Push Notifications for the Cordova Plugin

Platform Setup

Before you can send and receive push notifications, you need to configure your app for the platform(s) you’re targeting. Follow the platform-specific setup instructions below.

iOS

Enable Push Notifications Capability

1. Open your project in Xcode.

2. Click on your project in the Project Navigator.

3. Select your main app target and then click the Signing & Capabilities tab.

4. If you do not see Push Notifications enabled, click + Capability and add Push Notifications.

   

Enable Background Modes

1. Select your main app target and then click the Signing & Capabilities tab.

2. Click + Capability and add Background Modes.

   

3. In the Background Modes section, select the Remote notifications checkbox.

   

Signing

Add your Apple Developer Account Team ID to the build.json .

{
  "ios": {
    "debug": {
    "developmentTeam": "XXXXXXXXXX"
    },
    "release": {
      "developmentTeam": "XXXXXXXXXX"
    }
  }
}

Your iOS builds will need to reference the build.json using Cordova’s --buildConfig flag.

Notification Service Extension

To take advantage of notification attachments, such as images, animated gifs, and video, you will need to create a notification service extension .

Android

Configure Firebase Cloud Messaging (FCM) to enable push notifications on Android.

FCM Setup

Add a reference to your google-services.json file in the app’s config.xml and enable Google Services plugin:

<preference name="AndroidGradlePluginGoogleServicesEnabled" value="true" />

<platform name="android">
    ...
    <resource-file src="google-services.json" target="app/google-services.json" />
</platform>

Notification Configuration

Configure the notification icon and accent color in your takeOff config:

Airship.takeOff({
  production: {
    appKey: "<APP_KEY>",
    appSecret: "<APP_SECRET>"
  },
  development: {
    appKey: "<APP_KEY>",
    appSecret: "<APP_SECRET>"
  },
  inProduction: true, 
  site: "us",
  android: {
      notificationConfig: {
          icon: "ic_notification",
          accentColor: "#00ff00"
      }
  }
})

See the Cordova Plugin Setup guide for complete takeOff configuration options.

Enable User Notifications

The Airship SDK distinguishes between user notifications (visible to users) and silent push notifications (background data delivery). User notifications require explicit permission from the user.

By default, user notifications are disabled. Enable them when you want to show visible notifications to users.

Basic Enablement

The simplest way to enable user notifications is with setUserNotificationsEnabled():

Airship.push.setUserNotificationsEnabled(true)

This will prompt the user for permission if not already granted. However, it does not provide feedback on whether the user accepted or denied the permission.

Async Enablement

For more control over the permission flow, use enableUserNotifications() which returns the permission result:

Airship.push.enableUserNotifications((granted) => {
  if (granted) {
    console.log('Notifications enabled')
  } else {
    console.log('Notifications denied')
  }
})

Checking Notification Status

To check if user notifications are currently enabled:

Airship.push.isUserNotificationsEnabled((enabled) => {
  console.log('User notifications enabled:', enabled)
})

For more detailed status information, use getNotificationStatus():

Airship.push.getNotificationStatus((status) => {
  console.log('Are notifications allowed:', status.areNotificationsAllowed)
  console.log('Is opted in:', status.isOptedIn)
})

To monitor notification status changes in real-time:

const subscription = Airship.push.onNotificationStatusChanged((event) => {
  console.log('Notification status changed:', event.status)
  console.log('Is opted in:', event.status.isOptedIn)
})

// Later, to cancel the subscription
subscription.cancel()

Getting the Push Token

To get the platform-specific push token (APNs token on iOS, FCM token on Android):

Airship.push.getPushToken((token) => {
  console.log('Push token:', token)
})

// Or listen for token updates
const subscription = Airship.push.onPushTokenReceived((event) => {
  console.log('Push token:', event.pushToken)
})