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    Get started with Firebase Cloud Messaging


    This quickstart describes how to set up Firebase Cloud Messaging in your mobile and web client apps so that you can reliably send messages. For server environments, see Your server environment and FCM .

    Set up a Firebase Cloud Messaging client app with Unity

    To write your cross-platform Firebase Cloud Messaging client app with Unity, use the Firebase Cloud Messaging API. The Unity SDK works for both Android and Apple, with some additional setup required for each platform.

    Before you begin

    Prerequisites

    • Install Unity 2021 LTS or later. Support for Unity 2020 is considered deprecated, and will no longer be actively supported after the next major release. Earlier versions may also be compatible but won't be actively supported.

    • (Apple platforms only) Install the following:

      • Xcode 13.3.1 or higher
      • CocoaPods 1.12.0 or higher

    • Make sure that your Unity project meets these requirements:

      • For iOS— targets iOS 13 or higher
      • For tvOS- targets tvOS 13 or higher
      • For Android— targets API level 21 (Lollipop) or higher

    • Set up a device or use an emulator to run your Unity project.

      • For iOS or tvOS— Set up a physical device to run your app, and complete these tasks:

        • Obtain an Apple Push Notification Authentication Key for your Apple Developer account .
        • Enable Push Notifications in XCode under App> Capabilities.

      • For Android— Emulators must use an emulator image with Google Play.

    If you don't already have a Unity project and just want to try out a Firebase product, you can download one of our quickstart samples .

    Step 1: Create a Firebase project

    Before you can add Firebase to your Unity project, you need to create a Firebase project to connect to your Unity project. Visit Understand Firebase Projects to learn more about Firebase projects.

    Step 2: Register your app with Firebase

    You can register one or more apps or games to connect with your Firebase project.

    1. Go to the Firebase console .

    2. In the center of the project overview page, click the Unityicon ( ) to launch the setup workflow.

      If you've already added an app to your Firebase project, click Add appto display the platform options.

    3. Select which build target of your Unity project that you’d like to register, or you can even select to register both targets now at the same time.

    4. Enter your Unity project’s platform-specific ID(s).

      • For iOS— Enter your Unity project’s iOS ID in the iOS bundle ID field.

      • For Android— Enter your Unity project’s Android ID in the Android package name field.
        The terms package name and application ID are often used interchangeably.

      Where do you find your Unity project's ID?

      Open your Unity project in your Unity IDE, then navigate to the settings section for each platform:

      • For iOS— Navigate to Build Settings > iOS.

      • For Android— Navigate to Android > Player Settings > Other Settings.

      Your Unity project's ID is the Bundle Identifiervalue (example ID: com.yourcompany.yourproject ).

  • (Optional) Enter your Unity project’s platform-specific nickname(s).
    These nicknames are internal, convenience identifiers and are only visible to you in the Firebase console.

  • Click Register app.

    • Step 3: Add Firebase configuration files

    1. Obtain your platform-specific Firebase configuration file(s) in the Firebase console setup workflow.

      • For iOS— Click Download GoogleService-Info.plist.

      • For Android— Click Download google-services.json.

      What do you need to know about this config file?

      • The Firebase config file contains unique, but non-secret identifiers for your project and app. To learn more about this config file, visit Understand Firebase Projects .

      • You can download your Firebase config file again at any time.

      • Make sure the config file name is not appended with additional characters, like (2) .

  • Open the Projectwindow of your Unity project, then move your config file(s) into the Assets folder.

  • Back in the Firebase console, in the setup workflow, click Next.

    • Step 4: Add Firebase Unity SDKs

    1. In the Firebase console, click Download Firebase Unity SDK, then unzip the SDK somewhere convenient.

      • You can download the Firebase Unity SDK again at any time.

      • The Firebase Unity SDK is not platform-specific.

    2. In your open Unity project, navigate to Assets> Import Package> Custom Package.

    3. From the unzipped SDK, select the supported Firebase products that you want to use in your app.

      For an optimal experience with Firebase Cloud Messaging , we recommend enabling Google Analytics in your project. Also, as part of setting up Analytics , you need to add the Firebase package for Analytics to your app.

