Ask for User Permission to Receive UILocalNotifications in iOS 8

Question

I have set up local notifications in the App Delegate Using this:

- (void)applicationDidEnterBackground:(UIApplication *)application
{
    UILocalNotification *notification = [[UILocalNotification alloc]init];
    [notification setAlertBody:@"Watch the Latest Episode of CCA-TV"];
    [notification setFireDate:[NSDate dateWithTimeIntervalSinceNow:5]];
    [notification setTimeZone:[NSTimeZone defaultTimeZone]];
    [application setScheduledLocalNotifications:[NSArray arrayWithObject:notification]];
}

When I run the app and then quit it I receive an error saying:

2014-06-07 11:14:16.663 CCA-TV[735:149070] Attempting to schedule a local notification {fire date = Saturday, June 7, 2014 at 11:14:21 Pacific Daylight Time, time zone = America/Los_Angeles (PDT) offset -25200 (Daylight), repeat interval = 0, repeat count = UILocalNotificationInfiniteRepeatCount, next fire date = Saturday, June 7, 2014 at 11:14:21 Pacific Daylight Time, user info = (null)} with an alert but haven't received permission from the user to display alerts

How can I get the necessary permission to display the alerts?

Answer 1

Since iOS 8 you need to ask user's permission to show notifications from your app, this applies for both remote/push and local notifications. In Swift you can do it like this,

Update for Swift 2.0

func application(application: UIApplication, didFinishLaunchingWithOptions launchOptions: NSDictionary?) -> Bool {
    // Override point for customization after application launch.
    if(UIApplication.instancesRespondToSelector(Selector("registerUserNotificationSettings:")))
    {
        let notificationCategory:UIMutableUserNotificationCategory = UIMutableUserNotificationCategory()
        notificationCategory.identifier = "INVITE_CATEGORY"
        notificationCategory.setActions([replyAction], forContext: UIUserNotificationActionContext.Default)

        //registerting for the notification.
        application.registerUserNotificationSettings(UIUserNotificationSettings(forTypes:[.Sound, .Alert, .Badge], categories: nil))
    }
    else
    {
       //do iOS 7 stuff, which is pretty much nothing for local notifications.
    }
    return true
}

Swift 3.2

if(UIApplication.instancesRespond(to: #selector(UIApplication.registerUserNotificationSettings(_:)))){
     let notificationCategory:UIMutableUserNotificationCategory = UIMutableUserNotificationCategory()
     notificationCategory.identifier = "INVITE_CATEGORY"
     notificationCategory.setActions([replyAction], forContext: UIUserNotificationActionContext.Default)

     //registerting for the notification.
        application.registerUserNotificationSettings(UIUserNotificationSettings(types:[.sound, .alert, .badge], categories: nil))
}
else{
        //do iOS 7 stuff, which is pretty much nothing for local notifications.
    }

Objective C syntax is also very similar.

- (BOOL)application:(UIApplication *)application didFinishLaunchingWithOptions:(NSDictionary *)launchOptions
{
    if ([UIApplication instancesRespondToSelector:@selector(registerUserNotificationSettings:)]){
        [application registerUserNotificationSettings:[UIUserNotificationSettings settingsForTypes:UIUserNotificationTypeAlert|UIUserNotificationTypeBadge|UIUserNotificationTypeSound categories:nil]];
    }
    // Override point for customization after application launch.
    return YES;
}

To check for currently registered notification types you can use UIApplication class's method,

- (UIUserNotificationSettings *)currentUserNotificationSettings

So if the user has said no to your app then this function should return a setting without any types in it.

I have written a tutorial about this, you could see it here.

Answer 2

Put this code in the view controller where you will first program the notifications (if you program them at launch, then it will be application:didFinishLaunchingWithOptions:):

if ([UIApplication instancesRespondToSelector:@selector(registerUserNotificationSettings:)]) {
    [[UIApplication sharedApplication] registerUserNotificationSettings:[UIUserNotificationSettings settingsForTypes:UIUserNotificationTypeAlert|UIUserNotificationTypeSound categories:nil]];
}

In Swift:

if(UIApplication.instancesRespondToSelector(Selector("registerUserNotificationSettings:"))) {
    UIApplication.sharedApplication().registerUserNotificationSettings(UIUserNotificationSettings(forTypes: .Alert | .Sound, categories: nil))
}

The solutions that test against system version number are sub-optimal and error-prone.

