Send messages to multiple devices

Firebase Cloud Messaging provides two ways to target a message to multiple devices:

• Topic messaging, which allows you to send a message to multiple devices that have opted in to a particular topic.
• Device group messaging, which allows you to send a message to multiple devices that belong to a group you define.

This tutorial focuses on sending topic messages from your app server using the HTTP or XMPP protocols for FCM, and receiving and handling them in an android app. We'll cover message handling for both backgrounded and foregrounded apps. All the steps to achieve this are covered, from setup to verification.

Set up the SDK

This section may cover steps you already completed if you have set up an Android client app for FCM or worked through the steps to Send your First Message.

Before you begin

• Install or update Android Studio to its latest version.

• Make sure that your app meets the following requirements:

  • Targets API level 16 (Jelly Bean) or later
  • Uses Gradle 4.1 or later

• Set up a device or emulator for running your app.
  Emulators must use an emulator image with Google Play.

• Sign into Firebase using your Google account.

If you don't already have an Android project and just want to try out a Firebase product, you can download one of our quickstart samples.

Create a Firebase project

Before you can add Firebase to your Android app, you need to create a Firebase project to connect to your Android app. Visit Understand Firebase Projects to learn more about Firebase projects.

Register your app with Firebase

After you have a Firebase project, you can add your Android app to it.

Visit Understand Firebase Projects to learn more about best practices and considerations for adding apps to a Firebase project, including how to handle multiple build variants.

1. In the center of the Firebase console's project overview page, click the Android icon (plat_android) to launch the setup workflow.

   If you've already added an app to your Firebase project, click Add app to display the platform options.

2. Enter your app's package name in the Android package name field.

   • A package name is sometimes referred to as an application ID.

   • Find this package name in your module (app-level) Gradle file, usually app/build.gradle (example package name: com.yourcompany.yourproject).

3. (Optional) Enter other app information as prompted by the setup workflow.

   • App nickname: An internal, convenience identifier that is only visible to you in the Firebase console

   • Debug signing certificate SHA-1: A SHA-1 hash is required by Firebase Authentication (when using Google Sign In or phone number sign in) and Firebase Dynamic Links.

4. Click Register app.

Add a Firebase configuration file

1. Add the Firebase Android configuration file to your app:

   1. Click Download google-services.json to obtain your Firebase Android config file (google-services.json).

      • You can download your Firebase Android config file again at any time.
      • Make sure the config file is not appended with additional characters, like (2).

   2. Move your config file into the module (app-level) directory of your app.

2. To enable Firebase products in your app, add the google-services plugin to your Gradle files.

   1. In your root-level (project-level) Gradle file (build.gradle), add rules to include the Google Services plugin. Check that you have Google's Maven repository, as well.

      buildscript {
      
        repositories {
          // Check that you have the following line (if not, add it):
          google()  // Google's Maven repository
        }
      
        dependencies {
          // ...
      
          // Add the following line:
          classpath 'com.google.gms:google-services:4.3.3'  // Google Services plugin
        }
      }
      
      allprojects {
        // ...
      
        repositories {
          // Check that you have the following line (if not, add it):
          google()  // Google's Maven repository
          // ...
        }
      }
      

   2. In your module (app-level) Gradle file (usually app/build.gradle), add a line to the bottom of the file.

      apply plugin: 'com.android.application'
      
      android {
        // ...
      }
      
      // Add the following line to the bottom of the file:
      apply plugin: 'com.google.gms.google-services'  // Google Play services Gradle plugin
      

Add Firebase SDKs to your app

You can add any of the supported Firebase products to your Android app.

1. To your module (app-level) Gradle file (usually app/build.gradle), add the dependencies for the Firebase products that you want to use in your app.

   For an optimal experience with Firebase Cloud Messaging, we recommend enabling Google Analytics in your project. As part of setting up Google Analytics, you need to add the Firebase SDK for Google Analytics to your app.

   Analytics enabled

   dependencies {
     // ...
   