      Analytics enabled

      • Add the Firebase package for Google Analytics : FirebaseAnalytics.unitypackage
      • Add the package for Firebase Cloud Messaging : FirebaseMessaging.unitypackage

      Analytics not enabled

      Add the package for Firebase Cloud Messaging : FirebaseMessaging.unitypackage

    4. In the Import Unity Package window, click Import.

    5. Back in the Firebase console, in the setup workflow, click Next.

    Step 5: Confirm Google Play services version requirements

    Some products in the Firebase Unity SDK for Android require Google Play services . Learn which products have this dependency . Google Play services must be up-to-date before those products can be used.

    Add the following using statement and initialization code at the start of your application. You can check for and optionally update Google Play services to the required version before calling any other methods in the SDK.

      using 
  
 Firebase.Extensions 
 ; 
 

      Firebase 
 . 
 FirebaseApp 
 . 
 CheckAndFixDependenciesAsync 
 (). 
 ContinueWithOnMainThread 
 ( 
 task 
  
 = 
>  
 { 
  
 var 
  
 dependencyStatus 
  
 = 
  
 task 
 . 
 Result 
 ; 
  
 if 
  
 ( 
 dependencyStatus 
  
 == 
  
 Firebase 
 . 
 DependencyStatus 
 . 
 Available 
 ) 
  
 { 
  
 // Create and hold a reference to your FirebaseApp, 
  
 // where app is a Firebase.FirebaseApp property of your application class. 
  
 app 
  
 = 
  
 Firebase 
 . 
 FirebaseApp 
 . 
 DefaultInstance 
 ; 
  
 // Set a flag here to indicate whether Firebase is ready to use by your app. 
  
 } 
  
 else 
  
 { 
  
 UnityEngine 
 . 
 Debug 
 . 
 LogError 
 ( 
 System 
 . 
 String 
 . 
 Format 
 ( 
  
 "Could not resolve all Firebase dependencies: {0}" 
 , 
  
 dependencyStatus 
 )); 
  
 // Firebase 
 Unity 
SDK is not safe to use here. 
  
 } 
 });

    Your Unity project is registered and configured to use Firebase.

    Get setup with Apple platforms

    Use the following instructions to set up FCM with Unity and Apple platforms.

    Upload your APNs authentication key

    Upload your APNs authentication key to Firebase. If you don't already have an APNs authentication key, make sure to create one in the Apple Developer Member Center .

    1. Inside your project in the Firebase console, select the gear icon, select Project Settings, and then select the Cloud Messagingtab.

    2. In APNs authentication keyunder iOS app configuration, click the Uploadbutton to upload your development authentication key, or production authentication key, or both. At least one is required.

    3. Browse to the location where you saved your key, select it, and click Open. Add the key ID for the key (available in the Apple Developer Member Center ) and click Upload.

    Enable push notifications on Apple platforms

    1. Click your project in Xcode, then select the Generaltab from the Editor area.
    2. Scroll to Linked Frameworks and Libraries, then click the +button to add a framework.
    3. In the window that appears, scroll to UserNotifications.framework, click that entry, then click Add.
    4. Click your project in Xcode, then select the Capabilitiestab from the Editor area.
    5. Switch Push Notificationsto On.
    6. Scroll to Background Modes, then switch it to On.
    7. Select the Remote notificationscheckbox under Background Modes.

    Initialize Firebase Cloud Messaging

    The Firebase Cloud Message library will be initialized when adding handlers for either the TokenReceived or MessageReceived events.

    Upon initialization, a registration token is requested for the client app instance. The app will receive the token with the OnTokenReceived event, which should be cached for later use. You'll need this token if you want to target this specific device for messages.

    In addition, you will need to register for the OnMessageReceived event if you want to be able to receive incoming messages.

