240

I am using push notification service in my app. When app is in background I am able to see notification on notification screen(screen shown when we swipe down from top of iOS device). But if application is in foreground the delegate method

- (void)application:(UIApplication*)application didReceiveRemoteNotification:(NSDictionary*)userInfo

is getting called but notification is not displayed in notification screen.

I want to show notification on notification screen independent of whether app is in background or foreground. I am tired by searching for a solution. Any help is greatly appreciated.

4
  • 1
    isn't foreground support of push notification for iOS 9.3 and less? Commented Apr 10, 2017 at 11:08
  • @Lauri Lehmijoki link? I didn't find that on official website Commented Jul 10, 2018 at 15:14
  • 2
    I am facing the same problem in ionic... Commented Nov 27, 2019 at 8:43
  • 4
    Latest link to Apple's documentation regarding User Notifications is now here (general) and here (foreground notifications). Commented Jan 2, 2021 at 13:45

21 Answers 21

253

For displaying banner message while app is in foreground, use the following method.

iOS 10, Swift 3/4 :

// This method will be called when app received push notifications in foreground
func userNotificationCenter(_ center: UNUserNotificationCenter, willPresent notification: UNNotification, withCompletionHandler completionHandler: @escaping (UNNotificationPresentationOptions) -> Void) 
{
    completionHandler([.alert, .badge, .sound])
}

iOS 10, Swift 2.3 :

@available(iOS 10.0, *)
func userNotificationCenter(center: UNUserNotificationCenter, willPresentNotification notification: UNNotification, withCompletionHandler completionHandler: (UNNotificationPresentationOptions) -> Void)
{
    //Handle the notification
    completionHandler(
       [UNNotificationPresentationOptions.Alert,
        UNNotificationPresentationOptions.Sound,
        UNNotificationPresentationOptions.Badge])
}

You must also register your app delegate as the delegate for the notifications center:

import UserNotifications

// snip!

class AppDelegate : UIResponder, UIApplicationDelegate, UNUserNotificationCenterDelegate

// snip!

   func application(_ application: UIApplication, didFinishLaunchingWithOptions launchOptions: [UIApplication.LaunchOptionsKey: Any]?) -> Bool {

      // set the delegate in didFinishLaunchingWithOptions
      UNUserNotificationCenter.current().delegate = self
      ...
   }
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17 Comments

When this method is called?
Please guide me i am struck up displaying notification from top when my app background or foreground.Since 2 weeks i am working with push notifications.I am able receive msg from server.
Don't forget to set the Notification Center delegate as app delegate: UNUserNotificationsCenter.current().delegate = self in application didFinishLaunchingWithOptions
For those who still struggling, its UNUserNotificationCenter not UNUserNotificationsCenter with 's' before center
@Achintya Ashok there is a typo on your comment, you added in 's' and Notification, it should be UNUserNotificationCenter.current().delegate = self
|
61

Below code will be work for you :

- (void)application:(UIApplication *)application didReceiveRemoteNotification:(NSDictionary *)userInfo  {
    application.applicationIconBadgeNumber = 0;             
    //self.textView.text = [userInfo description];
    // We can determine whether an application is launched as a result of the user tapping the action
    // button or whether the notification was delivered to the already-running application by examining
    // the application state.

    if (application.applicationState == UIApplicationStateActive) {                
        // Nothing to do if applicationState is Inactive, the iOS already displayed an alert view.                
        UIAlertView *alertView = [[UIAlertView alloc] initWithTitle:@"Did receive a Remote Notification" message:[NSString stringWithFormat:@"Your App name received this notification while it was running:\n%@",[[userInfo objectForKey:@"aps"] objectForKey:@"alert"]]delegate:self cancelButtonTitle:@"OK" otherButtonTitles:nil];
        [alertView show];          
    }    
}

2 Comments

This works. A little more info about what it does; when the application is in the foreground, a native UI alert box appears with the notification text within it (the title is a slightly larger bolded text, and the message is smaller text under that. An 'OK' button to dismiss is at the bottom). The option applicationIconBadgeNumber being set to 0 is to hide the number that appears on top of the app icon in Springboard (for example signifying number of unread messages in a mail app). In this example, I don't know if that option is even needed.
Does this work for both UNnotification AND UILocalNotification?
42

Objective C

enter image description here

For iOS 10 we need integrate willPresentNotification method for show notification banner in foreground.

