Notifications

Before you can start using Ably’s push notification services, you must configure the credentials for the third-party services you wish to integrate, such as FCM for Android devices, APNS for iOS devices, or Web Push for web browsers.

• Go to the Firebase Console.
• Click add project and follow the steps to create and manage service account keys.
• Download your service account JSON file.
• In your Ably dashboard, navigate to the notifications tab under your app settings.
• Go to push notifications setup, click configure push.
• Add your service account JSON file to the setting up Firebase cloud messaging section.

• Go to the Apple Developer Program.
• Use the Apple developer portal to create a push notification service certificate for your app.
• Export the certificate as a .p12 file.
• Next, you can either import the .p12 cert or create a PEM file and copy it into your Ably dashboard:

• Import the .p12 file:
  • In your Ably dashboard, navigate to the Notifications tab under your app settings.
  • Go to push notifications setup, click configure push and scroll to the setting up Apple push notification service section.
  • Select the .p12 file you exported and enter the password you created during the export process.
  • Click save. You should receive confirmation that the certificate has been successfully imported.
  • To further confirm the import, refresh the page and check if the PEM cert and private key text boxes are now populated with the imported key details.
• Create a PEM file from the .p12 file:
  • Using OpenSSL, convert the recently exported .p12 file (io.ably.test.p12) to a PEM file with the following command: $ openssl pkcs12 -in ./io.ably.test.p12 -out ./io.ably.test.pem -nodes -clcerts.
  • Open the PEM file in your text editor.
  • Copy everything between and including -----BEGIN CERTIFICATE----- and -----END CERTIFICATE-----, and paste it into the PEM cert text box of the Apple push notification service section of your Ably notifications app dashboard.
  • Similarly, copy everything between and including -----BEGIN PRIVATE KEY----- and -----END PRIVATE KEY-----, and paste it into the PEM private key text box of the same section. Then, click Save.

The Push inspector tool enables you to manually send push notifications by specifying the required data and notification fields. This tool helps test and debug your notification setup before going live.

The API Key authenticates your requests when sending push notifications. Choose from the list of API keys associated with your Ably account. Each key has different permissions and scopes, so ensure you select the correct one for your notification tasks.

Define the content of your push notification using the fields below:

Direct your push notifications to specific targets within the Ably platform. Select the appropriate target according to your notification strategy:

The Push Inspector widget allows you to monitor and manage your push notification infrastructure directly from the Ably dashboard. It provides insights into channel subscriptions, device registrations, and client registrations, making it easier to debug and optimize your notification setup.