    The setup will look like this:

     public 
  
 void 
  
 Start 
 () 
  
 { 
  
 Firebase.Messaging.FirebaseMessaging.TokenReceived 
  
 += 
  
 OnTokenReceived 
 ; 
  
 Firebase.Messaging.FirebaseMessaging.MessageReceived 
  
 += 
  
 OnMessageReceived 
 ; 
 } 
 public 
  
 void 
  
 OnTokenReceived 
 ( 
 object 
  
 sender 
 , 
  
 Firebase 
 . 
 Messaging 
 . 
 TokenReceivedEventArgs 
  
 token 
 ) 
  
 { 
  
 UnityEngine.Debug.Log("Received 
  
 Registration 
  
 Token 
 : 
  
 " + token.Token); 
 } 
 public void OnMessageReceived(object sender, Firebase.Messaging.MessageReceivedEventArgs e) { 
 UnityEngine.Debug.Log(" 
 Received 
  
 a 
  
 new 
  
 message 
  
 from 
 : 
  
 " 
  
 + 
  
 e 
 . 
 Message 
 . 
 From 
 ); 
 }

    Get setup with Android platforms

    Use the following instructions to setup FCM with Unity and Android platforms.

    Configure an Android entry point Activity

    Firebase Cloud Messaging comes bundled with a custom entry point activity that replaces the default UnityPlayerActivity . If you are not using a custom entry point, this replacement happens automatically and you shouldn't have to take any additional action.

    The Firebase Cloud Messaging Unity Plugin on Android comes bundled with two additional files:

    • Assets/Plugins/Android/libmessaging_unity_player_activity.jar contains an activity called MessagingUnityPlayerActivity that replaces the standard UnityPlayerActivity .
    • Assets/Plugins/Android/AndroidManifest.xml instructs the app to use MessagingUnityPlayerActivity as the entry point to the app.

    These files are provided because the default UnityPlayerActivity does not handle onStop , onRestart activity lifecycle transitions or implement the onNewIntent which is necessary for Firebase Cloud Messaging to correctly handle incoming messages.

    Configure a custom entry point Activity

    If your app does not use the default UnityPlayerActivity you will need to remove the supplied AndroidManifest.xml and make sure that your custom activity properly handles all transitions of the Android Activity Lifecycle (an example of how to do this is shown below). If your custom activity extends UnityPlayerActivity you can instead extend com.google.firebase.MessagingUnityPlayerActivity which implements all necessary methods.

    If you are using a custom Activity and not extending com.google.firebase.MessagingUnityPlayerActivity , you should include the following snippets in your Activity.

     /** 
 * Workaround for when a message is sent containing both a Data and Notification payload. 
 * 
 * When the app is in the background, if a message with both a data and notification payload is 
 * received the data payload is stored on the Intent passed to onNewIntent. By default, that 
 * intent does not get set as the Intent that started the app, so when the app comes back online 
 * it doesn't see a new FCM message to respond to. As a workaround, we override onNewIntent so 
 * that it sends the intent to the MessageForwardingService which forwards the message to the 
 * FirebaseMessagingService which in turn sends the message to the application. 
 */ 
 @Override 
 protected 
  
 void 
  
 onNewIntent 
 ( 
 Intent 
  
 intent 
 ) 
  
 { 
  
 Intent 
  
 message 
  
 = 
  
 new 
  
 Intent 
 ( 
 this 
 , 
  
 MessageForwardingService 
 . 
 class 
 ); 
  
 message 
 . 
 set 
 Action 
 ( 
 MessageForwardingService 
 . 
 ACTION_REMOTE_INTENT 
 ); 
  
 message 
 . 
 putExtras 
 ( 
 intent 
 ); 
  
 message 
 . 
 set 
 Data 
 ( 
 intent 
 . 
 getData 
 ()); 
  
 // 
  
 For 
  
 earlier 
  
 versions 
  
 of 
  
 Firebase 
  
 C 
 ++ 
  
 SDK 
  
 ( 
 < 
  
 7.1.0 
 ), 
  
 use 
  
 `startService` 
 . 
  