Answer 3

Try this for Objective-C:

- (BOOL)application:(UIApplication *)application didFinishLaunchingWithOptions:    (NSDictionary *)launchOptions
{
// are you running on iOS8?
if ([application respondsToSelector:@selector(registerUserNotificationSettings:)]) 
  {
    UIUserNotificationSettings *settings = [UIUserNotificationSettings settingsForTypes:(UIUserNotificationTypeBadge|UIUserNotificationTypeAlert|UIUserNotificationTypeSound) categories:nil];
    [application registerUserNotificationSettings:settings];
  } 
else // iOS 7 or earlier
  {
    UIRemoteNotificationType myTypes = UIRemoteNotificationTypeBadge | UIRemoteNotificationTypeAlert | UIRemoteNotificationTypeSound;
    [application registerForRemoteNotificationTypes:myTypes];
  }
}

For Swift:

func application(application: UIApplication, didFinishLaunchingWithOptions launchOptions: NSDictionary?) -> Bool {
// Override point for customization after application launch.
 if(UIApplication.instancesRespondToSelector(Selector("registerUserNotificationSettings:")))
 {
    application.registerUserNotificationSettings(UIUserNotificationSettings(forTypes: UIUserNotificationType.Sound | UIUserNotificationType.Alert | UIUserNotificationType.Badge, categories: nil))
 }
 else
 {
    //
 }
return true
}

Answer 4

I just faced the same problem. Seems like in iOS 8 we need to do an additional step, usually done inside:

- (BOOL)application:(UIApplication *)application didFinishLaunchingWithOptions:(NSDictionary *)launchOptions { /*...*/ }

You can use this code if you want to keep it backward compatible:

#if __IPHONE_OS_VERSION_MAX_ALLOWED >= 80000
    if ([UIApplication instancesRespondToSelector:@selector(registerUserNotificationSettings:)])
    {
        [[UIApplication sharedApplication] registerUserNotificationSettings:[UIUserNotificationSettings settingsForTypes:UIUserNotificationTypeAlert | UIUserNotificationTypeBadge | UIUserNotificationTypeSound categories:nil]];
    }
#endif

The system will remember the decision, and will only ask once.

Answer 5

**Local Notification with three button action for iOS8+

//Button : I TOOK IT , REMIND LATER , SKIP IT**

        let completeAction = UIMutableUserNotificationAction()
        completeAction.identifier = "COMPLETE_TODO"
        completeAction.title = "I TOOK IT"
        completeAction.activationMode = .Background
        completeAction.destructive = true
        completeAction.authenticationRequired = false

        let remindAction = UIMutableUserNotificationAction()
        remindAction.identifier = "REMIND_TODO"
        remindAction.title = "REMIND LATER"
        remindAction.activationMode = .Background
        remindAction.destructive = false
        //  remindAction.authenticationRequired = false

        let skipAction = UIMutableUserNotificationAction()
        skipAction.identifier = "SKIP_TODO"
        skipAction.title = "SKIP IT"
        skipAction.activationMode = .Background
        skipAction.destructive = false
        skipAction.authenticationRequired = false


        let todoCategory = UIMutableUserNotificationCategory()
        todoCategory.identifier = "TODO_CATEGORY"
        todoCategory.setActions([completeAction, remindAction, skipAction], forContext: .Default)
        todoCategory.setActions([completeAction,remindAction,skipAction], forContext: .Minimal)


        if application.respondsToSelector("isRegisteredForRemoteNotifications")
        {

            let categories = NSSet(array: [todoCategory,todoVideoCategory])
            let types:UIUserNotificationType = ([.Alert, .Sound, .Badge])

            let settings:UIUserNotificationSettings = UIUserNotificationSettings(forTypes: types, categories: categories as? Set<UIUserNotificationCategory>)

            application.registerUserNotificationSettings(settings)
            application.registerForRemoteNotifications()

        }

    }