     // Add the Firebase SDK for Google Analytics
     implementation 'com.google.firebase:firebase-analytics:17.2.1'
   
     // Add the SDK for Firebase Cloud Messaging
     implementation 'com.google.firebase:firebase-messaging:20.0.1'
   
     // Getting a "Could not find" error? Make sure that you've added
     // Google's Maven repository to your root-level build.gradle file
   }
   

   Analytics not enabled

   dependencies {
     // ...
   
     // Add the SDK for Firebase Cloud Messaging
     implementation 'com.google.firebase:firebase-messaging:20.0.1'
   
     // Getting a "Could not find" error? Make sure that you've added
     // Google's Maven repository to your root-level build.gradle file
   }
   

2. Sync your app to ensure that all dependencies have the necessary versions.

3. If you added Analytics, run your app to send verification to Firebase that you've successfully integrated Firebase. Otherwise, you can skip the verification step.

   Your device logs will display the Firebase verification that initialization is complete. If you ran your app on an emulator that has network access, the Firebase console notifies you that your app connection is complete.

Subscribe the client app to a topic

Client apps can subscribe to any existing topic, or they can create a new topic. When a client app subscribes to a new topic name (one that does not already exist for your Firebase project), a new topic of that name is created in FCM and any client can subsequently subscribe to it.

To subscribe to a topic, the client app calls Firebase Cloud Messaging subscribeToTopic() with the FCM topic name. This method returns a Task, which can be used by a completion listener to determine whether the subscription succeeded:

FirebaseMessaging.getInstance().subscribeToTopic("weather")
        .addOnCompleteListener(new OnCompleteListener<Void>() {
            @Override
            public void onComplete(@NonNull Task<Void> task) {
                String msg = getString(R.string.msg_subscribed);
                if (!task.isSuccessful()) {
                    msg = getString(R.string.msg_subscribe_failed);
                }
                Log.d(TAG, msg);
                Toast.makeText(MainActivity.this, msg, Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
            }
        });
MainActivity.java

FirebaseMessaging.getInstance().subscribeToTopic("weather")
        .addOnCompleteListener { task ->
            var msg = getString(R.string.msg_subscribed)
            if (!task.isSuccessful) {
                msg = getString(R.string.msg_subscribe_failed)
            }
            Log.d(TAG, msg)
            Toast.makeText(baseContext, msg, Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show()
        }
MainActivity.kt

To unsubscribe, the client app calls Firebase Cloud Messaging unsubscribeFromTopic() with the topic name.

Receive and handle topic messages

FCM delivers topic messages in the same way as other downstream messages.

To receive messages, use a service that extends FirebaseMessagingService. Your service should override the onMessageReceived and onDeletedMessages callbacks. It should handle any message within 20 seconds of receipt (10 seconds on Android Marshmallow). The time window may be shorter depending on OS delays incurred ahead of calling onMessageReceived. After that time, various OS behaviors such as Android O's background execution limits may interfere with your ability to complete your work. For more information see our overview on message priority.

onMessageReceived is provided for most message types, with the following exceptions:

• Notification messages delivered when your app is in the background. In this case, the notification is delivered to the device’s system tray. A user tap on a notification opens the app launcher by default.

• Messages with both notification and data payload, when received in the background. In this case, the notification is delivered to the device’s system tray, and the data payload is delivered in the extras of the intent of your launcher Activity.

In summary:

Edit the app manifest

To use FirebaseMessagingService, you need to add the following in your app manifest:

<service
    android:name=".java.MyFirebaseMessagingService"
    android:exported="false">
    <intent-filter>
        <action android:name="com.google.firebase.MESSAGING_EVENT" />
    </intent-filter>
</service>
AndroidManifest.xml

Also, you're recommended to set default values to customize the appearance of notifications. You can specify a custom default icon and a custom default color that are applied whenever equivalent values are not set in the notification payload.

