Setting Up Firebase Cloud Messaging (FCM) for Push Notifications in Android

Firebase push notifications Android setup is the fastest way to boost app engagement — and it’s 100% free. With Firebase Cloud Messaging (FCM), you can send real-time, personalized alerts that bring users back and drive revenue. This guide shows you how to set it up in minutes — no complex code required.

Introduction:

It’s no longer a choice for app developers to avoid sending timely and relevant push notifications. In our current competitive app landscape, getting users to engage with an app means using relevant push notifications. However, many developers have to struggle with tedious integrations or sending notifications that make no impact. The answer to these problems is Firebase Cloud Messaging (FCM). It’s **free to use, and gives you the power to send effective push notifications to your Android app users. **. With the right configurations you can turn your users into active customers. They will engage more, and stay longer, driving up your revenue. Ready to leverage Firebase for maximum impact? This step-by-step guide will show you how to configure push notifications for your Android app using FCM, no complicated coding needed!

Push Notifications: Why Use Firebase FCM for Your Android Apps?

Firebase FCM (Cloud Messaging) is your first reliable, sophisticated, and cost free solution for engaging users. Used by all big movers and shakers in the app industry (like Shopify, McKinsey, and many more), you can trust FCM to deliver your messages to users.

What makes it reliable?

• Pocket Friendly: The cost to your app is literally $0 and you can send as many notifications as you want (Statista predicts the number of mobile messages sent will grow by 35% this year). Therefore, achieving your ROI will be easy.
• Reliability: You can trust Google to deliver 99.9% of your messages successfully. You shouldn’t have to worry about your messages in peak load hours either.
• Targeting: Users can be segmented for targeted messages to be sent based on demographics, device, activities, and custom matters.
• Analytics: Firebase Analytics can be fused for instant evaluation of notifications sent.
• Flexible Messaging: Rich customized messages (not just notifications) can be sent to users.

In a nutshell, Firebase Cloud Messaging helps your app become a communication channel for your users and helps grow your FCM engagement and conversion.

What is the process for implementing Firebase FCM for Android?

Step 1: Start Firing Up Your Firebase Console

—Log into the Firebase Console and click the “Add project button.” Name the project something like MyAppPush. Enable Google Analytics if you want to track notification performance metrics. This is important for measuring ROI since McKinsey states that personalized notifications can increase user retention by up to 25%.

Step 2: Register Your Android App

In Firebase, click the “Add App” button and select Android. Enter the package name for the app (com.yourdomain.yourapp), and then download the google-services.json file and move it into the app app/ folder.

Tip: Keep file organization consistent with your existing app structure to prevent issues like missing files or folder during integration.

Step 3: Add the Firebase SDK to Your Android Code

In your project build.gradle file, make the following updates.

Project-level build.gradle:

buildscript {

dependencies {

classpath ‘com.google.gms:google-services:4.3.10’ // latest stable version

}

}

App-level build.gradle:

apply plugin: ‘com.android.application.’

apply plugin: ‘com.google.gms.google-services’ dependencies {

implementation ‘com.google.firebase:firebase-messaging:23.0.0’ // verify latest

}

Once you complete these updates, sync the project. This setup allows your app to communicate with the Firebase back-end.

Step 4: Use the Firebase Messaging Service

Here’s how to create a service class for incoming messages:

public class MyFirebaseMessagingService extends FirebaseMessagingService {

@Override

public void onMessageReceived(RemoteMessage remoteMessage) {

super.onMessageReceived(remoteMessage);

// Process message payloads

if (remoteMessage.getNotification() != null) {

String title = remoteMessage.getNotification().getTitle();

String body = remoteMessage.getNotification().getBody();

// Create local notification, modify UI, etc.

}

}

}

Remember to include this service in your AndroidManifest.xml:

<service android:name=”.MyFirebaseMessagingService”>

<intent-filter>

<action android:name=”com.google.firebase.MESSAGING_EVENT”/>

</intent-filter>

</service>

Step 5: Receive Your Push Notification

Return to your Firebase Console and go to Grow > Cloud Messaging

Compose your message, fill in a title, a body, and a target audience (all app users or segments). Click “Send test message” to test.

Pro Tip: You can schedule messages to automate on the dashboard in Firebase, so you don’t have to create complex server-side logic.—

Automating & Personalizing Push Notifications for Maximum ROI

To create powerful customer engagement, you need to focus on automated, personalized push notifications. With Firebase, you can segment your users and analyze their behavior to find the best message for each user.

Consider a retail app, for instance, which sends personalized offers to users who leave products in their cart. This completes the sale. This tactic works and is proven to be effective, as McKinsey reports it can increase sales by 30%.

You can take Firebase and integrate it with your backend system, or with platforms such as Twinr, which simplifies no-code automation. It can help you set up automated push notifications triggered by user actions like app opens, inactivity, and other behavioral actions.

Tip: A/B testing is present in Firebase, and it can help you find the best message to send, the best time to send it, and the best format for the message. With the correct parameters, engagement can grow tremendously. Some apps have reported a doubling of their open rates.

Guidelines on How to Get the Most Out of FCM

• Time your notifications: Send alerts when app usage is the highest – check your analytics.
• Stay relevant: Use user segmentation, craft individual messages, and provide CTAs to drive user interaction.
• Get to the point: Make your messages more concise – messages that are shorter tend to have 5x more clicks.
• Honor user control: Offer user the ability to opt out and give them control to avoid penalties from Google.
• Add more visuals: Push notifications that have videos and images have been shown to increase engagement by 50%.

Extra Advice: Use push notifications along with in app messages and email drip campaigns to increase retention (According to Gartner).

Why Leading Applications Use Firebase for Push Notifications

Still not sure? Just take a glance at some big names in the industry: Shopify’s mobile POS or top food delivery apps. Firebase drives their instant, dependable alerts, which in turn, leads to increased revenue and customer retention.

Statista states nearly half of mobile apps utilize Firebase for messaging and analytics. For smaller teams, Firebase reflects more positively in comparison with OneSignal or Pusher and other similar legacy services. It is more favorable for teams that need to operate fast without huge development expenses.

Conclusions

Understanding the intricacies of Firebase Cloud Messaging and applying that knowledge is essential for the growth of scalable Android apps. Firebase is a resource that can turn notifications into a growth lever, but only if set up and optimized correctly.

Responsive developers need to set up FCM in a way that avoids FCM’s personalization limitations. That’s where service providers, like Twinr, fill the void with FCM low code options for builders, to avoid poor design or advanced programming.

Want to change the way your app drives engagement? Twinr’s no-code systems address all engagement needs, including FCM push, in-app messaging, and user analytics.

FAQs:

Do I have to pay to use Firebase Cloud Messaging?

Nope! Google Firebase is free AND it has no limits, so you can send messages as much as you want!

Does FCM send push notifications to IOS and Android?

Yes, you can seamlessly send unified campaigns to both iOS and Android with Firebase.

How reliable is it?

It is very reliable with Google Cloud infrastructure providing over 99.9% success, even during peak traffic.

Can I send notifications to users automatically?

Yes with Firebase you can, and with Twinr you can set up automation for users, so notifications can be personalized for them.

How can I analyze notifications?

You can connect Firebase Analytics to see how many people opened or clicked on the notifications.