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Requirements

  • A bare React Native app. For managed Expo apps, use the Expo SDK Setup
  • React Native 0.79+ with New Architecture enabled
  • 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

Configure your OneSignal app and platform

Configure your OneSignal app with the platforms you support — Apple (APNs), Google (FCM), Huawei (HMS), and/or Amazon (ADM).
If your organization already has a OneSignal account, ask to be invited to the Organization. Otherwise, sign up for a free account to get started.
1

Create or select your app

Create a new app by clicking New App/Website, or add a platform to an existing app in Settings > Push & In-App. Select the platform(s) you want to configure and click Next: Configure Your Platform.
OneSignal dashboard showing the new app setup flow with Organization name, app name, and channel selection

Setting up your first OneSignal app, Organization, and channel.

2

Configure platform credentials

Enter the credentials for your platform:Click Save & Continue after entering your credentials.
3

Save your App ID and install the SDK

Your App ID is displayed on the final screen. Copy and save it — you need it when initializing the SDK. Select your SDK platform, then follow the setup guide.
OneSignal dashboard showing the App ID and team invite option after setup

Save your App ID and invite additional team members.


SDK setup

1. Add SDK

Add the react-native-onesignal package to your project.

Optional: Disable the location module

Starting with react-native-onesignal 5.5.0, you can exclude OneSignal’s native location module from iOS and Android builds when your app does not use location features. By default, the package includes the native location module so OneSignal.Location works without extra setup. Set ONESIGNAL_DISABLE_LOCATION=true before resolving or building dependencies for CocoaPods and Gradle. The value is case-insensitive. You can also set it to 1.
When disabled, OneSignal.Location.requestPermission() and OneSignal.Location.setShared() no-op on native builds without the location module. OneSignal.Location.isShared() resolves false.

Use modular CocoaPods subspecs in extension targets

If your iOS Podfile explicitly adds OneSignalXCFramework to a Notification Service Extension or other extension target, use a modular subspec. The aggregate pod 'OneSignalXCFramework' declaration resolves OneSignalComplete, which includes OneSignalLocation and defeats ONESIGNAL_DISABLE_LOCATION.
Optionally, if your app also has a Live Activity widget extension, add only its required subspec:
If you change this value or Podfile subspecs in an existing project, reinstall CocoaPods dependencies in a shell where the variable is exported:
After reinstalling, verify that neither OneSignalComplete nor OneSignalLocation appears in Podfile.lock:
No matching lines means the location module was excluded. Rich notifications, confirmed delivery, and Live Activities continue to work with the modular subspecs above. Gradle re-reads the variable on each configuration, so a clean build with the variable set is enough on Android.
When using Xcode or Android Studio, launch the IDE from a terminal where ONESIGNAL_DISABLE_LOCATION is exported. IDEs launched from the Dock or Finder do not inherit variables set only in your shell profile. On CI, key CocoaPods and Gradle caches on the value of ONESIGNAL_DISABLE_LOCATION.

2. Initialize SDK

In your App.tsx, App.js, or index.js file initialize OneSignal with the provided methods. Replace YOUR_APP_ID with your OneSignal App ID found in your OneSignal dashboard Settings > Keys & IDs.
If you don’t have access to the OneSignal app, ask your Team Members to invite you.
App.tsx
Reusable listeners with useCallback If your listener needs access to props or state, define it outside useEffect with useCallback so the same reference is used to add and remove the listener. Passing different function references to addEventListener and removeEventListener is a silent no-op — the listener will not be removed and can fire after the component unmounts.

Android setup

Make sure your OneSignal app is configured for the Android platform using your Firebase credentials. Set up your notification icons to match your app’s branding. If this step is skipped, a default bell icon will display for your push notifications. Build for Android At this point, you should be able to build and run your app on a physical Android device or emulator without issues.
After confirming that your Android build works:

iOS setup

Make sure your OneSignal app is configured for the iOS platform using either the p8 Token (Recommended) or p12 Certificate. Follow these steps to add push notifications to your iOS app, including support for Badges, Confirmed receipt, and images.