Add these lines inside the application tag to set the custom default icon and custom color:

<!-- Set custom default icon. This is used when no icon is set for incoming notification messages.
     See README(https://goo.gl/l4GJaQ) for more. -->
<meta-data
    android:name="com.google.firebase.messaging.default_notification_icon"
    android:resource="@drawable/ic_stat_ic_notification" />
<!-- Set color used with incoming notification messages. This is used when no color is set for the incoming
     notification message. See README(https://goo.gl/6BKBk7) for more. -->
<meta-data
    android:name="com.google.firebase.messaging.default_notification_color"
    android:resource="@color/colorAccent" />
AndroidManifest.xml

Android displays the custom default icon for

• All notification messages sent from the Notifications composer.
• Any notification message that does not explicitly set the icon in the notification payload.

Android uses the custom default color for

• All notification messages sent from the Notifications composer.
• Any notification message that does not explicitly set the color in the notification payload.

If no custom default icon is set and no icon is set in the notification payload, Android displays the application icon rendered in white.

Override onMessageReceived

By overriding the method FirebaseMessagingService.onMessageReceived, you can perform actions based on the received RemoteMessage object and get the message data:

@Override
public void onMessageReceived(RemoteMessage remoteMessage) {
    // ...

    // TODO(developer): Handle FCM messages here.
    // Not getting messages here? See why this may be: https://goo.gl/39bRNJ
    Log.d(TAG, "From: " + remoteMessage.getFrom());

    // Check if message contains a data payload.
    if (remoteMessage.getData().size() > 0) {
        Log.d(TAG, "Message data payload: " + remoteMessage.getData());

        if (/* Check if data needs to be processed by long running job */ true) {
            // For long-running tasks (10 seconds or more) use WorkManager.
            scheduleJob();
        } else {
            // Handle message within 10 seconds
            handleNow();
        }

    }

    // Check if message contains a notification payload.
    if (remoteMessage.getNotification() != null) {
        Log.d(TAG, "Message Notification Body: " + remoteMessage.getNotification().getBody());
    }

    // Also if you intend on generating your own notifications as a result of a received FCM
    // message, here is where that should be initiated. See sendNotification method below.
}
MyFirebaseMessagingService.java

override fun onMessageReceived(remoteMessage: RemoteMessage) {
    // ...

    // TODO(developer): Handle FCM messages here.
    // Not getting messages here? See why this may be: https://goo.gl/39bRNJ
    Log.d(TAG, "From: ${remoteMessage.from}")

    // Check if message contains a data payload.
    remoteMessage.data.isNotEmpty().let {
        Log.d(TAG, "Message data payload: " + remoteMessage.data)

        if (/* Check if data needs to be processed by long running job */ true) {
            // For long-running tasks (10 seconds or more) use WorkManager.
            scheduleJob()
        } else {
            // Handle message within 10 seconds
            handleNow()
        }
    }

    // Check if message contains a notification payload.
    remoteMessage.notification?.let {
        Log.d(TAG, "Message Notification Body: ${it.body}")
    }

    // Also if you intend on generating your own notifications as a result of a received FCM
    // message, here is where that should be initiated. See sendNotification method below.
}
MyFirebaseMessagingService.kt

Override onDeletedMessages

Handle notification messages in a backgrounded app

When your app is in the background, Android directs notification messages to the system tray. A user tap on the notification opens the app launcher by default.

This includes messages that contain both notification and data payload (and all messages sent from the Notifications console). In these cases, the notification is delivered to the device's system tray, and the data payload is delivered in the extras of the intent of your launcher Activity.

For insight into message delivery to your app, see the FCM reporting dashboard, which records the number of messages sent and opened on iOS and Android devices, along with data for "impressions" (notifications seen by users) for Android apps.

