iOS

Adding Local Notifications in Your iOS App


Before we dive into the local notification tutorial, let’s first talk about the history.

Way back in iOS 3.0, Apple introduced the Push Notification Service (APNS) to bring the multitasking support to its mobile operating system. At that time, due to the nature of iOS, only one application is allowed to run in the foreground. Push notification changes the game by allowing applications to receive updates even it’s not actively running. When a notification comes in, iOS displays the notification in the form of on-screen alerts or sounds and it’s up to the user to decide whether to launch the application.

Push notification provides an effective way to support multitasking. The catch is it only works if the device is connected to the Internet. And I forgot to mention you have to develop some server programs to interact with APNS. Considered you’re developing a To-Do app, the app notifies users about a to-do item at a specific time. In order to push out such notification, you have to build a server program to talk with APNS and host it somewhere. This is too complicated for most developers particularly for those without server side programming experience.

Since the release of iOS 4, Apple introduced a new type of notification called Local Notification. This makes pushing a notification much simpler. No more server side programming. No more Internet connection is required. You can schedule a notification with simple API and it’ll be fired up at a proper time.

Local Notification Tutorial

Okay, that’s enough for the history and background. Let’s move onto the implementation and build a simple To-Do app with Local Notifications.

The To-Do App with Notifications

To demonstrate the usage of local notification, we’ll build a simple To-Do app together. The app lets users put in any to-do items and preset a reminder. At a specific time, the app fires up a notification and reminds users about the to-do item.

Local Notification Demo App

Local Notification Demo App

Creating Xcode Project and Design the UI

Okay, let’s begin. First, launch Xcode and create a new project using the Single View Template. Name the project as ToDoApp (or whatever you like). In the Storyboard, design the user interface similar to the below:

Local Notification Demo Storyboard

Local Notification Demo – Storyboard

The focus of this tutorial is on the implementation of local notifications. So to save your time from setting up the project and user interface, you can download this project template to start with.

Tip: If you have no idea about table view and wonder how the navigation bar works, check out our tutorials in the free iOS course.

Local Notification at a Glance

In general, to setup a location notification, all you need is just a few lines of code:

When you create a local notification, you must specify when the system should deliver the notification. That is the fireDate property. Optionally, you can set the time zone. The notification can be displayed as an alert message which is assigned by using the “alertBody” property. Once you configure the instance of UILocalNotification, you schedule it by using the scheduleLocalNotification: of UIApplicationsharedApplication class.

Let’s go back to the app implementation. We’ll first implement the “AddToDoViewController.m” to schedule a notification. The “Add To-Do Item” view allows user to add a to-do item and set the time of the reminder using a data picker. When the “save” button is tapped, the “save:” method of AddToDoViewController will be invoked. Add the following code in the “save:” method:

The above code is very straightforward. We first hide the on-screen keyboard and get the preset date from the date picker. Next, we create the local notification with the date we just retrieve from the date picker. We also set the alert body by using the to-do item text. Lastly, we increase the existing icon badge number by 1. With everything configured, we fire up “scheduleLocalNotification:” method to schedule the local notification.

Before we end the method, we notify the ToDoListViewController to refresh the table data.

Displaying a List of Local Notification

In the main screen of the app, we display a list of local notifications that are scheduled in the table view. It’s pretty easy to retrieve the current scheduled local notification. Simply make the following call and you’ll get an array of local notifications:

Select the “ToDoListViewController.m” and change the code for

I’ll not go into the details of the code. You should be very familiar with them if you have an understanding to UITableView implementation.

Okay, let’s compile and run the app. Tap the “+” button in the navigation bar and add a to-do item. Set the date to a future date. Once done, tap “save” button to schedule the notification. As soon as you go back to the table view, you’ll find the notification just added. Go back to home screen. Wait for a couple of minutes (depending on your preset schedule), you should see a notification banner. Or if you’re in lock screen, you’ll see a notification alert.

Local Notification Demo

Local Notification Demo

Handling Notifications

So far we just create and schedule the notification. But how can we handle the notification when it’s fired up?

When a notification is fired up, your app may be either running in the foreground or background. In the worst case, the app is not running at all. You’ll have to handle these situatios and let’s talk about them one by one.

