Push notifications using Android SDK

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Get your Google Cloud Messaging credentials

Open the Android Developer’s Guide  To send push notifications to your Android app, you need to setup a Google API project and enable the Google Cloud Messaging (GCM) service.

Follow the instructions to get your GCM credentials:

1. Follow steps to create a Google API project and enable the GCM service.

2. Create an Android API key

   1. In the sidebar on the left, select APIs & auth > Credentials.
   2. Click Create new key.
   3. Select Android key.

   4. Enter the SHA-1 fingerprint followed by the package name, for example

      45:B5:E4:6F:36:AD:0A:98:94:B4:02:66:2B:12:17:F2:56:26:A0:E0;com.example NOTE: Leave the package name as “com.example” for the time being. 

3. You also have to create a new server API key that will be used by the LoopBack server:

   1. Click Create new key.
   2. Select Server key.
   3. Leave the list of allowed IP addresses empty for now.
   4. Click Create.
   5. Copy down the API key. Later you will use this when you configure the LoopBack server application. 

Install and run LoopBack Push Notification app 

If you want to use the sample Android client app, download the  Push Notification Example Android app. Then follow these steps to run the app:

1. Open ADT Eclipse.

2. Import the push notification application to your workspace:

   1. Choose File > Import.
   2. Choose Android > Existing Android Code into Workspace.
   3. Click Next.
   4. Browse to the example Android app you just downloaded. 

   5. Click Finish. 

      Important:

      ADT does not take long to import the guide app. Don’t be misguided by the progress bar at the bottom of the IDE window: it indicates memory use, not loading status.

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1. Import Google Play Services library project into your workspace. The project is located inside the directory where you have installed the Android SDK.

   1. Choose File > Import.
   2. Choose Android > Existing Android Code into Workspace.
   3. Click Next.
   4. Browse to the <android-sdk>/extras/google/google_play_services/libproject/google-play-services_lib directory.
   5. Check Copy projects into workspace
   6. Click Finish.

   See Google Play Services SDK for more details.

2. Add the imported google-play-services_lib as an Android build dependency of the push notification application.

   1. In the Package Explorer frame in Eclipse, select the  push notification application.
   2. Choose File > Properties.
   3. Select Android.
   4. In the Library frame, click on Add… and select google-play-services_lib.
   5. Also under Project Build Target, set the target as Google APIs.

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3. Edit src/com/google/android/gcm/demo/app/DemoActivity.java. 
   • Set SENDER_ID to the project number from the Google Developers Console you created earlier in Get your Google Cloud Messaging credentials.

4. Go back to the https://cloud.google.com/console/project and edit the Android Key to reflect your unique application ID. Set the value of Android applications to something like this:

   Android applications	XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:X LOOPBACK_APP_ID X:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX;com.google.android.gcm.demo.app.DemoApplication

5. Run the LoopBack server application you set up earlier. If you didn’t set the appName in the server application’s config.js earlier, do it now. Set it to “com.google.android.gcm.demo.app.DemoActivity”.
6. Click the green Run button in the toolbar to run the application. Run it as an Android application. You will be prompted to select the target on which to run the application. Select the AVD you created earlier. 

Configure GCM push settings in your server application

Add the following key and value to the push settings of your application:

{
  gcm: {
    serverApiKey: "server-api-key"
  }
}

Replace server-api-key with the API key you obtained in Get your Google Cloud Messaging credentials.

Prepare your own Android project

Follow the instructions in Android SDK documentation to add LoopBack Android SDK to your Android project.

Follow the instructions in Google’s Implementing GCM Client guide for setting up Google Play Services in your project.

Check for Google Play Services APK

Applications that rely on the Google Play Services SDK should always check the device for a compatible Google Play services APK before using Google Cloud Messaging. 

For example, the following code checks the device for Google Play Services APK by calling  checkPlayServices() if  this method returns true, it proceeds with GCM registration. The checkPlayServices() method checks whether the device has the Google Play Services APK. If  it doesn’t, it displays a dialog that allows users to download the APK from the Google Play Store or enables it in the device’s system settings. 

