To support ios 8 and before, use this:

// Register for Push Notitications, if running iOS 8
if application.respondsToSelector("registerUserNotificationSettings:") {

  let types:UIUserNotificationType = (.Alert | .Badge | .Sound)
  let settings:UIUserNotificationSettings = UIUserNotificationSettings(forTypes: types, categories: nil)

  application.registerUserNotificationSettings(settings)
  application.registerForRemoteNotifications()

} else {      
  // Register for Push Notifications before iOS 8
  application.registerForRemoteNotificationTypes(.Alert | .Badge | .Sound)
}

Answer 6

Swift 4

I think this is the correct way for setup in iOS 8 and above.

Turn on Push Notifications in the Capabilities tab

Import UserNotifications

import UserNotifications

Modify didFinishLaunchingWithOptions

func application(_ application: UIApplication, didFinishLaunchingWithOptions launchOptions: [UIApplicationLaunchOptionsKey: Any]?) -> Bool {


    if let notification = launchOptions?[.remoteNotification] as? [String: AnyObject] {

        // If your app wasn’t running and the user launches it by tapping the push notification, the push notification is passed to your app in the launchOptions

        let aps = notification["aps"] as! [String: AnyObject]
        UIApplication.shared.applicationIconBadgeNumber = 0
    }

    registerForPushNotifications()

    return true
}

It’s extremely important to call registerUserNotificationSettings(_:) every time the app launches. This is because the user can, at any time, go into the Settings app and change the notification permissions. application(_:didRegisterUserNotificationSettings:) will always provide you with what permissions the user currently has allowed for your app.

Copy paste this AppDelegate extension

// Push Notificaion
extension AppDelegate {
func registerForPushNotifications() {
    if #available(iOS 10.0, *) {
        UNUserNotificationCenter.current().requestAuthorization(options: [.alert, .sound, .badge]) {
            [weak self] (granted, error) in
            print("Permission granted: \(granted)")

            guard granted else {
                print("Please enable \"Notifications\" from App Settings.")
                self?.showPermissionAlert()
                return
            }

            self?.getNotificationSettings()
        }
    } else {
        let settings = UIUserNotificationSettings(types: [.alert, .sound, .badge], categories: nil)
        UIApplication.shared.registerUserNotificationSettings(settings)
        UIApplication.shared.registerForRemoteNotifications()
    }
}

@available(iOS 10.0, *)
func getNotificationSettings() {

    UNUserNotificationCenter.current().getNotificationSettings { (settings) in
        print("Notification settings: \(settings)")
        guard settings.authorizationStatus == .authorized else { return }
        DispatchQueue.main.async {
            UIApplication.shared.registerForRemoteNotifications()
        }
    }
}

func application(_ application: UIApplication, didRegisterForRemoteNotificationsWithDeviceToken deviceToken: Data) {

    let tokenParts = deviceToken.map { data -> String in
        return String(format: "%02.2hhx", data)
    }

    let token = tokenParts.joined()
    print("Device Token: \(token)")
    //UserDefaults.standard.set(token, forKey: DEVICE_TOKEN)
}

func application(_ application: UIApplication, didFailToRegisterForRemoteNotificationsWithError error: Error) {
    print("Failed to register: \(error)")
}

func application(_ application: UIApplication, didReceiveRemoteNotification userInfo: [AnyHashable: Any]) {

    // If your app was running and in the foreground
    // Or
    // If your app was running or suspended in the background and the user brings it to the foreground by tapping the push notification

    print("didReceiveRemoteNotification /(userInfo)")

    guard let dict = userInfo["aps"]  as? [String: Any], let msg = dict ["alert"] as? String else {
        print("Notification Parsing Error")
        return
    }
}

func showPermissionAlert() {
    let alert = UIAlertController(title: "WARNING", message: "Please enable access to Notifications in the Settings app.", preferredStyle: .alert)

    let settingsAction = UIAlertAction(title: "Settings", style: .default) {[weak self] (alertAction) in
        self?.gotoAppSettings()
    }

    let cancelAction = UIAlertAction(title: "Cancel", style: .default, handler: nil)

    alert.addAction(settingsAction)
    alert.addAction(cancelAction)

    DispatchQueue.main.async {
        self.window?.rootViewController?.present(alert, animated: true, completion: nil)
    }
}

private func gotoAppSettings() {

    guard let settingsUrl = URL(string: UIApplicationOpenSettingsURLString) else {
        return
    }

    if UIApplication.shared.canOpenURL(settingsUrl) {
        UIApplication.shared.openURL(settingsUrl)
    }
}
}

Check out: Push Notifications Tutorial: Getting Started

Answer 7

Thanks for the earlier answers. Xcode has made some changes and here's the SWIFT 2 code that passes XCode 7 code check and supports both iOS 7 and above:

    if #available(iOS 8.0, *) {
        let settings = UIUserNotificationSettings(forTypes: [.Alert, .Badge, .Sound], categories: nil)
        UIApplication.sharedApplication().registerUserNotificationSettings(settings)
        UIApplication.sharedApplication().registerForRemoteNotifications()
    } else {
        let settings = UIRemoteNotificationType.Alert.union(UIRemoteNotificationType.Badge).union(UIRemoteNotificationType.Sound)
        UIApplication.sharedApplication().registerForRemoteNotificationTypes(settings)
    }

Answer 8

Swift 3:

let center = UNUserNotificationCenter.current()
center.requestAuthorization(options:[.badge, .alert, .sound]) { (granted, error) in
        // Enable or disable features based on authorization.
    }
UIApplication.shared.registerForRemoteNotifications()

Make sure to import UserNotifications at the top of your view controller.

import UserNotifications

Answer 9

Swift 4

Import the UserNotifications framework and add the UNUserNotificationCenterDelegate in AppDelegate

import UserNotifications

class AppDelegate: UIResponder, UIApplicationDelegate, UNUserNotificationCenterDelegate

To Register Application for APNS, (Include the following code in didFinishLaunchingWithOptions method inside AppDelegate.swift)

let center = UNUserNotificationCenter.current()
    center.requestAuthorization(options:[.badge, .alert, .sound]) { (granted, error) in
        // Enable or disable features based on authorization.
    }
    application.registerForRemoteNotifications()

This will call following delegate method

func application(_ application: UIApplication,didRegisterForRemoteNotificationsWithDeviceToken deviceToken: Data) {
    //send this device token to server

}

//Called if unable to register for APNS.
func application(_ application: UIApplication, didFailToRegisterForRemoteNotificationsWithError error: Error) {
    print(error)
}

On Receiving notification following delegate will call:

private func application(application: UIApplication, didReceiveRemoteNotification userInfo: [NSObject : AnyObject]) {

    print("Recived: \(userInfo)")
    //Parsing userinfo:

}

Answer 10

You can send notification using the following code snippet:

let settings = UIUserNotificationSettings(forTypes: [.Alert, .Badge, .Sound], categories: nil)
if(UIApplication.sharedApplication().currentUserNotificationSettings() == settings ){
//OK
}else{
//KO
}

Answer 11

I use this code snip in AppDelegate.swift:

let pushType = UIUserNotificationType.alert.union(.badge).union(.sound)
let pushSettings = UIUserNotificationSettings(types: pushType
            , categories: nil)

application.registerUserNotificationSettings(pushSettings)
application.registerForRemoteNotifications()