iOS configuration for advanced notifications

How to configure my iOS build for advanced push notifications?

To send advanced notifications to your app users, you must first configure your app build first. The sections below outline the process of configuring advanced push notifications:

Step 1: Generate APNS certificate and Upload

• Log in to your Apple developer account.

• Click on Certificates, Identifiers & Profiles.

• Navigate to the Certificate screen. Click on the add(+) button to generate a new Certificate.

• Select Apple Push Notification services SSL (Sandbox & Production).

• Next, click on Continue.

• Select the App ID (Bundle ID) corresponding to your app.

• Upload a Certificate Signing Request. Follow this guide to generate a CSR file. If you already have a CSR, you can use the existing one.

• Download the certificate.

• The downloaded to certificate will be in the CER format, which will need to be converted into p12 using keychain access.

• Double click .cer file to open Keychain Access window.

• Click on Login and navigate to the My Certificates tab in the Keychain Access window.

• Right-click on the .cer file and export it to your system.

• Give your certificate a unique name and select .p12 File Format.

• Protecting your certifcate with a password is optional

• Upload the certificate in the APNS Certificate in your Notification Build Settings.

• Submit the password if you protected your certificate.

APNs certificates authenticate push notifications sent to iOS devices. Ensure you generate and upload the correct certificate to enable notification functionality.

Step 2: Generate Notification Identifier

• Log in to your Apple developer account.

• Click on Certificates, Identifiers & Profiles.

• Select Identifiers from the side bar.

• Click on + next to the Identifiers.

• Select App IDs then click on Continue to proceed.

• Select App & enter a description of the identifier.

• Copy the Notification Bundle ID from the Build Settings screen from AppMySite.

• Paste it in the Bundle ID field.

• Then, click on Continue to proceed.

• Register to confirm the app identifier that you’ve created.

• Your Notification Identifier has been created.

The notification identifier allows your app to communicate with Apple Push Notification Services (APNs) and must be correctly configured to enable push notifications.

Step 3: Obtain and Upload Your Notification Provisioning Profile

• Navigate to the Certificates, Identifiers & Profiles section in your dashboard.

• In the sidebar, click on Profiles under the Provisioning Profiles section.

• Click the + icon in the top-right corner to create a new provisioning profile.

• In the profile creation screen, select App Store Connect as the distribution type and click Continue.

• From the list of available App IDs, select your Notification Bundle ID associated with the app and click Continue.

• Choose the certificate associated with your app's provisioning profile and click Continue.

Select the distribution certificate that is associated with your iOS app build. Creating more certificates can cause issues with notifications.

• Provide a name for your provisioning profile in the Profile Name field (e.g., "Notification Provisioning Profile").

• Click Generate to create the profile.

• Once the profile is generated, click Download to save the file. It will have a .mobileprovision extension.

• Return to your AppMySite dashboard.

• Navigate to the Notification Build Settings section for your app.

• Upload the .mobileprovision file in the Provisioning Profile field.

• Save the changes to complete the configuration.

The notification provisioning profile is required to authenticate your app with Apple's notification servers and must be uploaded before enabling push notifications.

Step 4: Upload the APNs certificate in Firebase

• Go to your Google Firebase account.

• Select the project you created for your iOS app.

• In the Project Overview screen, click the gear icon near the top-left and select Project settings from the dropdown menu.

• In the Settings page, navigate to the Cloud messaging tab.

• Scroll down to Apple app configuration and expand APNs Certificates section.

• Upload the certificate in the “No production APNs certificate” field.

If you haven’t set up a Firebase project yet, refer to this guide. If you already have a Firebase project for plain notifications, ensure you use the same project to upload the APNs certificate.