How to get push notifications working in Virola mobile clients
Push notifications are sent to Virola client apps on mobile devices by Virola server on events such as new messages or calls. Virola server uses APNS and Google GCM (FCM) services to send push notifications. Push notifications are encrypted and transmitted securely through APNS and GCM gateways.
If you don't get notifications there are several things you need to check:
1. Make sure that push notifications are enabled on your mobile device
For iPhone
- Follow Settings on your iPhone
- Select "Notifications" there
- Scroll down and choose Virola 2 from the list
- Ensure that "Allow Notifications" option is turned on
For Android
Depending on your Android device, instructions will be slightly different. You need to open Notifications in Settings or Settings / Apps for Virola and ensure that Notifications are turned on there.
2. Make sure that push notifications are enabled in your Virola Server settings
To manage push notifications configuration for your Virola you need to log into Virola client as the server administrator and do the following:
- Follow Administration / Push Notifications menu
- Make sure both "Enable push notifications for iOS" and "Enable push notifications for Android" checkboxes are checked
- Apply changes if any were made
3. Check your server's internet access and firewall settings
Make sure that the services used for push notifications are not blocked by the security system on the Virola Server machine, and that the server has access to the internet.
To send push notifications your server must be able to access the following resources over the HTTPS protocol:
- https://fcm.googleapis.com/v1/projects/virola-messenger/messages:send - for sending push notifications to the Android app
- https://api.push.apple.com - for sending push notifications to the iOS app
- https://virola.io/pushtoken/api/v1/push_tokens - for retrieving push tokens
These endpoints must be allowed in your server machine's firewall.
If you configure the Virola Server to operate only within a local network without internet access, push notifications will not work because these endpoints will be unreachable. To enable push notifications, you must allow outbound access from the server to these resources.
How to test push notifications
It is possible to test push notifications through Virola client. To see if push notifications work on your mobile devices you need to do the following:
- Log into Virola client as administrator
- Follow Administration / Push Notifications menu
- Find "Test push notifications" section there
- Click "Myself" or "All Users" button to send test push notification to yourself only or to all users connected to your Virola server