Flutter Awesome Notification 🔔

A comprehensive, production-ready notification plugin for Flutter apps with Firebase Cloud Messaging (FCM) and local notifications. Handles foreground notifications with intelligent filtering and seamless navigation across all app states.

✨ Features

• ✅ Foreground Notification Handling: Display notifications when app is active
• ✅ Custom Filtering: Flexible callback-based filtering for app-specific logic
• ✅ Navigation Integration: Seamless navigation across all app states (foreground/background/terminated)
• ✅ Topic Subscriptions: Easy FCM topic management
• ✅ Local Notifications: Immediate and scheduled local notifications
• ✅ Highly Configurable: Builder pattern with sensible defaults
• ✅ Minimal Code: Easy setup with very little boilerplate
• ✅ FCM Token Management: Automatic token handling and refresh
• ✅ Custom Logging: Integrate with your preferred logging solution
• ✅ Type-Safe: Full type safety with comprehensive configuration

📦 Repository

• Repository: GitHub
• Pub.dev: Package
• Issues: GitHub Issues
• Changelog: CHANGELOG.md

🚀 Quick Start

Installation

Add to your pubspec.yaml:

dependencies:
  flutter_awesome_notification: ^2.0.1
  firebase_core: ^3.8.0

Basic Setup

import 'package:flutter/material.dart';
import 'package:firebase_core/firebase_core.dart';
import 'package:flutter_awesome_notification/flutter_awesome_notification.dart';
import 'firebase_options.dart';

void main() async {
  WidgetsFlutterBinding.ensureInitialized();

  // Step 1: Initialize Firebase FIRST
  await Firebase.initializeApp(
    options: DefaultFirebaseOptions.currentPlatform,
  );

  // Step 2: Initialize the notification plugin with Firebase instance
  await FlutterAwesomeNotification.initialize(
    config: FlutterAwesomeNotificationConfig(
      firebaseApp: Firebase.app(), // Pass initialized Firebase instance
      mainChannelId: 'my_app_notifications',
      mainChannelName: 'My App Notifications',
      onNotificationTap: (data) {
        print('Notification tapped: $data');
      },
      onNavigate: (pageName, id, data) {
        print('Navigate to: $pageName with id: $id');
      },
    ),
  );

  runApp(MyApp());
}

That's it! You now have full notification support with just a few lines of code.

⚠️ Important: Always initialize Firebase BEFORE the notification plugin. The plugin validates Firebase initialization and provides helpful error messages if Firebase is not ready.

📖 Configuration

Complete Configuration Example

// Initialize Firebase first
await Firebase.initializeApp(
  options: DefaultFirebaseOptions.currentPlatform,
);

// Then initialize notification plugin
await FlutterAwesomeNotification.initialize(
  config: FlutterAwesomeNotificationConfig(
    // REQUIRED - Pass initialized Firebase instance
    firebaseApp: Firebase.app(),

    // Channel Configuration
    mainChannelId: 'my_app_channel',
    mainChannelName: 'My App Notifications',
    mainChannelDescription: 'General notifications',
    notificationIcon: '@mipmap/ic_launcher',

    // Callbacks
    onNotificationTap: (data) {
      // Handle notification tap
      print('Tapped: $data');
    },
    onNavigate: (pageName, id, data) {
      // Custom navigation
      // Example: GoRouter.of(context).push('/$pageName/$id');
    },
    customFilter: (messageData) async {
      // Your app-specific filtering logic
      // Example: Filter notifications based on type and user
      final type = messageData['type'];
      final excludeUserId = messageData['excludeUserId'];
      final currentUserId = getCurrentUserId();
      
      // Don't show user's own action notifications
      if (type == 'action_step_completion' && excludeUserId == currentUserId) {
        return false; // Don't show
      }
      
      // Show all other notifications
      return true;
    },
    
    // Logging Options
    
    // Option 1: External logger (recommended - unified logging)
    // Compatible with flutter_awesome_logger and other logging solutions
    externalLogger: logger, // Your logger instance with d(), i(), w(), e() methods
    
