expo-notifications

expo-notifications

Push and local notification setup with expo-notifications. iOS (APNs) + Android (FCM) credentials, permission flow, channels (Android 8+), categories, and scheduled notifications.

What It Does

• expo-notifications setup and permission request
• Getting the Expo Push Token + sending it to the backend
• iOS APNs Auth Key and Android FCM Service Account
• Notification categories + action buttons
• Scheduled / repeating notifications
• Channels (Android 8+) and importance levels
• Background notification handler and silent push

Setup

npx expo install expo-notifications expo-device expo-constants

app.json:

{
  "expo": {
    "plugins": [
      ["expo-notifications", {
        "icon": "./assets/notification-icon.png",
        "color": "#ffffff",
        "sounds": ["./assets/notification-sound.wav"]
      }]
    ],
    "ios": {
      "infoPlist": {
        "UIBackgroundModes": ["remote-notification"]
      }
    },
    "android": {
      "googleServicesFile": "./google-services.json"
    }
  }
}

Permission + Token

import * as Notifications from "expo-notifications";
import * as Device from "expo-device";
import Constants from "expo-constants";
import { Platform } from "react-native";

Notifications.setNotificationHandler({
  handleNotification: async () => ({
    shouldShowAlert: true,
    shouldPlaySound: true,
    shouldSetBadge: true,
  }),
});

export async function registerForPushNotificationsAsync(): Promise<string | undefined> {
  if (!Device.isDevice) {
    console.warn("Push notifications require a physical device");
    return;
  }

  if (Platform.OS === "android") {
    await Notifications.setNotificationChannelAsync("default", {
      name: "Default",
      importance: Notifications.AndroidImportance.MAX,
      vibrationPattern: [0, 250, 250, 250],
      lightColor: "#FF231F7C",
    });
  }

  const { status: existing } = await Notifications.getPermissionsAsync();
  let finalStatus = existing;
  if (existing !== "granted") {
    const { status } = await Notifications.requestPermissionsAsync();
    finalStatus = status;
  }
  if (finalStatus !== "granted") return;

  const projectId = Constants.expoConfig?.extra?.eas?.projectId;
  const token = (await Notifications.getExpoPushTokenAsync({ projectId })).data;
  return token;
}