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Push Notifications by Tutorials

Fourth Edition · iOS 16 · Swift 5 · Xcode 14

Before You Begin

Section 0: 5 chapters
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Section I: Push Notifications by Tutorials

Section 1: 15 chapters
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14. watchOS
Written by Scott Grosch

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Local and remote notifications are a great way to inform your users about new or relevant information. There may be new content available, it might be their turn in the game or they may have just won the lottery. If your app has an accompanying iPhone app that supports notifications, by default, your Apple Watch will display the notification when appropriate. However, you can do better!

Where Did It Go?

Apple tries to determine the best target device to receive a notification. If you only have an Apple Watch, it’ll go there. However, if you use a watch and another device, the destination depends not only on the type of notification but also on its source.

The diagram below will help you understand how Apple chooses which device should display the notification. As you can see, the notification type, whether it is Local, Remote or a Background notification, will define where it should go. For the first two options, local and background, it will prioritize the Apple Watch. Local Notifications on the other hand will prioritize depending on the source. Check the following image to see the different paths:

Remote Display on phone Start No Watch Kit extension Source Sent directly to Apple Watch Sent directly to Apple Watch No iPhone unlocked and screen on Notification Type Yes iOS app Local Background Yes Yes Yes Apple Watch on wrist and unlocked Display on Apple Watch Display on phone No No

You’ll notice two locations in the diagram where it asks if Apple sent the notification directly to the watch. In watchOS 6 and later, the Apple Watch is a valid target for remote and background notifications. The Apple Watch extension receives a unique device token when registering for remote notifications, just like in iOS.

Short Looks

When the Apple Watch receives a notification, it notifies the user via a subtle vibration. If the user views the notification by raising their wrist, the Apple Watch shows an abbreviated version called a short look. If the user views the notification for more than a split second, the Apple Watch will offer a more detailed version, or long look.

Long Looks

The long look is a scrolling interface you can customize, with a default static interface or an optional dynamically-created interface. Unlike the short look interface, the long look offers significant customization.

Testing Local Notifications

Pawsome is for all cat lovers who procrastinate during the day by looking at cute cat pictures. The Pawsome app will make this easier by interrupting you throughout the day with cute cat pictures that are certain to trigger a smile… unless you’re a dog person!

Getting Started

Open the Pawsome starter project in Xcode. Then build and run the Pawsome WatchKit App scheme. You’ll see a collection of cute kitty cats that you can easily browse:

Testing Notifications With the Simulator

When you make a new WatchKit app in Xcode, it will generate a notification run scheme used for testing the look and feel of your notifications. Switch to the Pawsome WatchKit App (Notification) scheme and rerun the project. This time, instead of seeing those adorable cats, you’ll see a pretty boring notification:

Custom Long Look Notification

Edit NotificationController.swift, and you’ll see body returns an instance of NotificationView. The controller is where you receive and parse the notification. The view is then where you use the data gathered by the controller.

Receiving Remote Push Notifications

Most apps use push notifications, not local notifications. You’re probably wondering why I spent all that time on something that’s used less frequently. Well, the answer is that Apple made push notifications much easier on watchOS than they are on iOS.

Create a WKExtensionDelegate

In iOS, you register for push notifications using AppDelegate. That class doesn’t exist on watchOS. Instead, you use WKExtensionDelegate. Create a new Swift file called ExtensionDelegate.swift and paste:

The MVC of Push Notifications

Instead of making you copy and paste a ton of code, I’ve provided a Remote Notifications group in the starter project, which contains the relevant files for a push notification.

Adding the Capability

Xcode will perform magic if you add the Push Notifications capability. In the Project navigator (Command‑1), select the project name, Pawsome. Then select the Pawsome Watch App target.

Add a Scheme

Edit the current scheme via your preferred method. I like to press the Command+< keyboard shortcut, or you can click on the current scheme and then click Edit Scheme….

Interactive Notifications

Tap Show details. Did something unexpected happen? An average user would expect to see details. Instead, you were taken into the app and shown a cat picture. Surprisingly, that’s by design.

APNs Request

A key difference between iOS notifications and watchOS notifications is that you must include the apns‑push‑type HTTP header for the Apple Watch to receive a notification.

Key Points

  • How Local & Remote Notifications work with Apple Watch.
  • Short & Long looks and how to customize them.
  • Testing Push Notifications on Apple Watch
  • Ensure your server includes the apns‑push‑type HTTP header.

Where to Go From Here?

In this chapter, you tested Watch notifications, learned about short look and long look interfaces and how they differ. Most impressively, you built a custom, dynamically updating, long look local notification for the Apple Watch.

13. Local Notifications
14. Conclusion
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