If app in foreground mode(active)

- (void)userNotificationCenter:(UNUserNotificationCenter* )center willPresentNotification:(UNNotification* )notification withCompletionHandler:(void (^)(UNNotificationPresentationOptions options))completionHandler {
    NSLog( @"Here handle push notification in foreground" ); 
    //For notification Banner - when app in foreground
    
    completionHandler(UNNotificationPresentationOptionAlert);
    
    // Print Notification info
    NSLog(@"Userinfo %@",notification.request.content.userInfo);
}

5 Comments

Just copy the code and don't forget to use UNUserNotificationCenterDelegate protocol.
if I want to show an alert instead of this notification then?
@MihirOza You want UIAlertController?
I know but I don't want notification popup when app is active. I want only alert in my app.
i tried your function but i still can't get push in foreground
37

For anyone might be interested, I ended up creating a custom view that looks like the system push banner on the top but adds a close button (small blue X) and an option to tap the message for custom action. It also supports the case of more than one notification arrived before the user had time to read/dismiss the old ones (With no limit to how many can pile up...)

Link to GitHub: AGPushNote

The usage is basically on-liner:

[AGPushNoteView showWithNotificationMessage:@"John Doe sent you a message!"];

And it looks like this on iOS7 (iOS6 have an iOS6 look and feel...)

enter image description here

2 Comments

Also now reimagined in Swift: github.com/charliewilliams/CWNotificationBanner (by me)
Nice, this shall be useful.
27

If the application is running in the foreground, iOS won't show a notification banner/alert. That's by design. But we can achieve it by using UILocalNotification as follows

  • Check whether application is in active state on receiving a remote
    notification. If in active state fire a UILocalNotification.

    if (application.applicationState == UIApplicationStateActive ) {
    
        UILocalNotification *localNotification = [[UILocalNotification alloc] init];
        localNotification.userInfo = userInfo;
        localNotification.soundName = UILocalNotificationDefaultSoundName;
        localNotification.alertBody = message;
        localNotification.fireDate = [NSDate date];
        [[UIApplication sharedApplication] scheduleLocalNotification:localNotification];
    }
    

SWIFT:

if application.applicationState == .active {
    var localNotification = UILocalNotification()
    localNotification.userInfo = userInfo
    localNotification.soundName = UILocalNotificationDefaultSoundName
    localNotification.alertBody = message
    localNotification.fireDate = Date()
    UIApplication.shared.scheduleLocalNotification(localNotification)
}

12 Comments

I dont think this will help. Local and remote notifications are treated the same and as a result when this local notification fires off and if the app is running then the badge/banner or sound will not be shown/played.
It will also leave an entry in iOS Notification Center
However I wouldn't launch a local notification when a push notification comes. I would launch a similar behaviour instead like @Rick77 mentioned: showing an alert or some toaster. I guess I don't have to go through the operating system again for something that the operating system is asking me to handle.
This solution is working, as local and remote are handled in the same way, where when app is in foreground, creating a location notification when remote notification comes won't show any thing. Using alert or custom alert is the solution
This doesn't actually work. From the UILocalNotification docs: If the app is foremost and visible when the system delivers the notification, the app delegate’s application:didReceiveLocalNotification: is called to process the notification. Use the information in the provided UILocalNotification object to decide what action to take. The system does not display any alerts, badge the app’s icon, or play any sounds when the app is already frontmost.
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24

For Swift 5

1) Confirm the delegate to the AppDelegate with UNUserNotificationCenterDelegate

2) UNUserNotificationCenter.current().delegate = self in didFinishLaunch

3) Implement the below the method in AppDelegate.

func userNotificationCenter(_ center: UNUserNotificationCenter,
                                willPresent notification: UNNotification,
                                withCompletionHandler completionHandler: @escaping (UNNotificationPresentationOptions) -> Void) {
     print("Push notification received in foreground.")
     completionHandler([.alert, .sound, .badge])
}

That's it!

1 Comment

.alert is deprecated in iOS14, use .banner and .list instead. developer.apple.com/documentation/usernotifications/…
22

Xcode 10 Swift 4.2

To show Push Notification when your app is in the foreground -

Step 1 : add delegate UNUserNotificationCenterDelegate in AppDelegate class.

class AppDelegate: UIResponder, UIApplicationDelegate, UNUserNotificationCenterDelegate {

Step 2 : Set the UNUserNotificationCenter delegate

let notificationCenter = UNUserNotificationCenter.current()
notificationCenter.delegate = self

Step 3 : This step will allow your app to show Push Notification even when your app is in foreground

func userNotificationCenter(_ center: UNUserNotificationCenter,
                                willPresent notification: UNNotification,
                                withCompletionHandler completionHandler: @escaping (UNNotificationPresentationOptions) -> Void) {
        completionHandler([.alert, .sound])

    }

Step 4 : This step is optional. Check if your app is in the foreground and if it is in foreground then show Local PushNotification.

func application(_ application: UIApplication,didReceiveRemoteNotification userInfo: [AnyHashable: Any],fetchCompletionHandler completionHandler:@escaping (UIBackgroundFetchResult) -> Void) {

        let state : UIApplicationState = application.applicationState
        if (state == .inactive || state == .background) {
            // go to screen relevant to Notification content
            print("background")
        } else {
            // App is in UIApplicationStateActive (running in foreground)
            print("foreground")
            showLocalNotification()
        }
    }

Local Notification function -

fileprivate func showLocalNotification() {

        //creating the notification content
        let content = UNMutableNotificationContent()

        //adding title, subtitle, body and badge
        content.title = "App Update"
        //content.subtitle = "local notification"
        content.body = "New version of app update is available."
        //content.badge = 1
        content.sound = UNNotificationSound.default()

        //getting the notification trigger
        //it will be called after 5 seconds
        let trigger = UNTimeIntervalNotificationTrigger(timeInterval: 1, repeats: false)

        //getting the notification request
        let request = UNNotificationRequest(identifier: "SimplifiedIOSNotification", content: content, trigger: trigger)

        //adding the notification to notification center
        notificationCenter.add(request, withCompletionHandler: nil)
    }

2 Comments

This is a great example of the need to read all the replies to a thread. Earlier threads mention the method, than the delegate and finally this one all three steps you need to make. THANK YOU Prashant for a complete answer!
Good to know that it helped you. Happy coding
17

If the application is running in the foreground, iOS won't show a notification banner/alert. That's by design. You have to write some code to deal with the situation of your app receiving a notification while it is in the foreground. You should show the notification in the most appropriate way (for example, adding a badge number to a UITabBar icon, simulating a Notification Center banner, etc.).

5 Comments

but in iOS mail application they have done it, you will get new notification banner/alert while mail app in foreground
@Ab'initio I don't know for sure, but in iOS all applications are not created equal. I suppose the stock Mail app is using some kind of private API that is not available in the public SDK. Or maybe the notification code is making an exception with Apple's Mail app id.
What?? I am about to have a harpy rage attack.
@DanielMartín could u tell me how will i receive a notification in foreground state in iOS 8.0
Bear in mind that this answer is true only for iOS 9 and lower. Since iOS 10, Apple introduced a new API to handle notifications (the UNUserNotificationCenter API). Along with the new API, now it is possible to show the notifications if the application is in the foreground. So if you are confused because the different answers in this question, it is because some of the answers are too old, and only describe the behavior for iOS 9 and before, whereas the other ones do not take into account that the UNUserNotificationCenter is only available from iOS 10.
9

You can create your own notification that mimics the banner alert.

One way is to create a custom uiview that looks like the banner and can animate and respond to touches. With this in mind you can create even better banners with even more functionality.

Or you can look for an api that does it for you and add them as podfiles to your project.