Application is NOT Running

Local Notification Badge NumberWhen the app is not running, users see notifications in the following ways, depending on the notification settings:

  • Displaying an alert or banner
  • Badging the app icon
  • Playing a sound

By tapping on action button of the notification, users will launch the app. In this case, the application:didFinishLaunchingWithOptions: method of the application delegate is called.

Change the method to the following code:

In the above code, we use the launchOptions dictionary and see if it contains a local notification object. For the sake of simplicity, we just reset the icon badge number when there is a local notification.

Applicaton is Running in Foreground

If the app is running while the notification is delivered, there is no alert displayed on screen. The application automatically calls its delegate’s application:didReceiveLocalNotification: method.

In the AppDelegate.m, add the following method:

As we’ll discuss in the following section, the “didReceiveLocalNotification:” method will also be called when application is running in background. Here we first determine the application state and only display an alert when application is running foreground. We also inform the view controller to reload the table date and reset the application’s icon badge number.

Local Notification Alert

Display an alert while application is running

Application is Running in Background

The app has been launched before but users switch to another app. When the notification is fired, users normally see an alert banner at the top of the screen. When it’s tapped, the app will be brought to the foreground. Similar to the case that the app is running in foreground, the application automatically calls its delegate’s application:didReceiveLocalNotification: method.

Local Notification Banner

Display a location notification as banner

Summary

In this tutorial, we give you a basic idea about local notifications. It’s much simpler than remote notification. If you are developing an app, try to add some local notification features. One common application of local notification is to remind users to check out your app. Say, your app can display a local notification if users haven’t launched it for more 3 days. It is one of the techniques commonly used in most of the apps.

I hope you enjoy the tutorial. For your complete reference, you can download the full Xcode project here. As always, leave us comment and share your thought about the tutorial. We love to hear your feedback.

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  • Soroush

    SoroushSoroush

    Author Reply

    The iphone is showing full charged! where is the cable?!!


    • Vitor Zero

      Vitor ZeroVitor Zero

      Author Reply

      probably a background…


    • Simon Ng

      Simon NgSimon Ng

      Author Reply

      The screenshot was captured while I was charging my iPhone.


  • sergtk

    sergtksergtk

    Author Reply

    Why table data is reloaded in such a way:

    [[NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter] postNotificationName:@”reloadData” object:self];

    ?

    Why not to simply call [UIViewTable reload] ?


    • 蘇健豪

      蘇健豪蘇健豪

      Author Reply

      because it’s in a different view, you need to have a connection with another view.


  • strigo okuloj

    I have an app in which the notifications seem to work well even with the management of the badge (the increases are done well, and when the app is opened, the badge is set to zero).

    But if the notification has a date and time that matches the device is off …. when the device is turned on, a notification appears in the notification center but the badge does not update.

    This can be fixed in any way?


  • Chris

    ChrisChris

    Author Reply

    Many thanks for this awesome tutorial. I will take a closer look, when I’m back at my macbook. But THANKS!!
    🙂


  • Ranjit

    RanjitRanjit

    Author Reply

    Sample Project is not working properly, When I add two or more todo items, and when the notiifcation pops up, badge is not incrementing, secondly whenever I tap on a notification the table data disappears.


    • 蘇健豪

      蘇健豪蘇健豪

      Author Reply

      Maybe I can answer your second question. Because the table only display the notifications that are waiting to deliver.


      • RD Evgupta

        RD EvguptaRD Evgupta

        Author Reply

        How can we make the table display the notifications even after delivering???


  • JClements

    JClementsJClements

    Author Reply

    Would it be possible to delete a notification after it’s set? Could clicking a row on the table either delete the notification and the row, or could it open an alert asking if you wanted to remove the reminder? I can figure out how to delete the row itself, but I’m presuming the notification actually “lives” somewhere else and would still fire at the appointed time?


  • swapnil popat

    Awsome !!


  • Lucas Lallement

    A lot of time, you’ll also want to pass a dictionary acting as parameters. Use notification.userInfo and you’ll be able to create custom logic when the notification is handled.


  • Amir

    AmirAmir

    Author Reply

    Great tutorial, Now how we can add pre date to remind them on some important date??
    like if I want to make thanksgiving or memorial date for the user ?


  • Mohamed Suhaib

    thanks for this.
    how do you add an alarm sound to the notification?


