Receive Messages in an Android App

Firebase notifications behave differently depending on the foreground/background state of the receiving app. If you want foregrounded apps to receive notification messages or data messages, you’ll need to write code to handle the onMessageReceived callback. For an explanation of the difference between notification and data messages, see Message types.

Handling messages

To receive messages, use a service that extends FirebaseMessagingService. Your service should override the onMessageReceived callback, which is provided for most message types, with the following exceptions:

• Notifications 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, both background and foreground. 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:

App state	Notification	Data	Both
Foreground	onMessageReceived	onMessageReceived	onMessageReceived
Background	System tray	onMessageReceived	Notification: system tray Data: in extras of the intent.

For more information about message types, see Notifications and data messages.

Edit the app manifest

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

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

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());
    }

    // 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

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.