Setting up push notifications in your iOS application

  • Release version: Xanadu
  • Updated August 1, 2024
  • 2 minutes to read
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    Summary of Setting up push notifications in your iOS application

    This guide outlines the steps necessary for configuring push notifications in your iOS application using ServiceNow. It includes creating the NowPushService, registering and unregistering push tokens, and parsing push notification payloads.

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    Key Features

    • Create NowPushService: Use the NowPush SDK to instantiate the push service in your application.
    • Register the Push Token: Implement a function to register the unique device token with your ServiceNow instance, enabling push notifications for your app.
    • Unregister the Push Token: Ensure you unregister the token when the user logs out or exits the application.
    • Parse Push Payloads: Convert push notification payloads into a NowPushPayload object, useful for handling notifications, particularly for Virtual Agent messages.

    Key Outcomes

    By following these steps, ServiceNow customers can effectively manage push notifications in their iOS applications, ensuring users receive timely updates and can interact with notifications seamlessly. This integration enhances user engagement and improves overall application functionality.

    In addition to the tasks that you must perform on your ServiceNow instance to configure a push notification, you must also include specific code in your iOS application.

    Create the NowSDK NowPushService

    One of the first things that needs to be done in your application is to create a NowPushService. The NowPush SDK provides a factory function to create this service. Add code similar to the following snippet early within your main code body.

    func setup(with instanceURL: URL) -> AnyPublisher<NowService, ConfigurationError> {
      NowPush.makePushService(instanceUrl: instanceURL)
        .mapError { .sdkError($0) }
        .map { $0 as NowService }
        .eraseToAnyPublisher()
    }

    For additional information on the NowPush.makePushService() method, refer to NowPush API - iOS.

    Register the push token

    Apple provides a unique push notification token that identifies the device and application to receive push notifications. In order for an application to receive push notification, you must register this token using the NowPushService. Add a function similar to the following code snippet in your iOS application. This application must be registered with your ServiceNow instance.

    func registerForPushNotifications(deviceToken: Data) {
      pushService.registerPushToken(deviceToken,
          pushAppName: "TestPushApp", // Modify this to be your iOS application name
          environment: environment) { [weak self] result in
        guard let self = self else { return }
        switch result {
        case .success:
          UserDefaults.standard.set(true, forKey: "pushNotificationsRegistered")
          self.pushRegistrationState = .registrationSuccess
        case .failure:
          UserDefaults.standard.set(false, forKey: "pushNotificationsRegistered")
          self.pushRegistrationState = .registrationFailed
        }
      }
    }

    For additional information on the registerPushToken() method, refer to NowPushService - registerPushToken(_token: Data, pushAppName: String, environment: NowPushEnvironment, completion: @escaping (Result<Data, NowPushError>) -> Void).

    Unregister the push token

    You need to unregister a push token whenever the user exits your application, such as when the user logs out. Use code similar to the following code snippet to unregister a push token. Ensure that you change pushAppName to the name of your iOS application.

    func unregisterFromPushNotifications(deviceToken: Data) {
      pushService.unregisterPushToken(deviceToken, pushAppName: "TestPushApp", environment: environment) { [weak self] result in
        guard let self = self else { return }
        switch result {
        case .success:
          UserDefaults.standard.set(false, forKey: "pushNotificationsRegistered")
          self.pushRegistrationState = .unregisterSuccess
        case .failure:
          self.pushRegistrationState = .unregisterFailed
        }
      }
    }

    For additional information on the unregisterPushToken() method, refer to NowPushService - unregisterPushToken(_token: Data, pushAppName: String, environment: NowPushEnvironment, completion: @escaping (Result<Data, NowPushError>) -> Void).

    Parse push payload

    You will need to parse push notification payloads into a NowPushPayload object to collect information and to use the data in other parts of the application. Currently, this is only available for Virtual Agent push notifications. Use code similar to the following

    func userNotificationCenter(_ center: UNUserNotificationCenter,
        didReceive response: UNNotificationResponse,
        withCompletionHandler completionHandler: @escaping () -> Void) {
      guard let pushService = pushService else {
        completionHandler()
        return
      }
      let userInfo = response.notification.request.content.userInfo
      _ = pushService.payloadFromUserInfo(userInfo)
        .flatMap(handleNowPushPayload)
    }
    
    func handleNowPushPayload(_ payload: NowPushPayload) -> Result<Void, NowPushError> {
      guard payload is NowPushVirtualAgent else {
        return .failure(NowPushError.unsupportedData)
      }
      launchVirtualAgent()
      return .success(())
    }