Flutter Notifications – Local, Remote – Push Message Providers

import 'package:flutter_local_notifications/flutter_local_notifications.dart';

final FlutterLocalNotificationsPlugin flutterLocalNotificationsPlugin = 
    FlutterLocalNotificationsPlugin();

void main() {
  runApp(MyApp());

  const AndroidInitializationSettings initializationSettingsAndroid =
      AndroidInitializationSettings('@mipmap/ic_launcher');
  final InitializationSettings initializationSettings =
      InitializationSettings(android: initializationSettingsAndroid);
  flutterLocalNotificationsPlugin.initialize(initializationSettings);
}

Future _showNotification() async {
  const AndroidNotificationDetails androidPlatformChannelSpecifics =
      AndroidNotificationDetails(
          'your channel id', 'your channel name', 'your channel description',
          importance: Importance.max, priority: Priority.high, showWhen: false);
  const NotificationDetails platformChannelSpecifics =
      NotificationDetails(android: androidPlatformChannelSpecifics);
  await flutterLocalNotificationsPlugin.show(
      0, 'Hello', 'This is a local notification', platformChannelSpecifics,
      payload: 'item id 2');
}

2.  awesome_notifications https://pub.dev/packages/awesome_notifications

• Description: A complete solution for local and push notifications with rich features and cross-platform support.
• Features: High customizability, rich media notifications, scheduled notifications, background notifications, and more.
• Example Usage

import 'package:awesome_notifications/awesome_notifications.dart';

void main() {
  AwesomeNotifications().initialize(
      'resource://drawable/res_app_icon',
      [
        NotificationChannel(
            channelKey: 'basic_channel',
            channelName: 'Basic notifications',
            channelDescription: 'Notification channel for basic tests',
            defaultColor: Color(0xFF9D50DD),
            ledColor: Colors.white)
      ]
  );

  runApp(MyApp());
}

Future _showNotification() async {
  await AwesomeNotifications().createNotification(
      content: NotificationContent(
          id: 10,
          channelKey: 'basic_channel',
          title: 'Hello',
          body: 'This is a local notification'
      )
  );
}

Remote Notifications

Remote notifications, also known as push notifications, are sent from a server to a device via a push notification service. These require an internet connection and are typically used for alerts, updates, messages, and more.

Popular Remote Notification Providers for Flutter:

1. Firebase Cloud Messaging (FCM):

   • Description: A robust and scalable solution from Google for sending notifications and messages to users.
   • Features: Supports both direct messages and topic-based messaging, advanced analytics, targeting, and more.
   • Example Usage:

import 'package:firebase_core/firebase_core.dart';
import 'package:firebase_messaging/firebase_messaging.dart';

void main() async {
  WidgetsFlutterBinding.ensureInitialized();
  await Firebase.initializeApp();
  FirebaseMessaging messaging = FirebaseMessaging.instance;

  messaging.getToken().then((String? token) {
    assert(token != null);
    print("FirebaseMessaging token: $token");
  });

  FirebaseMessaging.onMessage.listen((RemoteMessage message) {
    print('Got a message whilst in the foreground!');
    print('Message data: ${message.data}');
    if (message.notification != null) {
      print('Message also contained a notification: ${message.notification}');
    }
  });

  runApp(MyApp());
}

Flutter Fire

Flutter Fire: https://firebase.google.com/docs/flutter/setup?platform=ios is an ecosystem of tools that allows you to setup your project with firebase – not only about notifications and firebase_messaging, but to all other services they offer.

2. OneSignal:

• Description: A popular cross-platform service for push notifications and in-app messaging.
• Features: Rich media notifications, segmentation, analytics, and more.
• Example Usage

import 'package:onesignal_flutter/onesignal_flutter.dart';

void main() {
  WidgetsFlutterBinding.ensureInitialized();
  OneSignal.shared.setAppId("your-onesignal-app-id");

  OneSignal.shared.setNotificationReceivedHandler((OSNotification notification) {
    print('Received notification: ${notification.jsonRepresentation()}');
  });

  OneSignal.shared.setNotificationOpenedHandler((OSNotificationOpenedResult result) {
    print('Opened notification: ${result.notification.jsonRepresentation()}');
  });

  runApp(MyApp());
}

3. Pusher Beams: 

https://pusher.com/beams/

• Description: A scalable and easy-to-integrate service for real-time push notifications.
• Features: Supports targeted notifications, user and device management, and more.
• Example Usage:

import 'package:pusher_beams/pusher_beams.dart';

void main() async {
  WidgetsFlutterBinding.ensureInitialized();
  PusherBeams.instance.start('your-instance-id');
  PusherBeams.instance.addDeviceInterest('hello');

  runApp(MyApp());
}

void sendNotification() {
  PusherBeams.instance
      .publishToInterests(
          interests: ['hello'],
          publishBody: {
            'apns': {'aps': {'alert': 'Hello'}},
            'fcm': {'notification': {'title': 'Hello', 'body': 'This is a push notification'}}
          });
}

4. Amazon Amplify Push Notifications 

Amazon offer their own alternative for push notifications, authentication, storage and more. For Messages, check out this tutorial: https://docs.amplify.aws/gen1/flutter/build-a-backend/push-notifications/set-up-push-notifications/

import 'package:flutter/material.dart';
import 'package:huawei_push/huawei_push.dart';

void main() {
  runApp(MyApp());
  setupHuaweiPush();
}

class MyApp extends StatelessWidget {
  @override
  Widget build(BuildContext context) {
    return MaterialApp(
      home: Scaffold(
        appBar: AppBar(title: Text('Huawei Push Example')),
        body: Center(child: Text('Huawei Push Example')),
      ),
    );
  }
}

void setupHuaweiPush() async {
  await Push.init();
  await Push.turnOnPush();

  Push.getTokenStream.listen((token) {
    print('Push Token: $token');
  });

  Push.onMessageReceivedStream.listen((RemoteMessage remoteMessage) {
    print('Received remote message: ${remoteMessage.data}');
  });
}

Future sendPushNotification(String title, String body) async {
  // Use Huawei Cloud functions or your backend to send push notifications using the Push Kit APIs
  // You would typically make an HTTP POST request to the Huawei Push Kit API
}

Choosing the proper provider needs to be according to: 

1. target app store
2. target market

Read more Flutter articles in my blog https://programtom.com/dev/?s=flutter