@Override
public void onCreate(final Bundle savedInstanceState) {
    super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
    setContentView(R.layout.main);

    if (checkPlayServices()) {
        updateRegistration();
    } else {
        Log.i(TAG, "No valid Google Play Services APK found.");
    }
}
private boolean checkPlayServices() {
    int resultCode = GooglePlayServicesUtil.isGooglePlayServicesAvailable(this);
    if (resultCode != ConnectionResult.SUCCESS) {
        if (GooglePlayServicesUtil.isUserRecoverableError(resultCode)) {
            GooglePlayServicesUtil.getErrorDialog(resultCode, this,
                    PLAY_SERVICES_RESOLUTION_REQUEST).show();
        } else {
            Log.i(TAG, "This device is not supported.");
            finish();
        }
        return false;
    }
    return true;
}

Create LocalInstallation

Once you have ensured the device provides Google Play Services, the app can register with GCM and LoopBack (for example, by calling a method such as updateRegistration() as shown below). Rather than register with GCM every time the app starts, simply store and retrieve the registration ID (device token). The LocalInstallation class in the LoopBack SDK handles these details for you.

For more information on LocallInstallation, see Working with the LocalInstallation class.

The example updateRegistration() method does the following:

• Lines 3 - 4: get a reference to the shared RestAdapter instance.

• Line 5: Create an instance of LocalInstallation.

• Line 13: Subscribe to topics.

• Lines 15-19: Check if there is a valid GCM registration ID. If so, then save the installation to the server; if not, get one from GCM and then save the installation.

private void updateRegistration() {

    final DemoApplication app = (DemoApplication) getApplication();
    final RestAdapter adapter = app.getLoopBackAdapter();
    final LocalInstallation installation = new LocalInstallation(context, adapter);

    // Substitute the real ID of the LoopBack application as created by the server
    installation.setAppId("loopback-app-id");

    // Substitute a real ID of the user logged in to the application
    installation.setUserId("loopback-android");

    installation.setSubscriptions(new String[] { "all" });

    if (installation.getDeviceToken() != null) {
        saveInstallation(installation);
    } else {
        registerInBackground(installation);
    }
}

Register with GCM if needed

In the following code, the application obtains a new registration ID from GCM. Because the register() method is blocking, you must call it on a background thread.

private void registerInBackground(final LocalInstallation installation) {
    new AsyncTask<Void, Void, Exception>() {
        @Override
        protected Exception doInBackground(final Void... params) {
            try {
                GoogleCloudMessaging gcm = GoogleCloudMessaging.getInstance(this);
                // substitute 12345 with the real Google API Project number
				final String regid = gcm.register("12345");
                installation.setDeviceToken(regid);
                return null;
            } catch (final IOException ex) {
                return ex;
                // If there is an error, don't just keep trying to
                // register.
                // Require the user to click a button again, or perform
                // exponential back-off.
            }
        }
        @Override
        protected void onPostExecute(final Exception error) {
            if (err != null) {
                Log.e(TAG, "GCM Registration failed.", error);
            } else {
                saveInstallation(installation);
            }
        }
    }.execute(null, null, null);
}

Register with LoopBack server

Once you have all Installation properties set, you can register with the LoopBack server. The first run of the application should create a new Installation record, subsequent runs should update this existing record. The LoopBack Android SDK handles the details. Your code just needs to call save().

void saveInstallation(final LocalInstallation installation) {
    installation.save(new Model.Callback() {
        @Override
        public void onSuccess() {
            // Installation was saved.
            // You can access the id assigned by the server via
            //   installation.getId();
        }
        @Override
        public void onError(final Throwable t) {
            Log.e(TAG, "Cannot save Installation", t);
        }
    });
}

Handle received notifications

Android apps handle incoming notifications in the standard way; LoopBack does not require any special changes. For more information, see the section “Receive a message” of Google’s Implementing GCM Client guide.

Troubleshooting

When running your app in the Eclipse device emulator, you may encounter the following error: 

Google Play services, which some of your applications rely on, is not supported by your device. Please contact the manufacturer for assistance.

To resolve this, install a compatible version of the Google APIs platform. See Prepare your Android project for more information.