    // Option 2: Logger callback (legacy support)
    // logger: (message, {error}) {
    //   myLogger.log(message, error: error);
    // },

    // Advanced
    enableLogging: true,
    requestPermissionOnInit: true,
    showAlertInForeground: true,
    showBadgeInForeground: true,
    playSoundInForeground: true,
    defaultNotificationTitle: 'New Update',
    defaultNotificationBody: 'You have a new update',
    environment: 'production',
  ),
);

Minimal Configuration

For a basic setup, only Firebase options are required:

await FlutterAwesomeNotification.initialize(
  config: FlutterAwesomeNotificationConfig(
    firebaseOptions: DefaultFirebaseOptions.currentPlatform,
  ),
);

🎯 Usage

Access the Service

final notificationService = FlutterAwesomeNotification.instance;

Topic Subscriptions

// Subscribe to a topic
await notificationService.subscribeToTopic('announcements');

// Unsubscribe from a topic
await notificationService.unsubscribeFromTopic('announcements');

Get FCM Token

final token = await notificationService.getDeviceToken();
print('FCM Token: $token');

Show Local Notification

await notificationService.showLocalNotification(
  id: 123,
  title: 'Hello!',
  body: 'This is a local notification',
  data: {'key': 'value'},
);

Schedule Notification

await notificationService.scheduleNotification(
  id: 124,
  title: 'Reminder',
  body: 'Don\'t forget to check this!',
  scheduledDate: DateTime.now().add(Duration(hours: 2)),
  data: {'reminder_type': 'task'},
);

Cancel Notifications

// Cancel specific notification
await notificationService.cancelNotification(123);

// Cancel all notifications
await notificationService.cancelAllNotifications();

Check Notification Permissions

final enabled = await notificationService.areNotificationsEnabled();
if (!enabled) {
  await notificationService.requestPermissions();
}

Unified Logging with External Logger

The plugin supports external logger instances for unified logging across your app:

// 1. Create or use your existing logger instance
class MyLogger {
  void d(String message) => print('🔍 DEBUG: $message');
  void i(String message) => print('ℹ️ INFO: $message');
  void w(String message) => print('⚠️ WARNING: $message');
  void e(String message, {dynamic error, StackTrace? stackTrace}) {
    print('❌ ERROR: $message');
    if (error != null) print('Error: $error');
  }
}

final logger = MyLogger();

// 2. Pass it to the plugin during initialization
await FlutterAwesomeNotification.initialize(
  config: FlutterAwesomeNotificationConfig(
    firebaseOptions: DefaultFirebaseOptions.currentPlatform,
    enableLogging: true,
    externalLogger: logger, // 🎯 Your logger instance
  ),
);

Benefits:

• ✅ Unified logging across all plugins (deeplink, notification, etc.)
• ✅ Compatible with flutter_awesome_logger and other logging solutions
• ✅ Consistent log format and filtering
• ✅ No need for custom callbacks

Supported Log Levels:

• d() - Debug messages (initialization, state changes)
• i() - Info messages (successful operations)
• w() - Warning messages (non-critical issues)
• e() - Error messages (failures, exceptions)

🔍 How It Works

App State Behavior

Foreground (App Open & Visible)

1. FCM Message Received → FirebaseMessaging.onMessage stream
2. Custom Filtering Applied → Action steps, chat rooms, user filtering
3. Local Notification Shown → Via flutter_local_notifications plugin
4. Tap Navigation → onNavigate callback with pageName and id

Background (App Minimized)

1. FCM Message Received → System notification (if notification field present)
2. No Custom Filtering → Plugin doesn't run in background
3. User Taps Notification → FirebaseMessaging.onMessageOpenedApp triggers
4. Navigation on App Open → Same onNavigate callback as foreground

Terminated (App Closed)

1. FCM Message Received → System notification (if notification field present)
2. No Custom Filtering → App not running
3. User Taps Notification → Cold app launch with initial message
4. Navigation on Launch → FirebaseMessaging.getInitialMessage() → onNavigate