1. Add Push Notifications capability to app target

The Push Notifications capability allows your app to register a push token and receive notifications.
  1. Open your app’s .xcworkspace file in Xcode.
  2. Select your app target > Signing & Capabilities
  3. Click + Capability and add Push Notifications capability

The app target is given Push Notifications capability.

2. Add Background Modes capability to app target

This enables your app to wake in the background when push notifications arrive.
  1. Add Background Modes capability
  2. Enable Remote notifications

The app target is given Remote Notifications background execution mode.

3. Add app target to App Group

App Groups allow data sharing between your app and the Notification Service Extension. Required for confirmed receipt and Badges.
  1. Add App Groups capability
  2. In the App Groups capability click +
  3. Add a new container ID in format: group.your_bundle_id.onesignal
  • Keep group. and .onesignal prefix and suffix. Replace your_bundle_id with your app’s bundle identifier.
  • For example, bundle identifier com.onesignal.MyApp, will have the container name group.com.onesignal.MyApp.onesignal.

The app target is part of the App Group.

Your App Group name must exactly match your bundle ID’s spelling and capitalization across all targets.
Each OneSignal app must use its own unique App Group ID. Don’t reuse the same App Group across multiple apps, even ones from the same developer account or provisioning profile. Apps sharing a container share the same badge count and confirmed receipt data.

4. Add Notification Service Extension

The Notification Service Extension (NSE) enables rich notifications and confirmed receipt analytics.
  1. In Xcode: File > New > Target…
  2. Select Notification Service Extension, then Next.
  3. Set the product name to OneSignalNotificationServiceExtension and press Finish.
  4. Press Don’t Activate on the Activate scheme prompt.

Select the Notification Service Extension target.

Name the Notification Service Extension .

Cancel activation to continue debugging your app target.

Set the OneSignalNotificationServiceExtension Minimum Deployment Target to match your main app (iOS 15+ recommended).
If you’re using CocoaPods, set the deployment version in your Podfile as well.

Set the same deployment target as the main app.

5. Add NSE target to app group

Use the same App Group ID you added in step 3.
  1. Go to OneSignalNotificationServiceExtension > Signing & Capabilities
  2. Add App Groups
  3. Add the exact same group ID
If you are using a custom App Group name and not group.your_bundle_id.onesignal then make sure to add your App Group ID to both the App Target and OneSignalNotificationServiceExtension Target’s Info.plist! See step 3 for more information.

The NSE now belongs to the same app group as your app target.

6. Update NSE code

  1. Navigate to the OneSignalNotificationServiceExtension folder
  2. Replace the contents of the NotificationService.swift or NotificationService.m file with the following:

Navigate to your NotificationService file.

You should see an error because the OneSignal package is not installed. This will be resolved in the next step.

This file shows an error until you install the package in the next step.

7. Add OneSignal to the NSE target

If your SDK uses Swift Package Manager (SPM) for iOS dependencies, you can skip this step. The OneSignal package is already resolved and available to all targets.
Update your ios/Podfile to include the modular OneSignalXCFramework/OneSignal subspec. Do not use the aggregate pod 'OneSignalXCFramework' declaration. The aggregate pod resolves OneSignalComplete, which transitively includes OneSignalLocation and can reintroduce location even when you exclude the location module.
Open your project in the terminal and run:
shell

Common pod install errors

You may run into the following errors, here is how you can resolve them.
CocoaPods relies on the xcodeproj Ruby gem to read your Xcode project files. As of now, the latest xcodeproj release does not recognize object version 70, which was introduced by Xcode 16. So when CocoaPods tries to open your .xcodeproj file, it crashes with this error.
  1. Close Xcode.
  2. Navigate to your project’s ios/<your-app>.xcodeproj/project.pbxproj file.
  3. Change this line: objectVersion = 70;
  4. Replace it with: objectVersion = 55;
  5. Save, close, and rerun cd ios pod install cd ..