 // 
  
 startService 
 ( 
 message 
 ); 
  
 MessageForwardingService 
 . 
 enqueueWork 
 ( 
 this 
 , 
  
 message 
 ); 
 } 
 /** 
 * Dispose of the mUnityPlayer when restarting the app. 
 * 
 * This makes sure that when the app starts up again it does not start with stale data. 
 */ 
 @Override 
 protected 
  
 void 
  
 onCreate 
 ( 
 Bundle 
  
 savedInstanceState 
 ) 
  
 { 
  
 if 
  
 ( 
 mUnityPlayer 
  
 != 
  
 null 
 ) 
  
 { 
  
 mUnityPlayer 
 . 
 quit 
 (); 
  
 mUnityPlayer 
  
 = 
  
 null 
 ; 
  
 } 
  
 super 
 . 
 onCreate 
 ( 
 savedInstanceState 
 ); 
 }

    New versions of Firebase C++ SDK (7.1.0 onwards) use JobIntentService which requires additional modifications in AndroidManifest.xml file.

    < service 
  
 android 
 : 
 name 
 = 
 "com.google.firebase.messaging.MessageForwardingService" 
  
 android 
 : 
 permission 
 = 
 "android.permission.BIND_JOB_SERVICE" 
  
 android 
 : 
 exported 
 = 
 "false" 
  
>
< / 
 service 
>

    Message delivery on Android

    When the app is not running at all and a user taps on a notification, the message is not, by default, routed through FCM 's built in callbacks. In this case, message payloads are received through an Intent used to start the application.

    Messages received while the app is in the background have the content of their notification field used to populate the system tray notification, but that notification content won't be communicated to FCM . This means that FirebaseMessage.Notification will be a null.

    In summary:

    App state Notification Data Both
    Foreground
    		 Firebase.Messaging.FirebaseMessaging.MessageReceived Firebase.Messaging.FirebaseMessaging.MessageReceived Firebase.Messaging.FirebaseMessaging.MessageReceived
    Background
    		 System tray Firebase.Messaging.FirebaseMessaging.MessageReceived Notification: system tray
    Data: in extras of the intent.

    FCM allows messages to be sent containing a deep link into your app. To receive messages that contain a deep link, you must add a new intent filter to the activity that handles deep links for your app. The intent filter should catch deep links of your domain. In AndroidManifest.xml:

    <intent-filter>
  <action android:name="android.intent.action.VIEW"/>
  <category android:name="android.intent.category.DEFAULT"/>
  <category android:name="android.intent.category.BROWSABLE"/>
  <data android:host="CHANGE_THIS_DOMAIN.example.com" android:scheme="http"/>
  <data android:host="CHANGE_THIS_DOMAIN.example.com" android:scheme="https"/>
</intent-filter>

    It is also possible to specify a wildcard to make the intent filter more flexible. For example:

    <intent-filter>
  <action android:name="android.intent.action.VIEW"/>
  <category android:name="android.intent.category.DEFAULT"/>
  <category android:name="android.intent.category.BROWSABLE"/>
  <data android:host="*.example.com" android:scheme="http"/>
  <data android:host="*.example.com" android:scheme="https"/>
</intent-filter>

    When users tap a notification containing a link to the scheme and host you specify, your app will start the activity with this intent filter to handle the link.

    Prevent auto initialization

    FCM generates a registration token for device targeting. When a token is generated, the library uploads the identifier and configuration data to Firebase. If you want to get an explicit opt-in before using the token, you can prevent generation at configure time by disabling FCM (and on Android, Analytics). You can add a metadata value to your Info.plist (not your GoogleService-Info.plist ) on Apple, or your AndroidManifest.xml on Android:

    Android

    <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<application>
  <meta-data android:name="firebase_messaging_auto_init_enabled"
             android:value="false" />
  <meta-data android:name="firebase_analytics_collection_enabled"
             android:value="false" />
</application>

    Swift

     FirebaseMessagingAutoInitEnabled 
  
 = 
  
 NO

    To re-enable FCM, you can make a runtime call:

    Firebase.Messaging.FirebaseMessaging.TokenRegistrationOnInitEnabled = true;

    This value persists across app restarts once set.

    Next steps

    After you have completed the setup steps, here are few options for moving forward with FCM for Unity:

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