Key Differences by App State

Feature	Foreground	Background	Terminated
Custom Filtering	✅ Full	❌ None	❌ None
Notification Display	✅ Plugin	✅ System	✅ System
Navigation	✅ Immediate	✅ On tap	✅ On launch
Plugin Processing	✅ Active	❌ Dormant	❌ Dormant

FCM Payload Requirements

For Background/Terminated delivery:

{
  "notification": {
    "title": "New Message",
    "body": "You have a new message"
  },
  "data": {
    "pageName": "chat-room",
    "id": "room123",
    "type": "message"
  }
}

⚠️ Data-only payloads won't show in background/terminated:

// ❌ Won't show in background/terminated
{
  "data": {
    "pageName": "chat-room",
    "id": "room123"
  }
}

Custom Filtering

The plugin provides a flexible filtering system via the customFilter callback:

customFilter: (messageData) async {
  // Implement your app-specific filtering logic here
  // Return true to show notification, false to hide it
  
  // Example: Filter by notification type
  final type = messageData['type'];
  if (type == 'spam') return false;
  
  // Example: Filter by user
  final userId = messageData['userId'];
  if (userId == currentUserId) return false;
  
  // Example: Filter by app state
  final chatRoomId = messageData['chatRoomId'];
  if (isUserInChatRoom(chatRoomId)) return false;
  
  return true; // Show by default
}

🔄 Migration Guide

From Manual FCM Setup

If you're currently handling FCM manually, migration is straightforward:

// Before (Manual Setup)
FirebaseMessaging.onMessage.listen((message) {
  // Custom filtering logic
  // Manual notification display
  // Navigation handling
});

FirebaseMessaging.onMessageOpenedApp.listen((message) {
  // Navigation from background tap
});

FirebaseMessaging.getInitialMessage().then((message) {
  // Navigation from terminated state
});

// After (Plugin)
await FlutterAwesomeNotification.initialize(
  config: FlutterAwesomeNotificationConfig(
    firebaseOptions: DefaultFirebaseOptions.currentPlatform,
    onNavigate: (pageName, id, data) {
      // Your navigation logic here
      // Works for all app states automatically
    },
  ),
);
// That's it! Plugin handles everything else

📱 Server-Side Configuration

FCM Message Format

For proper filtering, send data-only messages:

{
  "data": {
    "type": "action_step_completion",
    "excludeUserId": "user123",
    "challengeId": "challenge456",
    "pageName": "challenge-details",
    "id": "challenge456",
    "title": "Challenge Update",
    "body": "Someone completed a step!"
  },
  "token": "fcm_device_token"
}

🐛 Troubleshooting

Notifications Not Showing

Foreground Issues:

1. Check if permissions are granted:

   final enabled = await notificationService.areNotificationsEnabled();
   

2. Ensure plugin is initialized before Firebase initialization
3. Check if custom filters are blocking notifications

Background/Terminated Issues:

1. Critical: FCM payload must include notification field:

   {
     "notification": {"title": "Title", "body": "Body"}, // REQUIRED
     "data": {"pageName": "route"}
   }
   

2. Data-only payloads won't show in background/terminated states
3. Custom filtering doesn't work in background/terminated

Navigation Not Working

1. Verify onNavigate callback is set
2. Ensure pageName is in notification data
3. Check navigation implementation in callback

📊 Comparison

Feature	flutter_awesome_notification	Manual Setup
Setup Complexity	⭐️ Simple	⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Complex
Lines of Code	~10 lines	~500+ lines
Filtering System	✅ Built-in	❌ Manual
Topic Management	✅ Built-in	❌ Manual
Documentation	✅ Complete	❌ Variable
Maintenance	✅ Plugin updates	❌ Manual updates

📄 License

MIT License - see LICENSE file for details

🤝 Contributing

We welcome contributions! Please feel free to submit issues, feature requests, or pull requests.

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch (git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature)
3. Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add amazing feature')
4. Push to the branch (git push origin feature/amazing-feature)
5. Open a Pull Request

📞 Support & Issues

• 📖 Documentation: GitHub README
• 🐛 Bug Reports: GitHub Issues
• 💡 Feature Requests: GitHub Issues
• 📧 General Questions: Use GitHub Discussions