Requirements

• A bare React Native app. If using a managed Expo app, see Expo SDK Setup.
• iOS: iOS 11+ or iPadOS 11+ device (iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch) to test on. Xcode 14+ simulator works running iOS 16+
• iOS: mac with Xcode 12+
• Android: Android 5.0+ device or emulator with "Google Play Store (Services)" installed
• Configured OneSignal App and Platform

Configure your OneSignal app and platform

If your team already created an account with OneSignal, ask to be invited as an admin role so you can setup the app. Otherwise, sign up for a free account at onesignal.com to get started!

Details on configuring your OneSignal app (click to expand)

You can setup multiple platforms (iOS, Android, Web, Email, SMS) within the same OneSignal App under Settings > Platforms. If you want to create a new app select New App/Website. If this is your first OneSignal app, you will see the next page.

Name your app and organization something recognizable, then select the platform to setup. You can always set up more platforms in this OneSignal App later within Settings > Platforms.

Click Next: Configure Your Platform.

To configure your app, follow the prompts based on the platforms you support.

• Android: Set up your Android Firebase Credentials
• iOS: p8 Authentication Token or p12 Push Notification Certificate
• Amazon: Generate an Amazon API Key
• Huawei: Authorize OneSignal to send Huawei Push

After you setup your credentials, click Save & Continue.

Choose your Apps Target SDK, the click Save & Continue.

Finally, you will be directed to install the SDK and provided your OneSignal App ID. Make sure to save your App ID as you will need it later.

If you need a teammate or your developer to assist, you can click Invite them to the app and select Done when finished.

Continue through the documentation to finish adding OneSignal to your app.

Setup

1. Add SDK

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

• Yarn: yarn add react-native-onesignal
• npm npm install --save react-native-onesignal

If using React Native version higher than0.60 skip to step 2 because Autolinking is now done automatically.

If using React Native 0.60 or lower, run: react-native link react-native-onesignal

2. iOS setup

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.

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

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.

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.

Add OneSignal SDK to the OneSignalNotificationServiceExtension

In the /ios directory of your project, open the Podfile and add the following outside of the main target (should be at the same level as your main target):

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

# Resolve react_native_pods.rb with node to allow for hoisting
require Pod::Executable.execute_command('node', ['-p',
  'require.resolve(
    "react-native/scripts/react_native_pods.rb",
    {paths: [process.argv[1]]},
  )', __dir__]).strip

platform :ios, min_ios_version_supported
prepare_react_native_project!

# If you are using a `react-native-flipper` your iOS build will fail when `NO_FLIPPER=1` is set.
# because `react-native-flipper` depends on (FlipperKit,...) that will be excluded
#
# To fix this you can also exclude `react-native-flipper` using a `react-native.config.js`
# ```js
# module.exports = {
#   dependencies: {
#     ...(process.env.NO_FLIPPER ? { 'react-native-flipper': { platforms: { ios: null } } } : {}),
# ```
flipper_config = ENV['NO_FLIPPER'] == "1" ? FlipperConfiguration.disabled : FlipperConfiguration.enabled

linkage = ENV['USE_FRAMEWORKS']
if linkage != nil
  Pod::UI.puts "Configuring Pod with #{linkage}ally linked Frameworks".green
  use_frameworks! :linkage => linkage.to_sym
end

target 'AwesomeProject' do
  config = use_native_modules!

  use_react_native!(
    :path => config[:reactNativePath],
    # Enables Flipper.
    #
    # Note that if you have use_frameworks! enabled, Flipper will not work and
    # you should disable the next line.
    :flipper_configuration => flipper_config,
    # An absolute path to your application root.
    :app_path => "#{Pod::Config.instance.installation_root}/.."
  )

  target 'AwesomeProjectTests' do
    inherit! :complete
    # Pods for testing
  end

  post_install do |installer|
    # https://github.com/facebook/react-native/blob/main/packages/react-native/scripts/react_native_pods.rb#L197-L202
    react_native_post_install(
      installer,
      config[:reactNativePath],
      :mac_catalyst_enabled => false
    )
  end
end

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

From your terminal, navigate to this ios folder and run pod install --repo-update

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)
        }
    }  
}

#import <OneSignalExtension/OneSignalExtension.h>

#import "NotificationService.h"

@interface NotificationService ()

@property (nonatomic, strong) void (^contentHandler)(UNNotificationContent *contentToDeliver);
@property (nonatomic, strong) UNNotificationRequest *receivedRequest;
@property (nonatomic, strong) UNMutableNotificationContent *bestAttemptContent;

@end

@implementation NotificationService

- (void)didReceiveNotificationRequest:(UNNotificationRequest *)request withContentHandler:(void (^)(UNNotificationContent * _Nonnull))contentHandler {
    self.receivedRequest = request;
    self.contentHandler = contentHandler;
    self.bestAttemptContent = [request.content mutableCopy];
    
    /* DEBUGGING: Uncomment the 2 lines below and comment out the one above to ensure this extension is executing
                  Note, this extension only runs when mutable-content is set
                  Setting an attachment or action buttons automatically adds this */
    // NSLog(@"Running NotificationServiceExtension");
    // self.bestAttemptContent.body = [@"[Modified] " stringByAppendingString:self.bestAttemptContent.body];
    
    [OneSignalExtension didReceiveNotificationExtensionRequest:self.receivedRequest
                       withMutableNotificationContent:self.bestAttemptContent
                                   withContentHandler:self.contentHandler];
}

- (void)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.
    
