This guide is for Flutterflow mobile app setup. If you have a Flutterflow site, please see our Web SDK setup guide.

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Requirements

• Flutterflow plan: Standard or higher
• Configured OneSignal app and platform

iOS Requirements

• macOS with Xcode 14+ (setup instructions use Xcode 16.2)
• Device with iOS 12+, iPadOS 12+, or Xcode simulator running iOS 16.2+
• CocoaPods 1.16.2+

Android Requirements

• Android 7.0+ device or emulator with Google Play Store (Services) installed

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Configure your OneSignal app and platform

Required setup for push notifications

To start sending push notifications with OneSignal, you must first configure your OneSignal app with all the platforms your support—Apple (APNs), Google (FCM), Huawei (HMS), and/or Amazon (ADM).

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Setup

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1. Create a new custom action

In your Flutterflow project, navigate to Custom Code, then click the +Add button and select Action.

Under Action settings on the right-hand toolbar, click Add Dependency and enter the following dependency and click refresh to add it to the action:

  dependencies:
  	onesignal_flutter: ^5.1.2

In the Action Code, under the pre-loaded code add the following, then save and compile your action.

Replace YOUR_APP_ID with your OneSignal App ID found in your OneSignal dashboard Settings > Keys & IDs.

  import 'package:onesignal_flutter/onesignal_flutter.dart';

  Future onesignal() async {
    //Remove this method to stop OneSignal Debugging
    OneSignal.Debug.setLogLevel(OSLogLevel.verbose);

    OneSignal.initialize("YOUR_APP_ID");

    // The promptForPushNotificationsWithUserResponse function will show the iOS or Android push notification prompt. We recommend removing the following code and instead using an In-App Message to prompt for notification permission
    OneSignal.Notifications.requestPermission(true);
  }

Next, click on the main.dart file in the left-hand tool bar and click the + icon next to Initial Actions in the right-hand bar and click on the onesignal action that has just been created.

This will add the action to you app and cause the OneSignal SDK to be initialised when the app runs:

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2. Exporting the project

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3. iOS Setup

The downloaded project will likely not be ready to launch in iOS. Before setting up the OneSignal specific additions, you will need to make sure that the project is fully built. To do so:

• Open up a Terminal window, cd (change directory) to the ios folder of your downloaded project.
• In Terminal type flutter build iosand press enter. Wait for the build to complete, this may take some time depending on the size of your project.
• Still in Terminal type pod install and press enter. Wait for the pod install to complete.

Open the .xcworkspace file in Xcode located your project’s ios folder.

Select the root project > your main app target > Signing & Capabilities.

If you do not see Push Notifications enabled, click + Capability and add Push Notifications. Ensure that you enter the correct details for your Team and Bundle Identifier.

Click + Capability again and add Background Modes. Then check Remote notifications.

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Add Notification Service Extension

The OneSignalNotificationServiceExtension allows your iOS application to receive rich notifications with images, buttons, and badges. It’s also required for OneSignal’s Confirmed Delivery analytics features.

In Xcode Select File > New > Target…

Select Notification Service Extension then Next.

Enter the product name as OneSignalNotificationServiceExtension and press Finish.

Do not activate the scheme on the dialog that is shown after selecting Finish.

Press Cancel on the “Activate scheme” prompt.

Select the OneSignalNotificationServiceExtension target and General settings.

Set Minimum Deployments to be the same value as your Main Application Target. This should be iOS 11 or higher.

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Add App Groups

App Groups allow your app and the OneSignalNotificationServiceExtension to communicate when a notification is received, even if your app is not active. This is required for badges and Confirmed Deliveries.

Select your Main App Target > Signing & Capabilities > + Capability > App Groups.

Within App Groups, click the + button.

Set the App Groups container to be group.YOUR_BUNDLE_IDENTIFIER.onesignal where YOUR_BUNDLE_IDENTIFIER is the same as your Main Application “Bundle Identifier”.

Press OK and repeat for the OneSignalNotificationServiceExtension Target.

Select the OneSignalNotificationServiceExtension Target > Signing & Capabilities > + Capability > App Groups.

Within App Groups, click the + button.

Set the App Groups container to be group.YOUR_BUNDLE_IDENTIFIER.onesignal where YOUR_BUNDLE_IDENTIFIER is the same as your Main Application “Bundle Identifier”.

DO NOT INCLUDE OneSignalNotificationServiceExtension.

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Add OneSignal SDK to the OneSignalNotificationServiceExtension

Update your ios/Podfile to include:

target 'OneSignalNotificationServiceExtension' do
  pod 'OneSignalXCFramework', '>= 5.0.0', '< 6.0'
end

At the top of your Podfile make sure you have platform :ios, '11.0'. - Or a newer iOS version if your app requires it.

# Uncomment this line to define a global platform for your project
platform :ios, '11.0'

Open terminal, cd to the ios directory, and run pod install.

If you see the error below, add use_frameworks! to the top of your podfile and try again.

- Runner (true) and OneSignalNotificationServiceExtension (false) do not both set use_frameworks!.

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OneSignalNotificationServiceExtension Code

In the Xcode project navigator, select the OneSignalNotificationServiceExtension folder and open the NotificationService.m or NotificationService.swift file.

