React Native (CLI) Firebase Push Notifications for Android 📱🔔

September 16, 2025

This content originally appeared on DEV Community and was authored by haider mukhtar

If you’re building a React Native CLI app and want to integrate Firebase push notifications for Android, you’re in the right place. This guide walks you through every step I took while implementing push notifications in my own project — from setting up Firebase to handling foreground and background notifications with Notifee.

1. Create a Firebase Project

Start by heading to Firebase Console and creating a new project.

Set your project name.
Register your Android app with the correct package name (e.g., com.yourappname).
Download the google-services.json file and place it into your Android app folder: android/app/google-services.json

2. Firebase SDK Integration for Android

Modify your Android project:

android/build.gradle

buildscript {
  dependencies {
    classpath("com.google.gms:google-services:4.4.2") // Make sure this is up to date
  }
}

android/app/build.gradle

apply plugin: "com.google.gms.google-services"

dependencies {
    // your code
    implementation(platform("com.google.firebase:firebase-bom:33.11.0"))
    implementation("com.google.firebase:firebase-analytics")
    // your code
}

3. Install Firebase Packages

Install Firebase libraries using npm:

npm install --save @react-native-firebase/app
npm install --save @react-native-firebase/messaging

Then, rebuild your app:

npx react-native run-android

4. Request Notification Permission (Android 13+)

Since Android 13 requires runtime permission for notifications:

import {PermissionsAndroid} from 'react-native';

const requestPermissionAndroid = async () => {
  const granted = await PermissionsAndroid.request(
    PermissionsAndroid.PERMISSIONS.POST_NOTIFICATIONS,
  );

  console.log(granted === PermissionsAndroid.RESULTS.GRANTED
    ? '✔ Permissions Granted'
    : '❌ Permissions Denied');
};

Call this inside useEffect on app load.

  useEffect(() => {
    if (Platform.OS === 'android') {
      requestPermissionAndroid();
    } else {
      console.log('This OS not supported.');
    }
  }, []);

5. Get FCM Token

This token uniquely identifies the device. You can send notifications to this token using Firebase.

import messaging from '@react-native-firebase/messaging';

const getFCMToken = async () => {
  const token = await messaging().getToken();
  console.log('FCM Token:', token);
};

6. Handle Foreground Notifications

useEffect(() => {
  const unsubscribe = messaging().onMessage(async remoteMessage => {
    Alert.alert('New FCM Message', JSON.stringify(remoteMessage));
  });

  return unsubscribe;
}, []);

7. Setup Notifee for Foreground Notification Display

Install Notifee:

npm install --save @notifee/react-native

Display foreground notifications using Notifee:

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

const onDisplayNotification = async (remoteMessage) => {
  const channelId = await notifee.createChannel({
    id: 'default',
    name: 'Default Channel',
  });

  await notifee.displayNotification({
    title: remoteMessage.notification.title,
    body: remoteMessage.notification.body,
    android: {
      channelId,
      pressAction: { id: 'default' },
    },
  });
};

useEffect(() => {
    const unsubscribe = messaging().onMessage(async remoteMessage => {
    onDisplayNotification(remoteMessage);
});

8. Background & Quit State Notifications

In index.js, register the background message handler:

import messaging from '@react-native-firebase/messaging';

messaging().setBackgroundMessageHandler(async remoteMessage => {
  console.log('Background message:', remoteMessage);
});

Now, even when the app is killed or in the background, it captures and logs the message.

9. Sending Notifications via Postman

Get your Firebase project’s Access Token using a service account JSON.
Hit this endpoint from Postman:

POST https://fcm.googleapis.com/v1/projects/<project-id>/messages:send

Use the FCM token in your request body to target your device.

Summary

You’ve now successfully integrated Firebase push notifications in a React Native CLI app for Android. From requesting permissions and getting tokens to handling notifications in all states (foreground, background, quit), everything is covered in this guide.

Source Code on GitHub

Want to explore the full code implementation of Firebase Push Notifications in React Native CLI?

Check out the complete project on GitHub:
GitHub Repository: React Native Firebase Notifications
Feel free to star the repo if it helps you!

Live Demo: Receiving Firebase Push Notifications on Android

Want to see it in action? Here’s a screen recording showing how Firebase push notifications are delivered to an Android device using React Native CLI. The video demonstrates:
-Receiving a notification while the app is in the foreground.
-Handling notifications in the background and the quit state.
-Custom notification appearance using Notifee.
Watch how seamlessly the integration works in a real scenario: