Notifications¶

The notifications module supports push notifications to iOS and Android devices. However, there is some application configuration that needs to be performed before such messages can be sent. This configuration is required so that Playblazer platform can talk to the respective push notification services (APNS - Apple Push Notification Service - for iOS and GCM - Google Cloud Messaging service - for Android).

The UI for this configuration is not yet available - so, these configuration parameters need to be communicated to us over email for now. It will be available along with rest of the UI for registration and application creation with Playblazer platform.

For APNS, we need to store the following details:

• SSL Certificate - development: in PEM format with private key included
• SSL Certificate - production: in PEM format with private key included
• Application bundle name
• Whether to enable push notifications to iOS devices or not
  • maybe required to disable the push notifications to debug issues with the code.

For GCM service, we need to store the following details:

• Sender ID: This is the numeric ID when an API project is created using Google API console (https://code.google.com/apis/console/)

• API Key: The API access key

  • can be obtained from the above URL - after logging in, look under API Access -> Simple API Access under the project properties. We need to use a Server Key.

• Whether to enable push notifications to Android devices

  • useful to disable the push notifications to debug issues with the code.

Apart from this application level configuration, each device that is to receive the push notification needs to be registered with Playblazer platform using its unique token.

The workflow goes something like this:

1. The application notifies the corresponding service (APNS for iOS apps or GCM for Android apps) that it’s interested in receiving push notifications.
2. The service issues a unique device token if it successfully registers the device.
3. The application calls the Register Device Token API below to pass on this token to Playblazer platform along with the user identifier for which to register this device token.
4. Playblazer platform makes note of the device token under the user profile.
5. Playblazer platform can now start pushing notifications to the said device/user profile using the application configuration (API key or PEM certificates) and the device token.
6. When the user wishes to unregister for receiving push notifications (either by uninstalling the application or using some setting in the application), the application can unregister the device token from Playblazer platform using the Unregister Device Token API (covered below). After this, Playblazer platform will stop pushing notifications through APNS or GCM. However, the application can still receive in-app notifications.

curl "http://api.playblazer.com/v1/app/1/notifications/fb/kunalg?secret_key=cb8d878989b9478e96d1b1574a1bf4ec"

{
    "status": "ok",
    "notifications": {
        "count": 6,
        "msgs": ["Message 1", "Message 2", "Message 3", "Message 4", "Message 5", "Message 6"]
    }
}

curl "http://api.playblazer.com/v1/app/1/notifications/fb/kunalg?secret_key=cb8d878989b9478e96d1b1574a1bf4ec"

{
    "status": "ok",
    "notifications": {
        "count": 0,
        "msgs": []
    }
}

curl "http://api.playblazer.com/v1/app/1/notifications/fb/kunalg?secret_key=cb8d878989b9478e96d1b1574a1bf4ec&limit=4"

{
    "status": "ok",
    "notifications": {
        "count": 4,
        "msgs": ["Message 5", "Message 6", "Message 7", "Message 8"]
    }
}

{
    "msg": "Message text or serialized structure",
    "badge": <BADGE_NO>,
    "Sound": <SOUND_TO_PLAY>,
    "custom": {
        "prop1": "val1",
        "prop2": "val2",
        "prop3": "val3",
        "prop4": "val4"
    }
}

{
    "msg": "Message text or serialized structure",
    "badge": <BADGE_NO>,
    "sound": <SOUND_TO_PLAY>,
    "custom": {
        "prop1": "val1",
        "prop2": "val2",
        "prop3": "val3",
        "prop4": "val4"
    },
    "event": {
        "type": "timer",
        "event": {
            "status": "<completed | cancelled>",
            "at_time": <UNIX_TIMESTAMP>,
            "timer_type": "<oneshot | periodic>",
            "timer_id": "<TIMER_ID>"
        },
    }
}

curl -X POST \
    -F "secret_key=cb8d878989b9478e96d1b1574a1bf4ec" \
    -F "os=android"  \
    -F "device_id=APA91bFSXYZW2QF9vYbQmu1Y..."
    "http://api.playblazer.com/v1/app/1/notifications/push/fb/kunalg/register"

{
    "status": "ok"
}

curl -X POST \
    -F "secret_key=cb8d878989b9478e96d1b1574a1bf4ec" \
    -F "os=android"  \
    "http://api.playblazer.com/v1/app/1/notifications/push/fb/kunalg/register"

{
    "status": "error",
    "error": {
        "message": "'device_id' not passed",
        "code": -50002,
        "code_str": "E_MISSING_DEV_ID"
    }
}

curl -X POST \
    -F "secret_key=cb8d878989b9478e96d1b1574a1bf4ec" \
    -F "device_id=APA91bFSXYZW2QF9vYbQmu1Y..."
    "http://api.playblazer.com/v1/app/1/notifications/push/fb/kunalg/register"

{
    "status": "error",
    "error": {
        "message": "'os' not passed",
        "code": -50001,
        "code_str": "E_MISSING_OS_TYPE"
    }
}

curl -X POST \
    -F "secret_key=cb8d878989b9478e96d1b1574a1bf4ec" \
    -F "os=winrt"  \
    -F "device_id=APA91bFSXYZW2QF9vYbQmu1Y..."
    "http://api.playblazer.com/v1/app/1/notifications/push/fb/kunalg/register"

{
    "status": "error",
    "error": {
        "message": "os=winrt not supported yet",
        "code": -50003,
        "code_str": "E_UNSUPPORTED_OS"
    }
}

curl -X POST \
    -F "secret_key=cb8d878989b9478e96d1b1574a1bf4ec" \
    -F "os=android"  \
    "http://api.playblazer.com/v1/app/1/notifications/push/fb/kunalg/unregister"

{
    "status": "ok"
}

curl -X POST \
    -F "secret_key=cb8d878989b9478e96d1b1574a1bf4ec" \
    "http://api.playblazer.com/v1/app/1/notifications/push/fb/kunalg/unregister"

{
    "status": "error",
    "error": {
        "message": "'os' not passed",
        "code": -50001,
        "code_str": "E_MISSING_OS_TYPE"
    }
}

curl -X POST \
    -F "secret_key=cb8d878989b9478e96d1b1574a1bf4ec" \
    -F "os=winrt"  \
    "http://api.playblazer.com/v1/app/1/notifications/push/fb/kunalg/unregister"

{
    "status": "error",
    "error": {
        "message": "os=winrt not supported yet",
        "code": -50003,
        "code_str": "E_UNSUPPORTED_OS"
    }
}

curl -X POST \
    -F "secret_key=cb8d878989b9478e96d1b1574a1bf4ec" \
    -F "msg=level_updated"  \
    -F "custom:cur_level=5" \
    -F "custom:new_level=6" \
    "http://api.playblazer.com/v1/app/1/notifications/push/fb/kunalg/post"

{
    "status": "ok"
}