Replace the whole file’s contents with the following code.

import UserNotifications

import OneSignalExtension

class NotificationService: UNNotificationServiceExtension {
    
    var contentHandler: ((UNNotificationContent) -> Void)?
    var receivedRequest: UNNotificationRequest!
    var bestAttemptContent: UNMutableNotificationContent?
    
    override func didReceive(_ request: UNNotificationRequest, withContentHandler contentHandler: @escaping (UNNotificationContent) -> Void) {
        self.receivedRequest = request
        self.contentHandler = contentHandler
        self.bestAttemptContent = (request.content.mutableCopy() as? UNMutableNotificationContent)
        
        if let bestAttemptContent = bestAttemptContent {
            /* DEBUGGING: Uncomment the 2 lines below to check this extension is executing
                          Note, this extension only runs when mutable-content is set
                          Setting an attachment or action buttons automatically adds this */
            // print("Running NotificationServiceExtension")
            // bestAttemptContent.body = "[Modified] " + bestAttemptContent.body
            
            OneSignalExtension.didReceiveNotificationExtensionRequest(self.receivedRequest, with: bestAttemptContent, withContentHandler: self.contentHandler)
        }
    }
    
    override func serviceExtensionTimeWillExpire() {
        // Called just before the extension will be terminated by the system.
        // Use this as an opportunity to deliver your "best attempt" at modified content, otherwise the original push payload will be used.
        if let contentHandler = contentHandler, let bestAttemptContent =  bestAttemptContent {
            OneSignalExtension.serviceExtensionTimeWillExpireRequest(self.receivedRequest, with: self.bestAttemptContent)
            contentHandler(bestAttemptContent)
        }
    }  
}

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Testing the OneSignal SDK integration

This guide helps you verify that your OneSignal SDK integration is working correctly by testing push notifications, subscription registration, and in-app messaging.

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Check mobile subscriptions

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Set up test subscriptions

Test subscriptions are helpful for testing a push notification before sending a message.

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Send test push via API

curl -X \
POST --url 'https://api.onesignal.com/notifications' \
 --header 'content-type: application/json; charset=utf-8' \
 --header 'authorization: Key YOUR_APP_API_KEY' \
 --data \
 '{
  "app_id": "YOUR_APP_ID",
  "target_channel": "push",
  "name": "Testing basic setup",
  "headings": {
  	"en": "👋"
  },
  "contents": {
    "en": "Hello world!"
  },
  "included_segments": [
    "Test Users"
  ],
  "ios_attachments": {
    "onesignal_logo": "https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/11823027?s=200&v=4"
  },
  "big_picture": "https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/11823027?s=200&v=4"
}'

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Send an in-app message

In-app messages let you communicate with users while they are using your app.

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User identification

Previously, we demonstrated how to create mobile Subscriptions. Now we’ll expand to identifying Users across all their subscriptions (including push, email, and SMS) using the OneSignal SDK. We’ll cover External IDs, tags, multi-channel subscriptions, privacy, and event tracking to help you unify and engage users across platforms.

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Assign External ID

Use an External ID to identify users consistently across devices, email addresses, and phone numbers using your backend’s user identifier. This ensures your messaging stays unified across channels and 3rd party systems (especially important for Integrations).

Set the External ID with our SDK’s login method each time they are identified by your app.

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Add data tags

Tags are key-value pairs of string data you can use to store user properties (like username, role, or preferences) and events (like purchase_date, game_level, or user interactions). Tags power advanced Message Personalization and Segmentation allowing for more advanced use cases.

Set tags with our SDK addTag and addTags methods as events occur in your app.

In this example, the user reached level 6 identifiable by the tag called current_level set to a value of 6.

We can create a segment of users that have a level of between 5 and 10, and use that to send targeted and personalized messages:

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Add email and/or SMS subscriptions

Earlier we saw how our SDK creates mobile subscriptions to send push and in-app messages. You can also reach users through emails and SMS channels by creating the corresponding subscriptions.

• Use the addEmail method to create email subscriptions.
• Use the addSms method to create SMS subscriptions.

If the email address and/or phone number already exist in the OneSignal app, the SDK will add it to the existing user, it will not create duplicates.

You can view unified users via Audience > Users in the dashboard or with the View user API.

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Privacy & user consent

To control when OneSignal collects user data, use the SDK’s consent gating methods:

• setConsentRequired(true): Prevents data collection until consent is given.
• setConsentGiven(true): Enables data collection once consent is granted.

See our Privacy & security docs for more on:

• Data collected by the SDK
• Handling personal data

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Prompt for push permissions

Instead of calling requestPermission() immediately on app open, take a more strategic approach. Use an in-app message to explain the value of push notifications before requesting permission.

For best practices and implementation details, see our Prompt for push permissions guide.

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Listen to push, user, and in-app events

Use SDK listeners to react to user actions and state changes.

The SDK provides several event listeners for you to hook into. See our SDK reference guide for more details.

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Push notification events

• addClickListener(): Detect when a notification is tapped. Helpful for Deep Linking.
• addForegroundLifecycleListener(): Control how notifications behave in foreground.

For full customization, see Mobile Service Extensions.

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User state changes

• addObserver() for user state: Detect when the External ID is set.
• addPermissionObserver(): Track the user’s specific interaction with the native push permission prompt.
• addObserver() for push subscription: Track when the push subscription status changes.

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In-app message events

• addClickListener(): Handle in-app click actions. Ideal for deep linking or tracking events.
• addLifecycleListener(): Track full lifecycle of in-app messages (shown, clicked, dismissed, etc.).

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Advanced setup & capabilities

Explore more capabilities to enhance your integration:

• 🔁 Migrating to OneSignal from another service
• 🌍 Location tracking
• 🔗 Deep Linking
• 🔌 Integrations
• 🧩 Mobile Service Extensions
• 🛎️ Action buttons
• 🌐 Multi-language messaging
• 🛡️ Identity Verification
• 📊 Custom Outcomes
• 📲 Live Activities

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Mobile SDK setup & reference

Make sure you’ve enabled all key features by reviewing the Mobile push setup guide.

For full details on available methods and configuration options, visit the Mobile SDK reference.