Mastering Notification Badges in React Native

Notification badges are a crucial aspect of mobile app development, allowing users to stay informed about important events and updates. In this article, we’ll explore how to integrate notification badges into a React Native project, improving the overall user experience and driving engagement.

Prerequisites and Setup

To follow along with this tutorial, you’ll need:

• Node.js
• Watchman
• Xcode
• CocoaPods
• A library for local notification support (e.g. Notifee)

Create a new React Native project using the React Native CLI, and install the Notifee package.

Managing Badges in React Native

The chosen library provides a simple way to manage notification badges in React Native. To get started, import the library into your App.tsx file and create a notification trigger function.

Creating a Notification Trigger Function

To display notifications, you’ll need to request user permission on iOS devices or create a channel on Android devices. The library provides two useful functions for this purpose: requestPermission() and createChannel({}).

import notifee from '@notifee/react-native';

const displayNotification = async () => {
  // Request permission on iOS devices
  await notifee.requestPermission();

  // Create a channel on Android devices
  await notifee.createChannel({
    id: 'default',
    name: 'Default Channel',
  });
};

Setting a Badge Count

To set a badge count, use the setBadgeCount function provided by the library.

import notifee from '@notifee/react-native';

const setBadgeCount = async (count: number) => {
  await notifee.setBadgeCount(count);
};

Clearing Badge Count Notifications

To clear badge count notifications, use the clearBadgeCount function provided by the library.

import notifee from '@notifee/react-native';

const clearBadgeCount = async () => {
  await notifee.clearBadgeCount();
};

Enabling Remote Push Notifications

Remote push notifications allow you to dynamically trigger the badge counter and remove the need for user action. To enable remote push notifications, you’ll need to set up a provider server and configure your app to handle notifications.

Using the UNNotificationServiceExtension

The UNNotificationServiceExtension object provides an entry point for the notification service app extension. This extension is launched when the system delivers a notification to the user’s device.

To modify the content of received push notifications and increment the badge count, add the UNNotificationServiceExtension to your iOS app in Xcode.

Setting up UserSuite to Store Badge Count

To pass data between your app target and the notification service target, create a UserSuite.

import UIKit

class AppDelegate: UIResponder, UIApplicationDelegate {
  func application(_ application: UIApplication, didFinishLaunchingWithOptions launchOptions: [UIApplication.LaunchOptionsKey: Any]?) -> Bool {
    // Create a UserSuite
    let userSuite = UserDefaults(suiteName: "group.com.example.app")
    return true
  }
}

By following these steps, you can integrate notification badges into your React Native project and improve the overall user experience.