Background Restricted Apps (Android P or newer)

Build send requests

After you have created a topic, either by subscribing client app instances to the topic on the client side or via the server API, you can send messages to the topic. In your sending logic on the backend, specify the desired topic name as shown:

// The topic name can be optionally prefixed with "/topics/".
var topic = 'highScores';

var message = {
  data: {
    score: '850',
    time: '2:45'
  },
  topic: topic
};

// Send a message to devices subscribed to the provided topic.
admin.messaging().send(message)
  .then((response) => {
    // Response is a message ID string.
    console.log('Successfully sent message:', response);
  })
  .catch((error) => {
    console.log('Error sending message:', error);
  });

// The topic name can be optionally prefixed with "/topics/".
String topic = "highScores";

// See documentation on defining a message payload.
Message message = Message.builder()
    .putData("score", "850")
    .putData("time", "2:45")
    .setTopic(topic)
    .build();

// Send a message to the devices subscribed to the provided topic.
String response = FirebaseMessaging.getInstance().send(message);
// Response is a message ID string.
System.out.println("Successfully sent message: " + response);
FirebaseMessagingSnippets.java

# The topic name can be optionally prefixed with "/topics/".
topic = 'highScores'

# See documentation on defining a message payload.
message = messaging.Message(
    data={
        'score': '850',
        'time': '2:45',
    },
    topic=topic,
)

# Send a message to the devices subscribed to the provided topic.
response = messaging.send(message)
# Response is a message ID string.
print('Successfully sent message:', response)
cloud_messaging.py

// The topic name can be optionally prefixed with "/topics/".
topic := "highScores"

// See documentation on defining a message payload.
message := &messaging.Message{
	Data: map[string]string{
		"score": "850",
		"time":  "2:45",
	},
	Topic: topic,
}

// Send a message to the devices subscribed to the provided topic.
response, err := client.Send(ctx, message)
if err != nil {
	log.Fatalln(err)
}
// Response is a message ID string.
fmt.Println("Successfully sent message:", response)
messaging.go

// The topic name can be optionally prefixed with "/topics/".
var topic = "highScores";

// See documentation on defining a message payload.
var message = new Message()
{
    Data = new Dictionary<string, string>()
    {
        { "score", "850" },
        { "time", "2:45" },
    },
    Topic = topic,
};

// Send a message to the devices subscribed to the provided topic.
string response = await FirebaseMessaging.DefaultInstance.SendAsync(message);
// Response is a message ID string.
Console.WriteLine("Successfully sent message: " + response);

POST https://fcm.googleapis.com/v1/projects/myproject-b5ae1/messages:send HTTP/1.1

Content-Type: application/json
Authorization: Bearer ya29.ElqKBGN2Ri_Uz...HnS_uNreA
{
  "message":{
    "topic" : "foo-bar",
    "notification" : {
      "body" : "This is a Firebase Cloud Messaging Topic Message!",
      "title" : "FCM Message"
      }
   }
}

curl -X POST -H "Authorization: Bearer ya29.ElqKBGN2Ri_Uz...HnS_uNreA" -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d '{
  "message": {
    "topic" : "foo-bar",
    "notification": {
      "body": "This is a Firebase Cloud Messaging Topic Message!",
      "title": "FCM Message"
    }
  }
}' https://fcm.googleapis.com/v1/projects/myproject-b5ae1/messages:send HTTP/1.1

To send a message to a combination of topics, specify a condition, which is a boolean expression that specifies the target topics. For example, the following condition will send messages to devices that are subscribed to TopicA and either TopicB or TopicC:

"'TopicA' in topics && ('TopicB' in topics || 'TopicC' in topics)"

FCM first evaluates any conditions in parentheses, and then evaluates the expression from left to right. In the above expression, a user subscribed to any single topic does not receive the message. Likewise, a user who does not subscribe to TopicA does not receive the message. These combinations do receive it:

• TopicA and TopicB
• TopicA and TopicC

You can include up to five topics in your conditional expression.