Here are a couple that I have used:

https://github.com/terryworona/TWMessageBarManager

https://github.com/toursprung/TSMessages

2 Comments

While this link may answer the question, it is better to include the essential parts of the answer here and provide the link for reference. Link-only answers can become invalid if the linked page changes.
TWMessageBarManager can be easily invoked and used via appdelegate itself as it uses singleton design pattern. Thanks for the links.
8

Here is the code to receive Push Notification when app in active state (foreground or open). UNUserNotificationCenter documentation

@available(iOS 10.0, *)
func userNotificationCenter(center: UNUserNotificationCenter, willPresentNotification notification: UNNotification, withCompletionHandler completionHandler: (UNNotificationPresentationOptions) -> Void)
{
     completionHandler([UNNotificationPresentationOptions.Alert,UNNotificationPresentationOptions.Sound,UNNotificationPresentationOptions.Badge])
}

If you need to access userInfo of notification use code: notification.request.content.userInfo

3 Comments

where to write this function in view did load? or in view controller class?
what if i can call it in a function as a nested function would it be called>??
put this in AppDelegate class. You don't have to call this function.
4

Adding that completionHandler line to delegate method solved same problem for me:

//Called when a notification is delivered to a foreground app.
@available(iOS 10.0, *)
func userNotificationCenter(_ center: UNUserNotificationCenter, willPresent notification: UNNotification, withCompletionHandler completionHandler: @escaping (UNNotificationPresentationOptions) -> Void) {

completionHandler([.alert, .badge, .sound])
} 

1 Comment

I have added this method.Even why I am not able to receive push notification ?
4

It's simply:

class AppDelegate: NSObject, UIApplicationDelegate, UNUserNotificationCenterDelegate {
    func application(
        _ application: UIApplication,
        didFinishLaunchingWithOptions launchOptions: [UIApplication.LaunchOptionsKey : Any]? = nil
    ) -> Bool {
        UNUserNotificationCenter.current().delegate = self
        UIApplication.shared.registerForRemoteNotifications() .. etc
        return true
    }

    func userNotificationCenter(
        _ center: UNUserNotificationCenter,
        willPresent notification: UNNotification,
        withCompletionHandler completionHandler: @escaping (UNNotificationPresentationOptions) -> Void
    ) {
        completionHandler([.banner, .badge, .sound, .list])
    }
}

Don't forget .list.

If your app is in the background, this will appear correctly on the phone. If your app is in the foreground, this will appear correctly on the phone (ie in front of your app).

Sounds, audio, notifications center, everything works perfectly. There are no issues. There is nothing to branch on, just call the completion handler with all options.

Tip: when you are typing "userNotificationCe.." for autocompletion, be aware there's an alternate aysnc-style selection. You want the one above, not the async one.

// Not the one you want from autocompletion
func userNotificationCenter(_ center: UNUserNotificationCenter,
            willPresent notification: UNNotification)
            async -> UNNotificationPresentationOptions {
}

2 Comments

And If I want to show in background and in foreground?
@submariner (nice watch) it does both correctly, nothing to do.
3

For swift 5 to parse PushNotification dictionary

    func application(_ application: UIApplication, didReceiveRemoteNotification data: [AnyHashable : Any]) {
            if application.applicationState == .active {
                if let aps1 = data["aps"] as? NSDictionary {
                    if let dict = aps1["alert"] as? NSDictionary {
                        if let strTitle = dict["title"] as? String , let strBody = dict["body"] as? String {
                            if let topVC = UIApplication.getTopViewController() {
                                //Apply your own logic as per requirement
                                print("strTitle ::\(strTitle) , strBody :: \(strBody)")
                            }
                        }
                    }
                }
            }
        }

To fetch top viewController on which we show topBanner

extension UIApplication {

    class func getTopViewController(base: UIViewController? = UIApplication.shared.keyWindow?.rootViewController) -> UIViewController? {

        if let nav = base as? UINavigationController {
            return getTopViewController(base: nav.visibleViewController)

        } else if let tab = base as? UITabBarController, let selected = tab.selectedViewController {
            return getTopViewController(base: selected)

