How to develop push notifications for android without using Google cloud messaging?

Question

I need to develop a push notification system for Android applications, and not use Google's cloud messaging service (security considerations). Here, the server will notify all those devices that are currently logged into a specific Android application.

I know the question is pretty broad, but can anyone point me to possible solutions.

Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

You can use MQTT to create a push notification service. (Note: apps like Facebook use MQTT for push notifications.)

So, to create a push notification service, you need a MQTT broker running on a server (I recommend MQTT Mosquitto and a bachground service running on an Android device.

Code for the MQTT service (can be used both on the server and on the client sode):

/** * MQTTManager class provide methods to connect, subscribe, publish, and listen to MQTT broker */ public class MQTTManager { private final String TAG = "MQTT"; private final String BROKER_URL = "http://mqtt-dashboard.com/info/broker:1883"; //change it to your broker URL private MqttClient mqttClient; private String CLIENT_ID = "123" private String topic = "ABC" private int keepAliveInterval=60*5; private MqttConnectOptions opt; /** * Constructor * @throws MqttException */ protected MQTTManager() throws MqttException { opt=new MqttConnectOptions(); opt.setKeepAliveInterval(keepAliveInterval); opt.setConnectionTimeout(10); mqttClient = new MqttClient(BROKER_URL, CLIENT_ID, new MemoryPersistence()); mqttClient.setCallback(new MQTTCallback(BROKER_URL, CLIENT_ID, topic)); } /** * Connects to the MQTT broker service on server side. */ public void connect(){ try { mqttClient.connect(opt); } catch (MqttException e) { Log.e(TAG, "Error while connecting to mqtt broker: "+e.toString()); } } /** * Subscribes the device to the topic provided via constructor */ public void subscribeDevice(){ try { mqttClient.subscribe(this.topic); } catch (MqttException e) { Log.e(TAG, "Error while subscribing to mqtt broker: "+e.toString()); } } /** * Publishes the message to the MQTT broker service. * @param String Message that needs to be published */ public void publishToDevice(String message){ try { MqttTopic mtopic=mqttClient.getTopic(this.topic); MqttMessage msg= new MqttMessage(message.getBytes()); mtopic.publish(msg); } catch (MqttException e) { Log.e(TAG, "Error while publishing to mqtt broker: "+e.toString()); } } /** * Inner class for mqtt callback */ public class MQTTCallback implements MqttCallback{ final private String TAG = "MQTT"; private String BROKER_URL; private String CLIENT_ID; private String TOPIC; private MqttClient mqttClient; public MQTTCallback(String BROKER_URL, String CLIENT_ID, String TOPIC) { this.BROKER_URL= BROKER_URL; this.CLIENT_ID = CLIENT_ID; this.TOPIC=TOPIC; } public void connectionLost(Throwable arg0) { connect(); } public void deliveryComplete(MqttDeliveryToken arg0) { if(arg0==null) System.out.print("Message delivered"); } public void messageArrived(MqttTopic arg0, MqttMessage arg1) throws Exception { // MESSAGE ARRIVES HERE!! argo-> device id & arg1 --> message } } } 

To find out more, you can check the MQTT push notification service implemented in this project: SenSocial , which I implemented.

If you do not have a broker running on your server, you can try the publicly available broker MQTT Mosquitto: MQTT BROKER

Answer 2

I would recommend not using GCM. Maintaining a constant connection with your phone to the push server is expensive (in terms of battery usage, as well as actual money), and GCM does it for you for free. It is also unclear how you plan to use a persistent socket listener in the background. Probably at some point he will be killed by the frame due to memory pressure. GCM runs in a privileged process that is much harder to kill.

Security, I would recommend encrypting all the payload that you have before sending it to the device, and then decrypting it on the phone itself. It will be cheaper in terms of development and battery costs.