Build for iOS

You should now be able to build and run your app on a real iOS device or iOS simulator (16.2+).

Common iOS build errors

  1. Delete your Podfile.lock
  2. Delete your Pods folder
  3. Delete your .xcworkspace
  4. Pod install
  5. Cmd + Shift + K to Clean the build and then retry building
If these steps do not resolve the error, build directly from the Xcode, then find the build error in the report navigator pictured below.
You may see this error when building with Xcode 15+, due to a default configuration change affecting cross platform systems.
  1. Open your .xcworkspace folder in Xcode and navigate to your app target > Build Phases.
  2. You should have a phase called “Embed Foundation Extensions” or “Embed App Extensions”.
  3. Drag and move this build phase to above “Run Script”.
  4. Build and run your app. The error should be resolved.

Correct order of Build Phases in Xcode.

Uncheck Copy only when installing.

RuntimeError - PBXGroup attempted to initialize an object with unknown ISA PBXFileSystemSynchronizedRootGroup from attributes: {"isa"=>"...", "exceptions"=>["//", "..."], "explicitFileTypes"=>{}, "explicitFolders"=>[], "path"=>"OneSignalNotificationServiceExtension", "sourceTree"=>"<group>"}
Fix:
  1. Find the folder listed under “path” in the error
  2. In Xcode project sidebar, right-click the folder
  3. Select Convert to Group

Path error for PBXGroup.


Convert folder to group.

After confirming that your iOS build works, continue with Testing the OneSignal SDK integration.

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.
If you are testing with an Android emulator, it should start with a cold boot.
  1. Go to Device Manager in Android Studio.
  2. Select your emulator device and click Edit.
  3. Go to Additional Settings or More.
  4. Set the Boot option to Cold Boot.
  5. Save changes and restart the emulator.

Check mobile subscriptions

1

Launch your app on a test device.

The native push permission prompt should appear automatically if you added the requestPermission method during initialization.

iOS and Android push permission prompts

2

Check your OneSignal dashboard

Before accepting the prompt, check the OneSignal dashboard:
  • Go to Audience > Subscriptions.
  • You should see a new entry with the status “Never Subscribed”.

Dashboard showing subscription with 'Never Subscribed' status

3

Return to the app and tap Allow on the prompt.

4

Refresh the OneSignal dashboard Subscription's page.

The subscription’s status should now show Subscribed.

Dashboard showing subscription with 'Subscribed' status

You have successfully created a mobile subscription. Mobile subscriptions are created when users first open your app on a device or if they uninstall and reinstall your app on the same device.

Set up test users

test users are helpful for testing a push notification before sending a message.
1

Add to Test Users.

In the dashboard, next to the subscription, click the Options (three dots) button and select Add to Test Users.

Adding a device to Test Users

2

Name your subscription.

Name the subscription so you can easily identify your device later in the test users tab.
3

Create a test users segment.

Go to Audience > Segments > New Segment.
4

Name the segment.

Name the segment Test Users (the name is important because it will be used later).
5

Add the Test Users filter and click Create Segment.

Creating a 'Test Users' segment with the Test Users filter

You have successfully created a segment of test users. We can now test sending messages to this individual device and groups of test users.

Send test push via API

1

Get your App API Key and App ID.

In your OneSignal dashboard, go to Settings > Keys & IDs.
2

Update the provided code.

Replace YOUR_APP_API_KEY and YOUR_APP_ID in the code below with your actual keys. This code uses the Test Users segment we created earlier.
3

Run the code.

Run the code in your terminal.
4

Check images and confirmed receipt.

If all setup steps were completed successfully, the test users should receive a notification with an image included:

Push notification with image on iOS and Android

Images will appear small in the collapsed notification view. Expand the notification to see the full image.
5

Check for confirmed receipt.