        } else if let presented = base?.presentedViewController {
            return getTopViewController(base: presented)
        }
        return base
    }
}

1 Comment

The guard statement is your friend :-)
2

In your app delegate use bellow code

import UIKit
import UserNotifications
@UIApplicationMain
class AppDelegate: UIResponder, UIApplicationDelegate, UNUserNotificationCenterDelegate {
 var currentToken: String?
 var window: UIWindow?
 func application(_ application: UIApplication, didFinishLaunchingWithOptions launchOptions: [UIApplicationLaunchOptionsKey: Any]?) -> Bool {
        // Override point for customization after application launch.
        application.registerForRemoteNotifications()
        let center = UNUserNotificationCenter.current()
        center.requestAuthorization(options: [.alert, .sound, .badge]) { (granted, error) in

            // Enable or disable features based on authorization.
            if granted == true
            {
                print("Allow")
                UIApplication.shared.registerForRemoteNotifications()
            }
            else
            {
                print("Don't Allow")
            }
        }
        UNUserNotificationCenter.current().delegate = self

        return true
    }
func application(_ application: UIApplication, didRegisterForRemoteNotificationsWithDeviceToken deviceToken: Data){
        let tokenParts = deviceToken.map { data -> String in
            return String(format: "%02.2hhx", data)
        }
        let token = tokenParts.joined()
        currentToken = token  //get device token to delegate variable

    }
 public class var shared: AppDelegate {
        return UIApplication.shared.delegate as! AppDelegate
    }
 func userNotificationCenter(_ center: UNUserNotificationCenter, willPresent notification: UNNotification, withCompletionHandler completionHandler: @escaping (UNNotificationPresentationOptions) -> Void) {
         completionHandler([.alert, .badge, .sound])
    }
}

Comments

1

Best Approach for this is to add UNUserNotificationCenterDelegate in AppDelegate by using extension AppDelegate: UNUserNotificationCenterDelegate That extension tells the app to be able to get notification when in use

And implement this method

func userNotificationCenter(_ center: UNUserNotificationCenter, willPresent notification: UNNotification, withCompletionHandler completionHandler: @escaping (UNNotificationPresentationOptions) -> Void) {
        completionHandler(.alert)
    }

This method will be called on the delegate only if the application is in the Foreground.

So The final Implementation:

extension AppDelegate: UNUserNotificationCenterDelegate {
    func userNotificationCenter(_ center: UNUserNotificationCenter, willPresent notification: UNNotification, withCompletionHandler completionHandler: @escaping (UNNotificationPresentationOptions) -> Void) {
        completionHandler(.alert)
    }
}

And To call this you must set the delegate in AppDelegate in didFinishLaunchingWithOptions add this line

UNUserNotificationCenter.current().delegate = self

You can modify

completionHandler(.alert) 

with

completionHandler([.alert, .badge, .sound]))

Comments

1

100% working tested

First import

import UserNotifications

then add delegate in class

UNUserNotificationCenterDelegate


class AppDelegate: UIResponder, UIApplicationDelegate, UNUserNotificationCenterDelegate

Following method is responsible while app is open and notifcation comes.

willPresent

   @available(iOS 10.0, *)
    func userNotificationCenter(_ center: UNUserNotificationCenter, willPresent notification: UNNotification, withCompletionHandler completionHandler: @escaping (UNNotificationPresentationOptions) -> Void) {
            let content = notification.request.content

           let alertVC = UIAlertController.init(title: title, message: body, preferredStyle: .alert)

            alertVC.addAction(UIAlertAction.init(title: appLan_share.Ok_txt, style: .default, handler: {
                _ in
                   //handle tap here or navigate somewhere…..                
            }))

            vc?.present(alertVC, animated: true, completion: nil)

            print("notification Data: \(content.userInfo.values)")
                completionHandler([.alert, .sound])



}

you can also handle application state by checking current application state.