    • Torres Ho

      Torres HoTorres Ho

      Author Reply

      // Local Push Notification

      UILocalNotification* localNotification = [[UILocalNotification alloc] init];

      localNotification.fireDate = [NSDate dateWithTimeIntervalSinceNow:15];

      localNotification.alertBody = @”Your alert message”;

      localNotification.timeZone = [NSTimeZone defaultTimeZone];

      localNotification.soundName = UILocalNotificationDefaultSoundName; // den den den

      //localNotification.soundName = @”sound.caf”;

      [[UIApplication sharedApplication] scheduleLocalNotification:localNotification];


  • teachMeHowToApp

    i downloaded the full project and don’t see the notifications when the app is in background, it works if app is in foreground…. any clues ?

    I am not using code signing, not sure if that effects ? Also i do not see the app in notification center, am i supposed to ??

    i have been breaking my head on this, any clue is appreciated..


  • siva

    sivasiva

    Author Reply

    Superb please continue your tutorials


  • Don

    DonDon

    Author Reply

    Is there a way to have your notifications listed in a tableview as shown with sections? I’m expanding off of this example but I need to separate my notifications with sections to display the notification event with next fire date. I already have it doing this but I need to sections them out by the event because I’m scheduling a local notification for one event several times throughout a given day.


  • RD Evgupta

    RD EvguptaRD Evgupta

    Author Reply

    The list of reminders disappear every time, after being used. How can we store and reuse it. Can you please tell me the codes. Any help will be highly appreciated. Thank you in advance.


  • Coeus

    CoeusCoeus

    Author Reply

    Hello, can I use local notifications to notify user when internet connection is available?


  • herocule

    heroculeherocule

    Author Reply

    what about mute instead alert?


  • harikrishna

    Hello, Shell we Increase the ApplicationBadgeNumber Dynamically like Push Notification Badge number when App in Background programmatically


  • harikrishna

    Hello, Shell we Increase the ApplicationBadgeNumber Dynamically in the Background When New LocalNotification Comes in iOS Programmetically.

    Please Reply me Anyone


  • Ranbijay

    RanbijayRanbijay

    Author Reply

    How are you making the data persistent..


  • Guest

    GuestGuest

    Author Reply

    Hello check my system preferences and simulator. But still I have problems with time zone … I’m from Argentina.


  • Tiago

    TiagoTiago

    Author Reply

    The list of Notification, the ToDoItem view, is erased after that notification is fired, how keep the list for future edition or delete manualy?


  • Abhishek pathak

    how to hide push notifications when it will be read


  • Amur

    AmurAmur

    Author Reply

    What about a tutorial for swift?


  • jobs for freshers

    Thanks for sharing this blog


  • Veer Jain

    Veer JainVeer Jain

    Author Reply

    Can you elaborate, what will happen in the case “Application is Running in Background”, when user(with iOS7/iOS8) pulls down the notification status bar down?
    As per my experience the local notification goes away, while the remote notification doesn’t.
    Can we change this behavior of local notification to be similar with remote notification?


  • MM

    MMMM

    Author Reply

    Hi,

    I am not Objective C coder But i am doing coding in swift. If i want to change the message body as well as icon before to display alert message to the user, Can i do this in didReceiveLocalNotification event?

    Does it work if application not running?


  • Edi

    EdiEdi

    Author Reply

    Can we have a tutorial for swift?


  • Nhựt CM

    Nhựt CMNhựt CM

    Author Reply

    Hi all.

    First: I have a code

    [[UIApplication sharedApplication] scheduleLocalNotification:localNotification];

    then I log the number of local notification by

    NSLog(@”%lu”, (unsigned long)[[[UIApplication sharedApplication] scheduledLocalNotifications] count]);

    The result is zero, so that table dose not have any row in it.

    I dont know why, anyone can explain to me.

    Ps: Im using XCode 6, Iphone 5s Simulator


    • Anny Hsu

      Anny HsuAnny Hsu

      Author Reply

      Same problem here. Did you end up solving it?


