Sending APNS notifications with Java

Question

I am currently developing Java web services that run on WebLogic on a server. There is a requirement that I need to send push notifications to mobile devices running on iOS. I do know what is required for developing GCM/FCM for sending notifications to Andriod devices. For iOS, I know there is APNS, but what Java library can I use to send the notifications?

Also, what are the required things (registration ID, etc) needed in order to send via APNS?

Any example codes?

I have googled and found out about java-apns and javapns, but I am not even sure if they are obsolete already.

Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

I can help you with what all are the things which are must to implement APNS. Please note that with the introduction of new HTTP/2.0 APNS API, a lot of things have changed which used to be before. (Good news is : Things have really become easy & simple now)

Would advise you to go through the below link:

https://developer.apple.com/library/ios/documentation/NetworkingInternet/Conceptual/RemoteNotificationsPG/Chapters/Introduction.html

APNS Prerequisites:

1) APNS SSL Certificate, Key (Same for sandbox & production now, previously used to be different for production/development/voip etc. This is the most important step, as most of the issues related to APNS are due to the wrong certificate generation)

2) device token (specific to per iOS app running on an iOS device, your iOS client app needs to register with APNS to get this device token. Also device token is normally different for development & production environments. So please make sure your using the right token)

Once you have above mentioned certificate,key & device token for your iOS App, you can send APNS notifications from your application provider using APNS interface.

Please note that, device token can change anytime (normally during iOS software upgrade), so its always advisable to obtain fresh device token every time your app is launched.

On your query related to java library for apns, please note new APNS interface has a dependency on HTTP/2.0 . Both open source as well as enterprise versions (like AWS, Urban airship etc) are available which you can select based on your needs. Not sure if AWS supports new HTTP/2.0 interface. However its always advisable to use the latest APNS interface as per Apple guidelines.

Optionally, you can also use GCM as well to implement APNS. https://developers.google.com/cloud-messaging/ios/start

However, your iOS app may need to register to GCM as well for the same. Basically the iOS device token will be mapped to GCM device token. However, you would still need to generate certificate,key as well as device token as I have mentioned.

I hope it answers your query.

_Ayush