    [OneSignalExtension serviceExtensionTimeWillExpireRequest:self.receivedRequest withMutableNotificationContent:self.bestAttemptContent];
    
    self.contentHandler(self.bestAttemptContent);
}

@end

3. Android setup

Ensure that you've followed this guide to set up your [Android Firebase Credentials](https://documentation.onesignal.com/docs/android-firebase-credentials).

By default, notifications will be shown with a small bell icon in the notification shade. Follow the Customize Notification Icons guide to create your own small and large notification icons for your app.

4. Initialization

In your App.js, App.tsx or index.js initialize OneSignal and try the example methods below:

import { LogLevel, OneSignal } from 'react-native-onesignal';

// Add OneSignal within your App's root component
const App = () => {

  // Remove this method to stop OneSignal Debugging
  OneSignal.Debug.setLogLevel(LogLevel.Verbose);

  // OneSignal Initialization
  OneSignal.initialize("ONESIGNAL_APP_ID");

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

  // Method for listening for notification clicks
  OneSignal.Notifications.addEventListener('click', (event) => {
    console.log('OneSignal: notification clicked:', event);
  });

}

🚧

Event Listeners & Components

We suggest using a base/root component to add as an event listener. If you choose a sub-component that is only shown in some situations (such as using a homepage as an event listener), the component may unmount later on as the user navigates elsewhere in your app.

If you encounter problems with one or more of the events listeners, please see our troubleshooting documentation here.

5. Testing

Run your app on a physical device to make sure it builds correctly.

If you used the provided code, then the requestPermission method, should prompt you to subscribe to push notifications. You can always change this later but for now, click "Allow" to subscribe to push notifications.

Check your OneSignal Dashboard Audience > Subscriptions to see your Subscription and click the options button on the left to set yourself as a Test Subscription.

📘

Troubleshooting

If running into issues, see our Mobile Troubleshooting Guide.

Try our example projects on our Github repository.

If stuck, contact support directly or email [email protected] for help.

For faster assistance, please provide:

• Your OneSignal App ID
• Details, logs, and/or screenshots of the issue
• Steps to reproduce

Users & subscriptions

Required if using integrations.
Recommended for messaging across multiple channels (push, email, sms).

If you need user consent before tracking their data. OneSignal provides user consent methods to help delay initialization of our SDK until consent is provided. See Handling Personal Data for details.

External ID & aliases

When a user downloads and opens your mobile app or uninstalls and re-installs your app on the same device, a Subscription and a User is created within the OneSignal app.

You can identify that user across multiple subscriptions by setting the External ID property. The External ID should be distinct user ID representing a single user. We recommend using the same user ID as in your Integrations or main analytics tool.

When you authenticate users in your app, call our login method at any time to link this subscription to a user.

let externalId = "123456789" // You will supply the external id to the OneSignal SDK
OneSignal.login(externalId);

Our mobile SDKs have methods for detecting User state changes that might be helpful for internal tracking.

📘

External ID & custom aliases

If your users have multiple user IDs, we do support additional custom Aliases. However, you should still always set the External ID as this is the main alias we use to identify users. See Users for details.

Add email and phone number subscriptions

Recommended if using email and SMS messaging.

Like push subscriptions, email addresses and phone numbers each are a new subscription within OneSignal. Your email and sms subscriptions will be tied to the same user if created using our SDK or if you setting the External ID. You can Import your current user data and use our APIs and/or SDK methods to capture new email addresses and phone numbers when provided to you by your users.

// Pass in email provided by customer
OneSignal.User.addEmail("[email protected]");

// Pass in phone number provided by customer
OneSignal.User.addSms("+11234567890");

📘

Users & subscriptions

See Users and Subscriptions for more details.

Property & event tags

Tags are custom key : value pairs of String data used for tracking any custom user events and properties. Setting tags is required for more complex Segments and Message Personalization.

For event triggered messages, use tags with Time Operators to note the date and time the event is/occurred and setup automations for sending to those users. See Abandoned Cart Example for details.

OneSignal.User.addTag("key", "value");

📘

Data tags

If you want to store custom data within OneSignal for segmentation, message personalization, and event triggered automation, see Tags for details.

Importing users and subscriptions

If you have a list of user data from a previous source, you can import it into OneSignal following our Import guides.

Message configuration

Common setup items to get the most of your integration.

Deep linking

See our Deep Linking guide to set those up for push and other messaging channels.

👍

Basic SDK setup complete!

For details on the above methods and other methods available, see our Mobile SDK reference.