To send to a condition:

// Define a condition which will send to devices which are subscribed
// to either the Google stock or the tech industry topics.
var condition = "'stock-GOOG' in topics || 'industry-tech' in topics";

// See documentation on defining a message payload.
var message = {
  notification: {
    title: '$GOOG up 1.43% on the day',
    body: '$GOOG gained 11.80 points to close at 835.67, up 1.43% on the day.'
  },
  condition: condition
};

// Send a message to devices subscribed to the combination of topics
// specified by the provided condition.
admin.messaging().send(message)
  .then((response) => {
    // Response is a message ID string.
    console.log('Successfully sent message:', response);
  })
  .catch((error) => {
    console.log('Error sending message:', error);
  });

// Define a condition which will send to devices which are subscribed
// to either the Google stock or the tech industry topics.
String condition = "'stock-GOOG' in topics || 'industry-tech' in topics";

// See documentation on defining a message payload.
Message message = Message.builder()
    .setNotification(new Notification(
        "$GOOG up 1.43% on the day",
        "$GOOG gained 11.80 points to close at 835.67, up 1.43% on the day."))
    .setCondition(condition)
    .build();

// Send a message to devices subscribed to the combination of topics
// specified by the provided condition.
String response = FirebaseMessaging.getInstance().send(message);
// Response is a message ID string.
System.out.println("Successfully sent message: " + response);
FirebaseMessagingSnippets.java

# Define a condition which will send to devices which are subscribed
# to either the Google stock or the tech industry topics.
condition = "'stock-GOOG' in topics || 'industry-tech' in topics"

# See documentation on defining a message payload.
message = messaging.Message(
    notification=messaging.Notification(
        title='$GOOG up 1.43% on the day',
        body='$GOOG gained 11.80 points to close at 835.67, up 1.43% on the day.',
    ),
    condition=condition,
)

# Send a message to devices subscribed to the combination of topics
# specified by the provided condition.
response = messaging.send(message)
# Response is a message ID string.
print('Successfully sent message:', response)
cloud_messaging.py

// Define a condition which will send to devices which are subscribed
// to either the Google stock or the tech industry topics.
condition := "'stock-GOOG' in topics || 'industry-tech' in topics"

// See documentation on defining a message payload.
message := &messaging.Message{
	Data: map[string]string{
		"score": "850",
		"time":  "2:45",
	},
	Condition: condition,
}

// Send a message to devices subscribed to the combination of topics
// specified by the provided condition.
response, err := client.Send(ctx, message)
if err != nil {
	log.Fatalln(err)
}
// Response is a message ID string.
fmt.Println("Successfully sent message:", response)
messaging.go

// Define a condition which will send to devices which are subscribed
// to either the Google stock or the tech industry topics.
var condition = "'stock-GOOG' in topics || 'industry-tech' in topics";

// See documentation on defining a message payload.
var message = new Message()
{
    Notification = new Notification()
    {
        Title = "$GOOG up 1.43% on the day",
        Body = "$GOOG gained 11.80 points to close at 835.67, up 1.43% on the day.",
    },
    Condition = condition,
};

// Send a message to devices subscribed to the combination of topics
// specified by the provided condition.
string response = await FirebaseMessaging.DefaultInstance.SendAsync(message);
// Response is a message ID string.
Console.WriteLine("Successfully sent message: " + response);

POST https://fcm.googleapis.com/v1/projects/myproject-b5ae1/messages:send HTTP/1.1

Content-Type: application/json
Authorization: Bearer ya29.ElqKBGN2Ri_Uz...HnS_uNreA
{
   "message":{
    "condition": "'dogs' in topics || 'cats' in topics",
    "notification" : {
      "body" : "This is a Firebase Cloud Messaging Topic Message!",
      "title" : "FCM Message",
    }
  }
}

curl -X POST -H "Authorization: Bearer ya29.ElqKBGN2Ri_Uz...HnS_uNreA" -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d '{
  "notification": {
    "title": "FCM Message",
    "body": "This is a Firebase Cloud Messaging Topic Message!",
  },
  "condition": "'dogs' in topics || 'cats' in topics"
}' https://fcm.googleapis.com/v1/projects/myproject-b5ae1/messages:send HTTP/1.1

Next steps

• You can use your server to subscribe client app instances to topics and perform other management tasks. See Manage topic subscriptions on the server.
• Learn more about the other way to send to multiple devices — Device group messaging