      • Ali

        AliAli

        Author Reply

        In iOS 8 and above, you need to ask user’s permission for sending notification otherwise it won’t be scheduled. To do so, add the following code to your AppDelegate.m file under didFinishLaunchingWithOptions delegate method or any other suitable place:

        if ([[UIApplication sharedApplication] respondsToSelector:@selector(registerUserNotificationSettings:)]) {

        UIUserNotificationType types = UIUserNotificationTypeAlert | UIUserNotificationTypeSound | UIUserNotificationTypeBadge;

        UIUserNotificationSettings *settings = [UIUserNotificationSettings settingsForTypes:types categories:nil];

        [[UIApplication sharedApplication] registerUserNotificationSettings:settings];

        }


  • Muthu Selvam

    In Handling Local Notification.
    There is a fourth situvation.
    When App is not at all Running and then user removed (deleted) notification from notification drawer instead of click on it.
    What we need to do on this Situvation? Any idea?
    Thanks in Advance.


  • Nitin Nikam

    Very nice tutorial…


  • Nitin Nikam

    Facing problem,

    Dear, whenever i tapped “save” button getting like ..

    2015-06-30 12:13:19.880 toDoApp[2022:64272] Attempting to schedule a local notification {fire date = Tuesday, June 30, 2015 at 12:14:09 PM India Standard Time, time zone = Asia/Kolkata (GMT+5:30) offset 19800, repeat interval = 0, repeat count = UILocalNotificationInfiniteRepeatCount, next fire date = Tuesday, June 30, 2015 at 12:14:09 PM India Standard Time, user info = (null)} with an alert but haven’t received permission from the user to display alerts

    2015-06-30 12:13:19.881 toDoApp[2022:64272] Attempting to schedule a local notification {fire date = Tuesday, June 30, 2015 at 12:14:09 PM India Standard Time, time zone = Asia/Kolkata (GMT+5:30) offset 19800, repeat interval = 0, repeat count = UILocalNotificationInfiniteRepeatCount, next fire date = Tuesday, June 30, 2015 at 12:14:09 PM India Standard Time, user info = (null)} with a badge number but haven’t received permission from the user to badge the application

    Message from debugger: Terminated due to signal 15

    it’s a as ti is downloaded demo from appcoda.com


  • Hardik Trivedi

    Hey, Download your full Xcode project but, it’s not work . . .


  • ankit agrawal

    Good job, thanks for your help!!


  • ramki

    ramkiramki

    Author Reply

    it is not working proprly data was not able to load in tableview


  • Maulik Patel

    ios 8&9 not support this demo


  • Ali

    AliAli

    Author Reply

    I noticed that many of you are having problems while using this tutorial for iOS 8 and above. With the new iOS versions, there’s one additional step you need to do for scheduling notifications.

    You need to ask user’s permission for sending notification otherwise it won’t be scheduled. To do so, add the following code to your AppDelegate.m file under didFinishLaunchingWithOptions delegate method or any other suitable place:

    if ([[UIApplication sharedApplication] respondsToSelector:@selector(registerUserNotificationSettings:)]) {

    UIUserNotificationType types = UIUserNotificationTypeAlert | UIUserNotificationTypeSound | UIUserNotificationTypeBadge;

    UIUserNotificationSettings *settings = [UIUserNotificationSettings settingsForTypes:types categories:nil];

    [[UIApplication sharedApplication] registerUserNotificationSettings:settings];

    }


  • HARDIK AMAL

    Download link broken….Please update it…Thanks…!!!


  • Rohit Rananaware

    can i create customs Pushe notification ui in ios


  • harikrishna

    Hi everyone,

    Superb Tutorial, It saves my day, and I need little more clarification on AlertBody in LocalNotifications like is there any way to show the different messages overtime in repeating LocalNotification.

    if possible can you give any example,

    Thanks :)-


  • Janbask – Online IT Training

    Knowledgeable tutorial for developers..Great Job


  • Avijit

    AvijitAvijit

    Author Reply

  • pranav gandhi

    hello, i am unable to see date as detail text label(subtitle) in table view.. what could be wrong??


  • Ashish

    AshishAshish

    Author Reply

    I can’t find complete Project. Please give me link of project.



  • Duong Dinh

    Duong DinhDuong Dinh

    Author Reply

    thank so much, this is so far the best tut I been read. Wonderful job.


  • Shawon

    ShawonShawon

    Author Reply

    The project is not available in could. Please check the url given…. Thanks


  • Shawon

    ShawonShawon

    Author Reply

    The Project url is not valid, No source code is found in the given url. Please check….. Thanks


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