In your dashboard, go to Delivery > Sent Messages, then click the message to view stats.You should see the confirmed stat, meaning the device received the push.
You have successfully sent a notification via our API to a segment.
  • No image received? Your Notification Service Extension might be missing.
  • No confirmed receipt? Review the troubleshooting guide here.
  • Having issues? Copy-paste the api request and a log from start to finish of app launch into a .txt file. Then share both with support@onesignal.com.

Send an in-app message

In-app messages let you communicate with users while they are using your app.
1

Close or background your app on the device.

This is because users must meet the in-app audience criteria before a new session starts. In OneSignal, a new session starts when the user opens your app after it has been in the background or closed for at least 30 seconds. For more details, see our guide on how in-app messages are displayed.
2

Create an in-app message.

  • In your OneSignal dashboard, navigate to Messages > In-App > New In-App.
  • Find and select the Welcome message.
  • Set your Audience as the Test Users segment we used previously.

Targeting the 'Test Users' segment with an in-app message

3

Customize the message content if desired.

Example customization of in-app Welcome message

4

Set Trigger to 'On app open'.

5

Schedule frequency.

Under Schedule > How often do you want to show this message? select Every time trigger conditions are satisfied.

In-app message scheduling options

6

Make message live.

Click Make Message Live so it is available to your Test Users each time they open the app.
7

Open the app and see the message.

After the in-app message is live, open your app. You should see it display:

Welcome in-app message shown on devices

Not seeing the message?
  • Start a new session
    • You must close or background the app for at least 30 seconds before reopening. This ensures a new session is started.
    • For more, see how in-app messages are displayed.
  • Still in the Test Users segment?
    • If you reinstalled or switched devices, re-add the device to Test Users and confirm it’s part of the Test Users segment.
  • Having issues?
    • Follow Getting a Debug Log while reproducing the steps above. This will generate additional logging that you can share with support@onesignal.com and we will help investigate what’s going on.
You have successfully setup the OneSignal SDK and learned important concepts like:Continue with this guide to identify users in your app and setup additional features.

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.

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.
OneSignal generates unique read-only IDs for subscriptions (Subscription ID) and users (OneSignal ID).As users download your app on different devices, subscribe to your website, and/or provide you email addresses and phone numbers outside of your app, new subscriptions will be created.Setting the External ID via our SDK is highly recommended to identify users across all their subscriptions, regardless of how they are created.

Add 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.

A user profile in OneSignal with a tag called "current_level" set to "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:

Segment editor showing a segment targeting users with a current_level value of greater than 4 and less than 10


Screenshot showing a push notification targeting the Level 5-10 segment with a personalized message


The push notification is received on an iOS and Android device with the personalized content

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. 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.

A user profile with push, email, and SMS subscriptions unified by External ID

Best practices for multi-channel communication
  • Obtain explicit consent before adding email or SMS subscriptions.
  • Explain the benefits of each communication channel to users.
  • Provide channel preferences so users can select which channels they prefer.

To control when OneSignal collects user data, use the SDK’s consent gating methods: See our Privacy & security docs for more on:

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.

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.

Push notification events

For full customization, see Mobile Service Extensions.

User state changes

In-app message events


Advanced setup & capabilities

Explore more capabilities to enhance your integration:

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.
Congratulations! You’ve successfully completed the Mobile SDK setup guide.


If your app requires user consent before collecting data (e.g., for GDPR compliance), you can delay OneSignal’s data collection until consent is granted. Call setConsentRequired before initialize.
When consent is required but not yet given, the SDK initializes but does not send any data to OneSignal. Call setConsentGiven(true) once the user opts in. See Handling Personal Data for more details.

Troubleshooting

Need help?Chat with our Support team or email support@onesignal.comPlease include:
  • Details of the issue you’re experiencing and steps to reproduce if available
  • Your OneSignal App ID
  • The External ID or Subscription ID if applicable
  • The URL to the message you tested in the OneSignal Dashboard if applicable
  • Any relevant logs or error messages
We’re happy to help!