Additionally if your app is not running then following method is responsible for handling push notification

didReceive

func userNotificationCenter(_ center: UNUserNotificationCenter, didReceive response: UNNotificationResponse, withCompletionHandler completionHandler: @escaping () -> Void) {
        let userInfo = response.notification.request.content.userInfo
        let aps = userInfo["aps"] as? [String: Any]
        let alert = aps?["alert"] as? [String: String]

}

Comments

1

Works in iOS 14+ as well, no need to handle any alerts or views manually simply let iOS do its thing

Inside where we reive the notification replace with below code

func userNotificationCenter(
    _ center: UNUserNotificationCenter,
    willPresent notification: UNNotification,
    withCompletionHandler completionHandler:
    @escaping (UNNotificationPresentationOptions) -> Void
  ) {
    
    if (UIApplication.shared.applicationState == .inactive || UIApplication.shared.applicationState == .background) {
      if #available(iOS 14.0, *) {
        completionHandler([[.banner, .sound]])
      } else {
        completionHandler([.alert, .sound])
      }
    } else {
      if #available(iOS 14.0, *) {
        completionHandler([[.banner]])
      } else {
        completionHandler([.alert])
      }
    }
  }

Main thing to lookout for is not to use sound while in forground it wont show banner

Comments

0

As mentioned above, you should use UserNotification.framework to achieve this. But for my purposes I have to show it in app anyway and wanted to have iOS 11 style, so I've created a small helper view, maybe would be useful for someone.

GitHub iOS 11 Push Notification View.

Comments

0

I don't see an answer here for SwiftUI, so here's what worked for me with SwiftUI.

The big difference is that SwiftUI doesn't give you an AppDelegate class by default, so you have to add one like this (you can either put it in a separate file, or even just put it after the closing brace of the main app struct for quick testing).

Not sure why you need the appDelegate delcared at the top of the struct, and also set the delegate within the application func, but I did need both or it wouldn't work.

@main
struct MyApp: App {
    @UIApplicationDelegateAdaptor(AppDelegate.self) var appDelegate
...
}

class AppDelegate: NSObject, UIApplicationDelegate, UNUserNotificationCenterDelegate {
    func application(
            _ application: UIApplication,
            didFinishLaunchingWithOptions launchOptions: [UIApplication.LaunchOptionsKey : Any]? = nil
        ) -> Bool {
            UNUserNotificationCenter.current().delegate = self
            return true
        }
    
    func userNotificationCenter(_ center: UNUserNotificationCenter, willPresent notification: UNNotification, withCompletionHandler completionHandler: @escaping (UNNotificationPresentationOptions) -> Void)
    {
        completionHandler([.banner, .badge, .sound, .list])
    }
}

Now if you create a button on your view to trigger the notification, you will see it appear on top of your foreground app:

Button("Show notification Log") {
   let content = UNMutableNotificationContent()
   content.title = "Notification Test"
   content.body = "Notification Body"
                                
   let trigger = UNTimeIntervalNotificationTrigger(timeInterval:1, repeats: false)
                                let request = UNNotificationRequest(identifier: "NotificationTestOnButton", content: content, trigger: trigger)
                                
  UNUserNotificationCenter.current().add(request) { error in
    if let error = error {
        print("Error scheduling notification: \(error)")
    } else {
        print("Notification scheduled successfully.")
    }
  }
}

Comments

-2

If your application is in foreground state, it means you are currently using the same app. So there is no need to show notification on the top generally.

But still if you want to show notification in that case you have to create your custom Alert View or Custom View like Toast or something else to show to the user that you have got a notification.

You can also show a badge on the top if you have such kind of feature in your app.

Comments

-3

As @Danial Martine said iOS won't show a notification banner/alert. That's by design. But if really have to do it then there is one way . I have also achieve this by same.

1.Download the parse frame work from Parse FrameWork

2.Import #import <Parse/Parse.h>

3.Add following code to your didReceiveRemoteNotification Method

 - (void)application:(UIApplication *)application
didReceiveRemoteNotification:(NSDictionary *)userInfo
{
    [PFPush handlePush:userInfo];
}

PFPush will take care how to handle the remote notification . If App is in foreground this shows the alert otherwise it shows the notification at the top.

2 Comments

alert? you mean an alert view?
but how to get call back for alert button actions

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